When the Asian Community Fund (ACF) launched in 2020, it set out with a clear mission: to unify and empower the Asian American Pacific Islander community across Massachusetts.
Founded during a period of heightened anti-Asian racism and in response to research showing less that 1% of philanthropic giving reaches Asian communities, ACF has become a vital resource for increasing visibility and support for local Asian communities.
“We’ve been so invisible to date,” says Executive Director Danielle Kim, highlighting how the AAPI community often exists in isolated pockets in the United States, despite being a global majority.
Over the past few years, the organization has distributed over $1 million to 86 community organizations, according to the group, which is part of the non-profit Boston Foundation. Each spring, ACF opens a grant application cycle, last year receiving 105 applications. With 37 community volunteers reviewing submissions, the organization had funded 52 projects totaling $450,000 that year.
The group sprouted from the Boston Foundation. Founded in 1915, the Boston Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the nation with around $1.9 billion in total assets. It partners with roughly a 1,000 charitable funds to help various community initiatives including early childhood health and education programs, job-skills training programs and other projects.
The Asian Community Fund, however, says its approach goes beyond traditional grant-making. ACF has created statewide networks that connect Asian American-led nonprofits, breaking down barriers between different ethnic groups and geographies. Through innovative initiatives like the Asian Business Empowerment Council, AAPI Arts and Culture Collaborative, and Mental Health Collaborative, the fund is building bridges where once there were only silos, say the organizers.
These programs support grassroots organizations that are often run by passionate volunteers dedicating their personal time to community work. The fund has become a lifeline for small, community-driven groups that might otherwise struggle to secure funding and recognition, ACF leaders say.
For Kim, the work carries a deeply personal significance. Raised in an immigrant family with parents and grandparents who owned a small business, she intimately understands the spirit of community service that drives many Asian Americans, she says.
“In the Asian community, we have a culture of giving back,” she explains, “not only helping my own family, but thinking about how we support our neighbors and community members.”
The Asian Community Fund says it is not just providing resources for the rapidly growing Asian American population in the region —it’s building a more inclusive future.
