Asian Community Fund Grants is sponsored by The Boston Foundation. Supports organizations spanning arts and culture, social services, education, economic development, health, and civic engagement within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in Massachusetts.

Asian Community Fund - TBF Building Support for Our Diverse and Growing Asian American Community The Asian Community Fund (ACF) at the Boston Foundation is the first and only philanthropic fund in Massachusetts dedicated to activating, convening, and supporting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Launched in 2020, ACF is a permanent resource designed to galvanize and unite the diverse ethnicities within the AAPI community, incubate new partnerships, and build a stronger advocacy voice. THE HISTORY: Asian Americans have lived, worked, and raised families across the Commonwealth for more than a century and a half, and this community now represents the fastest growing—and arguably the least understood—group in our region.

Aggregated data masks many disparities and community needs, including poverty and a need for improved language resources. There is a clear need for the ACF to step forward as an organizing platform to support and advance AAPI interests. THE GOAL: The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation was established to increase the visibility of the Asian American community and expand resources for nonprofits and businesses.

To learn more, please contact Danielle Kim, Executive Director of the Asian Community Fund, at danielle. kim@tbf. org .

Click here to donate to the Asian Community Fund In July, The Asian Community Fund distributed $530,000 to 60 organizations as part of the fund’s largest grantmaking round in history. The grants span arts and culture, social services, education, economic development, health and civic engagement organizations, and bring the fund’s total grantmaking to over $1. 63 million since 2022.

Read the grantee announcement Watch highlights from ACF's Inaugural Gala Learn about our work and impact The Power of Us: Amplifying AAPI Visibility & Belonging Five years after its founding, the ACF has launched three major initiatives, unveiled research on Asian businesses, nonprofits and the arts sector, and granted out more than $2. 3 million to AAPI-led and -serving organizations.

The ACF’s 2020-2025 Impact Report captures the fund's path from its start to today, highlighting the power of research, convening, partnerships, advocacy, narrative change and grantmaking to bring greater strength, stability, and inclusion to AAPI businesses and communities, and to uplift the many contributions AAPI people provide to the diversity and dynamism of Massachusetts.

Rising Together: The Asian Community Fund Gala Save the Date: ACF's 2026 Gala We are delighted to announce our 2026 Gala! An annual celebration of AAPI representation, leadership, and narrative change in MA, join us for an unforgettable evening featuring cultural performances, leadership awards, culinary delights, and powerful networking opportunities. Join us on Friday, October 2, 2026 from 5:30PM – 9:00PM at The Westin Copley Place.

Highlights from the 2025 Gala ACF's Annual Gala has become the region’s signature event for AAPI leaders and allies. For ACF's 2025 Gala, nearly 700 community leaders, partners, and supporters gathered for a vibrant celebration of AAPI leadership, connection, and belonging across our region.

With proceeds to bolster ACF’s ongoing work in supporting AAPI nonprofits, small businesses, cultural leaders, and residents throughout Massachusetts, we thank you for joining us and supporting ACF. We look forward to celebrating with you again in 2026 and beyond! About the 2025 gala, honorees, and sponsors Mobilized $6 million to date in gifts and pledges for the AAPI community across Massachusetts.

Distributed over $1. 6 million in grants to 107 Asian-led and serving organizations throughout the region. Launched vital community coalitions and programs including the Asian Business Empowerment Council, the AAPI Arts and Culture Network, and the AAPI Mental Health Collaborative.

Read past grant announcements: Research shows that in the past 30 years, just 0. 2% of philanthropic funding has gone to the AAPI community, during a time when AAPI residents have grown to 7. 2% of the national population and 9.

7% of the Greater Boston population. ACF’s work is focusing on three initial strategies to fill in these gaps and build much-needed community infrastructure and capabilities across the region: Small business technical assistance and advocacy to create a vibrant community for existing providers of advice and assistance to Asian-owned businesses and to build a strong collective voice for advocacy.

This entity, called the Asian Business Empowerment Council (ABEC) , will work in coalition with counterpart organizations in the Black, Latinx and other underserved communities which are dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap.

Community leadership to develop Asian American nonprofit professionals through talent identification and development, mentoring, training, and networking to build and strengthen the capacity of Asian-led nonprofits to serve the AAPI community. Community advocacy to amplify the AAPI community’s voice in addressing injustice and anti-Asian racism and to overcome historic invisibility.

This will give the AAPI community a voice to speak out forcefully against anti-Asian hate and racism, and to educate the public about the AAPI community.

In 2024, the Asian Community Fund announced the formalization of the AAPI Arts and Culture Collaborative, an initiative anchored by ACF and led in partnership with a steering committee of 13 prominent Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) arts and culture leaders from across Massachusetts, to advocate for increased capacity and visibility of AAPI artists and arts workers in Massachusetts..

Asian Business Empowerment Council AAPI Arts and Culture Collaborative In addition to the above, the ACF also incubates vital AAPI community coalitions, commissions research on the AAPI community, anchors advocacy efforts, and supports community organizations through its annual grantmaking program.

News from the Asian Community Fund The Asian Community Fund's 2025 Gala: Rising Together More than 700 people gathered for the 2025 ACF Gala, a vibrant celebration of AAPI leadership, connection, and belonging across our region.

The gala has become the region’s signature event for AAPI leaders and allies, with proceeds to bolster ACF’s ongoing work in supporting AAPI nonprofits, small businesses, cultural leaders, and residents throughout Massachusetts. Thank you for joining us and supporting ACF!

ACF announces $530,000 in funding to 60 AAPI-serving nonprofits The ACF's largest grant round in its history, the grants span arts and culture, social services, education, economic development, health and civic engagement organizations, and bring the fund’s total grantmaking to over $1. 63 million since 2022.

With its grantmaking, the ACF strives to catalyze new partnerships, respond to emerging community needs, and expand the capacity of the local AAPI nonprofit, business, and cultural sectors.

ACF to honor Takeda CEO-elect Julie Kim and MIT Provost Dr. Anantha Chandrakasan at 2026 Gala Setting Roots in Rocky Soil: The State of AAPI-owned Businesses in Massachusetts The Asian Business Empowerment Council's multi-year study examines the complex and diverse challenges and opportunities experienced by AAPI entrepreneurs.

Click here for the report and recap Building AAPI Power: Representation, Voice and Advocacy in Local AAPI Communities Featuring an overview of ACF, regional data from Boston Indicators, and a panel discussion, this event focused on creating greater opportunities for Asian representation and participation in civic and social life.

Click here for the event recap Meeting the Challenge of a Highly Diverse Community “Asian American” suggests a degree of homogeneity that obscures the complexity of our community. Made up of many ethnic groups, Greater Boston’s Asian Americans include large populations of Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Nepalese and Pakistani Americans, all speaking different languages.

This diversity extends to educational attainment and income levels. This is a critical moment in the Asian American community nationally and locally. ACF with the Advisory committee is beginning to explore the challenges and opportunities exposed by COVID, the rise in Anti-Asian violence, and the limited public understanding of and resources devoted to the diverse needs of AAPI communities.

Read Setting Roots in Rocky Soil Read the 2022 Impact Report Asian Community Fund Advisory Committee Retired Partner, Goodwin Proctor LLP Director Emeritus, The Boston Foundation Senior Advisor for Partnerships Co-Founder and President Emerita Retired Executive Director Higher Ed Consulting Director Bunker Hill Community College Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P. C. Peter Nien-chu Kiang, Ph.

D. Professor and Director of the Asian American Studies Program Head of Global Alternative Product Management Manulife John Hancock Investments Imari Paris Jeffries, Ph. D.

Executive Director, Lowell EforAll (Entrepreneurship for All) Sr Program Officer, Philanthropy Asian Community Fund Staff Executive Director, Asian Community Fund Director, Asian Business Empowerment Council