November 16, 2019, St. Paul, MN – The Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) will host the first Asian Minnesotan Leadership Summit: Powering Up for 2020 on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Metropolitan State University to lift up and bolster community leadership, organizing, and mobilization efforts in Minnesota’s Asian American communities. Given major political elections and activities, such as the U.S. Census, CAAL feels it needs to help ensure every community is aware, empowered, and supported to exercise their civic duties.

“There is a lot happening in our cities, state, and country at this time. More than ever, our leadership – how we exercise our power and influence, grow our connections, knowledge, and skills, and support our communities to participate in civic processes – will be critical to our democracy,” explains Bo Thao-Urabe, CAAL Executive and Network Director.

At the day-long Summit, 250 Asian Minnesotan leaders from across the state will have opportunities to connect with one another, learn new skills for mobilizing and organizing people, gain new knowledge about key issues impacting the community, and identify where Asian Minnesotans can increase civic engagement in order to shape democracy at historic levels in 2020. Some planned workshop topics include: the importance of census participation, understanding election cycles and structures that enable communities to fully participate in elections, how to effectively advocate for issues at different levels of government, and being your most powerful self as a leader.

Nationally-renowned author and activist Helen Zia will deliver a keynote address about what civic engagement in 2020 must mean for Asian Americans as one of the fastest-growing racial groups. Other confirmed speakers so far include State Representative Samantha Vang and former State Senator Satveer Chaudhary; other speakers will be announced soon.
To learn more about the Leadership Summit, visit: http://caalmn.org/poweringupfor2020/
###
About Coalition of Asian American Leaders – The Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) is a multi-ethnic, multi-sector, and multigenerational network of more than 2,000 Asian Minnesotan leaders harnessing collective power to improve the lives of community by connecting, learning, and acting together.
To learn more about CAAL, please visit www.caalmn.org.
Powering Up for 2020 Press release