Asian Journal

Asian American members of the Obama administration called on others in their communities to join the government and become politically empowered as a group.

"It does matter to have Asian Americans on the table, whether it is in the White House, Congress, or your local school board," Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said.

"That is why we are constantly looking for Asian Americans who will join the government," he added.

"We have to be part of that process. We have to be more political," Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the US Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth, for her part, said.

Locke and Duckworth, two high-ranking cabinet leaders of Asian descent, spoke to a forum "New Faces of Leadership" in Washington DC last May 2. Locke is third-generation American whose roots are from China, while Locke was born in Thailand where she lived before moving to the US at 16.

The two speakers discussed opportunities and challenges they encounter in their work as Asian Americans and with Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

The forum, sponsored by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), was also presented to media via live web streaming. It is part of the organization’s Norman Mineta Leadership Institute Speaker series.

During the forum, Duckworth said there is a need to tell the public that APIs also have a desire for public service.

"Because we are quiet as a community, the rest of the country does not know we have an appetite for it," she said.

She said heritage and experience growing up in a different culture is a strength that can be brought to government service, in the same way she did. "We need to show them that this is also the face of an American," she said.

Lock, meanwhile, said that being competent in one’s work is a sure sign of being noticed as a people.

"The whole point is excellence. It breaks barriers. It shatters glass ceilings," he told the forum.

The forum was sponsored by forum as it aims to work with the AAPI communities to emphasize the importance of voting as well as to stress civic engagement and illustrate how elected officials and ballot measures directly affect the goals of the AAPI community and its members.

APIAVote is a national non-partisan, non-profit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of AAPIs in the electoral processes in the local, state, and national levels.