Jean Quan is close to becoming the first Asian-American woman to run a major U.S. city in next week's Oakland Mayoral challenge. Jean is a true progressive that believes in grassroots democracy.  Over the years, she has organized for better schools, good affordable housing, and diverse communities that work together.  

The San Francisco Bay Area APAP House Party took place in Berkeley, CA. We were fortunate to have an impressive group of attendees including many emerging APA leaders from UC Berkeley, local public officials, national & state program directors/coordinators, an APAP board member and our special guest, Jennifer Pae, who is running for Oakland City Council.

Last night I was at the Planning Commission. I got to play the role of egghead. The other neighborhood residents who spoke really spoke to my heart. Some of them:

It's always great to hear stories about youth learning to be empowered community organizers and leaders.  In Oakland, the Asian Immigrant Women Advocates youth group is doing something about the disparities experienced by immigrant youth and college readiness.  They've been lobbying to make all high schools in Oakland and San Francisco require that all students complete college prep courses required by the University of California and Cal State University systems.  They've even made a gu