As part of Women’s History Month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has honored CAA’s very own Advocacy of Director Hong Mei Pang in addition to 10 other amazing women leaders. Hong Mei Pang received the honor from District 11 Supervisor Asha Safai.
“Today I was honored to recognize Hong Mei Pang from Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) as my Women’s History-Valiant Women of the Vote honoree. Hong Mei has served this City with passion and intelligence and has empowered many in this City to have access to more civil and political rights, not only for the API community but for all San Franciscans.” – Supervisor Safai remarked.
For the past 4 years as part of CAA, Hong Mei has led multiracial efforts to uplift the lives of immigrants and communities of color. She has amplified CAA’s local immigrant rights advocacy work, including providing legislative, budget, and administrative relief to fortify legal and social safety nets in San Francisco for undocumented immigrants in times of heightened immigration enforcement. Hong Mei has also led efforts to expand language access for limited-English speaking Chinese immigrants, secured SFUSD school board voting rights for immigrant parents, expanded resources for 2020 Census outreach and solidified multiracial coalitions fighting for economic justice.
Hong Mei has also played a significant role in engaging the ethnic, mainstream, and new media on policy issues to provide timely and accurate immigration information to the public, and to counter narratives that are often discriminatory, divisive, and baseless.
Prior to joining CAA, Hong Mei helped co-found RAISE, an undocumented AAPI youth group affiliated with Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which amplified AAPI narratives through advocacy in Washington, D.C. She has also worked on promoting comprehensive immigration reform and communicating the needs of directly-impacted immigrant families.
Hong Mei has also worked with the AAPI immigrant community as a program coordinator for ASPIRE, the nation’s first organizing group for undocumented AAPI youth. In this role, she led multiple campaigns at the intersection of immigration relief and criminal justice reform.
Thank you Hong Mei for your years of leadership and steadfast service for a more just and equitable society and congratulations on your amazing accomplishment!
