What is APALI’s Civic Leadership Program? Since 2007, the Civic Leadership Program has gathered annual cohorts of community leaders and advocates to further personal civic involvement, fill leadership pipelines, and become members of a supportive community of APALI alumni and fellows.

Who is CLP Designed for?  Most participants are individuals with prior leadership experience hoping to further their leadership journey and benefit their communities. The CLP alumni network include officials, executives, educators, lawyers, managers, government staff, activists and volunteers, public office candidates from sectors including government, nonprofit, education, business, law, health, etc. CLP Alumni are inclusive allies from diverse backgrounds, including Asian American and Latinx communities, American-born and immigrants, all genders and gender identities, income levels, sexual orientation, with ages ranging from young adults to seniors.

What are the Program Outcomes?  CLP cohorts are challenged to discover their authentic leadership style, increase social awareness, gain insights to the civic ecology, and expand personal network to become more effective leaders, advocates, allies and grassroot organizers.

What is the Program Experience?  CLP is a holistic, collaborative, community-building experience within a safe environment.   Cohort members practice a “visibility mindset” to overcome invisibility (being seen) and develop a personal voice. In each session, cohort members process speaker and reading insights from their own lived experience.  Through personal sharing, collective wisdom is harvested to enhance empathic understanding of underserved communities.  Real life practice is gained through a public policy/community activism workshop and a nonpartisan candidate/campaign workshop.  The cumulating exercise is to develop an aspirational personal civic vision and roadmap to a fulfilling civic journey.

Leadership Team.  Dr. Michael Chang and Dennis Chiu have extensive experience as leaders in government, nonprofit, education, and law. Each has served as elected officials. Dr. Chang was the first Asian American Mayor of Cupertino and Dennis was Vice Chair of the El Camino Healthcare District Board. APALI Senior Coordinator Kimberly Lam, an APALI alumni and community organizer, will also lead trainings and support as class manager.