Washington–The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) will hold its 1st Annual Leadership Symposium, “AAPIs on the Rise: Activating our Power,” on May 3. Venue is The Sphinx Club at Franklin Square at 1315 K Street NW in the nation’s capital.

The event is free and open to the public. To register, visit http://bit.ly/APAICSSymposium. The symposium will be an annual event, as part of the awards gala. This year’s Gala Awards Dinner will be held on May 4 at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) will speak at the symposium. Panelists include leaders from the federal government, media and business.

The schedule follows: 10:45–11:30 am–Panel on Federal, State and Local Asian American and Pacific Islander Commissions. Moderator is APAICS Alumna Kendee Yamaguchi, executive director of the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.

Panelists are Daphne Kwok, Chair White House Commission on AAPIs (former APAICS executive director); Yiwei Dave Wang, Asian American Outreach Administrator at Maryland Governor’s Office; and Dr. Nina Ahmad, Chair of the Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs, Philadelphia, PA.

12–12:45 p.m. Luncheon Keynote Panel: Strengthening the AAPI Political Pipeline. Moderator: APAICS Alumnus and Board Member Jay Chen, president of Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District Board of Education. Invited panelists include APAICS alumnus CT State Rep. William Tong and Delegate Mark Keam, Virginia House of Delegates; and City Council Member Ravinder Bhalla, Hoboken, NJ.

12:50–1:35 p.m. Panel on Federal Agencies. Moderator: Former APAICS executive director Francey Youngberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations, Department of Housing and Urban Development. Panelists include Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs; David S. Kim, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs, Department of Transportation.

1:50–2:35 p.m. Panel on AAPI Presence in the Media. Moderator: Catalina Camia, past national president of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Staff Writer, USA Today. Panelists include Julie Choi, SVP Programming and Development, Mnet; Giancarlo Pacheco, president of Plan C Group Inc.; Tejinder Singh, AAJA-DC Board Member, White House Correspondent, All Headline News Media Corp.

2:40–3:25 p.m. Panel on AAPI Business Ownership & Development. Moderator: Jamie Borromeo, The E & J Commission LLC, with panelists including Chiling Tong, Advisory Council Member of the Minority Business Development Agency.

3:30– 4 p.m. Closing Remarks by CAPAC Whip U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D, HI-01) and CAPAC Chairman Emeritus U.S. Rep. Mike Honda (D, CA-15).