The Asian American Federation of New York is a not-for-profit organization that provides public policy and community service leadership to identify and meet the critical needs of Asian Americans in the New York metropolitan area. The New York City-based Federation serves the Asian American community by analyzing issues, voicing common concerns, advocating for responsive policies, offering financial and management assistance, coordinating service delivery, and creating unified, community-wide initiatives. The Federation, which began operations in 1990, has a membership of 36 community agencies that provide health and human services to diverse populations.

Working toward an empowered Asian American community with full participation in the larger society, the Federation is guided by the following priorities:

The Federation's public policy and research work focuses on issues related to resource allocation, community needs, service availability and accessibility, immigrant rights, and community development.

Reflecting its community leadership role, the Federation galvanized the Asian American community's swift, collaborative response to the devastating events of September 11th. The Federation's September 11th Relief, Recovery and Rebuilding Initiative brought together various Asian American and mainstream service organizations and resources to help Asian American New Yorkers affected by the events of September 11th. The American Express Foundation, Cathay Bank, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the McCormick Tribune Foundation, The September 11th Fund, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation have provided substantial support for this undertaking.

A major element of the Federation's September 11th initiative is extensive, groundbreaking research that has documented, spotlighted, and proposed policy solutions to address, profound September 11th-related damage to Chinatown's economy. A cumulative report, Chinatown One Year After September 11th: An Economic Impact Study, released in November 2002, offers in-depth analysis of information from numerous sources, including a database reflecting experiences of more than 10,000 affected workers. The report assesses conditions, identifies still-unmet needs, and recommends public and private sector steps to fill remaining gaps.

Other September 11th initiative efforts have included spearheading coordination of outreach and relief services, establishing a community service center in Chinatown, serving as a central information and referral source for Asian Americans, recruiting volunteer translators, helping community service providers attract funding, and providing financial aid through the Asian American Federation WTC Fund.

The Federation is a founding member of the 9/11 United Services Group (USG), a 13-member consortium formed to coordinate assistance to people affected by the September 11th events.

As of one year after the World Trade Center attacks, the Federation had helped community organizations raise nearly $2.5 million for September 11th relief and distributed more than $400,000 in emergency payments to families through its WTC Fund. Directly or through community partners, the Federation assisted some 2,500 Asian American families and individuals who lost loved ones or suffered wage or job losses as a result of the tragedy.

The Federation continues to study and promote solutions to lingering September 11th effects on New York's Asian American community. Among these consequences are business and personal income losses, unemployment, emotional trauma, and discrimination against people of South Asian descent. Ongoing efforts include a city-wide mental health needs assessment, as well as extended service coordination and outreach.

In another pivotal community leadership role, the Federation is the only Asian American organization in the New York area selected by the U.S. Census Bureau to operate a Census Information Center. The center was established in September 2000 to conduct data and policy analysis and to encourage Asian American participation in Census Bureau information gathering. The Census Bureau's designation recognized the Federation's success in leading the Asian American Task Force on Census 2000, a coalition of 65 organizations that advised the Census Bureau and ensured an accurate count of Asian Americans in Census 2000.

Along with extensive support of its member agencies, ongoing community-wide Federation endeavors include a campaign to bolster Asian American philanthropy, a drive to enhance the technological capabilities of grass-roots agencies, and continuing dialogue to ensure that policy decisions reflect Asian American community interests.