National Civic Impact Fellowship and Incubator Program

National Civic Impact Fellowship and Incubator Program is sponsored by Asian American Women's Political Initiative (AAWPI). This six-month program funds civic impact projects led by low-income and immigrant AAPI women and gender-expansive individuals, aimed at mobilizing and creating social change. Fellows receive political leadership training, coaching, and grassroots action opportunities.

AAWPI Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator — Asian American Women's Political Initiative 2026 Application is CLOSED. Are you an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman, femme, or gender-expansive person who is passionate about making change for our communities? AAWPI’s National Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator Program powers individuals and ideas to create change for our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

We primarily support community-driven AAPI women, femme, and gender-expansive people with $10,000 to design and implement a civic impact project, and then provide them with training, mentorship, and deep community to help them bring their ideas to life. I want to nominate someone.

National Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator Program The AAWPI National Civic Impact Fellowship and Incubator is a 6-month program aimed at primarily supporting AAPI women, femme, and gender expansive people in designing, building and implementing a project to make change in our AAPI communities. Fellows are part of a national cohort of changemakers from Georgia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The fellowship has both in-person and online components meant to build an intentional community where fellows learn from and uplift each other. 3-Day Orientation Retreat: This in-person kick-off gathering in Boston from Friday, January 16 - Monday, January 19, 2026 grounds fellows in their understanding of the Fellowship, in the vision and values that will drive their projects, and also builds connections among fellows.

Monthly Virtual Workshops: Fellows will gather virtually for one weekend per month (approximately 6 hours, over 2 days) to participate in workshops designed to provide support and guidance around their civic impact projects, and to deepen the fellows’ understanding of core issues affecting the AAPI community.

Grassroots Actions: Fellows will meet in-person with their state-based cohorts for on-the-ground grassroots actions with partner organizations to deepen their connection to local communities and enhance their knowledge about moving plans to action.

(Approximately 4 hours per month) On-going Support: Community advisors and members of the AAWPI Leadership Team will meet with fellows to support them in developing and implementing their civic impact projects. 2-Day Closing Weekend Celebration (Boston): This closing in-person weekend will give fellows space to share about their projects, collectively reflect on their experiences in the program, and celebrate each other. Mon, Oct.

20, 2025 @ 11:59 PM ET: Application deadline extension Oct 22 - Nov 21, 2025: Interviews Mon, Dec 16, 2025: Decision notification You live in PA, MA, or GA. You love, work in, and live in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or Georgia. You are an AAPI woman, femme, or gender-expansive person.

You self-identify as an Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian. You also identify as a woman, femme, or gender-expansive person. We welcome individuals who self-identify as South Asian and Southeast Asian, and also welcome individuals who self-identify as multiracial.

You have a vision - and you get things done. You have a sense of a problem or unmet need in your community that you’d like to solve. You understand you may need to build something for your community that may not have existed before.

You have the grit to make something out of nothing. You see long-term benefits where others may see short-term obstacles. You are committed to uplifting the voices of our AAPI communities and want to be in a space that celebrates you, centers your growth, and harnesses the collective power of our community.

You know you can’t do it alone. You need support, mentorship and community to make your vision for change into a reality. The fellowship and incubator will provide funding, workshops, trainings, and an alumni and community network to help you make an impact.

Frequently Asked Questions What ideas or projects qualify? We want to know: What are your hopes and dreams for our community? We are open to ALL project ideas that celebrate, engage, and/or meet a need for AAPI women and our communities.

If civic engagement is not already part of it, we’ll help you take your idea even further by working with you to build a civic engagement component into your project.

We define civic engagement as anything that empowers our community to participate in our democracy or advocacy; this includes registering our community to vote, educating them about how government and elections work, or organizing our communities around a piece of legislation or an issue.

At every benchmark of civic engagement and political power, the AAPI community falls behind, from registering to vote to invisibility in elected office. The civic engagement component of your project works to ensure AAPI women have a voice in our democracy and in policy that affects our lives and our communities. P.

S. Don’t stress about the civic engagement component! Just tell us your idea, and we’ll work with you to incorporate this piece.

Does my idea or project already need to be in progress? No. Candidates can propose existing / start-up / dream programs, services, performances, curricula, etc. We’ll look at ideas that exist on paper and out in the real world. Can you give me examples of past projects?

In the face of persistent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, Liz Lee (AAWPI ‘25) created “We Are Still Here,” a brave healing space for queer AAPI femme & gender-expansive folks in Atlanta - connecting political education, identity, storytelling and performance to confront erasure and cultivate joy. Elena Emelchin Brunner (AAWPI ‘25) launched her new nonprofit organization Sarin Gal through AAWPI’s Incubator Program.

She is building a cross-racial rapid response network to protect and defend her Oirat-Mongol refugee community from immigration raids, detention and deportation. This includes launching cross-racial Detention Defense Campaigns, hosting a series of Know Your Rights trainings, creating a Community Freedom Fund and advocating for sanctuary city policies across communities.

Hanna Kim (AAWPI ‘23) launched her nonprofit Asian Food Collective through AAWPI’s Incubator Program. It combats food insecurity in Philadelphia’s Asian community through community cooking classes that feed neighbors while reconnecting with culture. In its 3rd year, Asian Food Collective is also working to incorporate advocacy around food insecurity and voter education in their work.

Kate Firestone (AAWPI ‘23) created a supportive network and civic engagement education for AAPI adoptees whose identities are often lost and removed upon adoption. Aishika Jennela (AAWPI ‘23) held a South Asian Arts Festival in Philadelphia, fostering a community for South Asian artists to explore and share their experiences and pursue their own ambitious projects.

Jeannine Kayembe Oro (AAWPI ‘24) produced and directed “Blasian,” a short film dedicated to the Blasian woman’s experience by uplifting their voices, stories, and art.

We won’t fund individuals… who have already completed the work who have a project that already received a significant amount of funding and recognition who are focused outside of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia For more information or questions, please contact us at fellowship@aawpi. org . How is AAWPI engaging with local communities in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia?

We are intentional about partnering, supporting, and learning from local, grassroots organizations that have long been doing the work on the ground.

One key component of our National Civic Impact Incubator Program is fellows’ participation in grassroots experiential learning with organizations like AAPI PA Power Caucus and the Chinese Progressive Association (Boston), meant to ensure that fellows’ projects are informed by the priorities and work of activists and organizers leading on the ground.