Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., founded in 1991. The organization serves as the voice for the Asian American community—the fastest-growing population in the U.S.—fighting for civil rights through education, litigation, and public policy advocacy. AAJC works to empower communities by bringing local and national constituencies together and ensuring Asian Americans can participate fully in democracy.
Financial Overview
From 2024 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing
Total Assets
$40.0M
-8.3% YoY
Annual Giving
$6.6M
+256.6% YoY
Grant Count
39
+69.6% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$169K
+110.3% YoY
Mission & Focus Areas
Mission Statement: To advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.
Primary Program Areas:
Voting Rights: Eliminating discriminatory barriers to voting for Asian Americans and others. AAJC provides technical assistance and training on voter-related issues including language assistance mandated by the Voting Rights Act, voter suppression, and election reform.
Anti-Asian Violence and Race Relations: Addressing hate and discrimination through advocacy for laws and policies that address anti-Asian hate, including improvements to hate crimes laws, government data collection, and increased resources to respond to hate crimes and incidents while building community safety.
Legal Services: The Los Angeles affiliate provides free intake, referral, counseling, and legal services to low-income and limited English proficient Asian American and Pacific Islander community members in eight Asian languages plus English, covering family law, domestic violence, immigration, citizenship, naturalization, and housing protection.
Impact Litigation: Challenging systemic issues and civil rights violations to benefit Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, including combating anti-Asian hate and racism, protecting voting rights, enhancing language access, and promoting immigrant rights.
Policy Advocacy: Advocating for policies to promote and expand support for underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, including enhanced health access, language accessibility, immigrant rights, disaggregated demographic data, education, outreach, and coalition building.
Digital Literacy and AI: Recent grantmaking focused on supporting community organizations with artificial intelligence and digital literacy initiatives.
Grantmaking
AAJC functions as both a direct service and grantmaking organization. Recent grantmaking activity includes:
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Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
AAJC maintains a national focus with primary grantmaking activity in New York, California, and Washington. The organization operates through regional affiliates in:
- Washington, D.C. (national headquarters)
- Chicago, Illinois
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Los Angeles, California
- San Francisco, California
Grant Distribution by State
States
Cities
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
As of 2024:
- Total Assets: $39,990,113
- Total Revenues: $12,596,676
- Total Expenses: $15,921,333
- Total Giving: $6,658,434
- Number of Employees: 48
As of 2023:
- Total Assets: $43.6M
- Total Revenues: $13.7M
- Total Expenses: $9.46M
- Total Liabilities: $2.29M
Los Angeles Affiliate (2023):
- Total Assets: $25,161,489
- Total Revenues: $14,549,816
- Total Expenses: $14,528,197
- Number of Employees: 99
| Metric | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $39,990,113 | $43,608,547 | $40,616,946 |
| Revenue | $12,596,676 | $13,736,910 | $11,134,690 |
| Expenses | $15,921,333 | $9,455,739 | $14,337,667 |
| Qualifying Distributions | — | — | — |
| Net Investment Income | $1,551,688 | $1,182,626 | $317,508 |
| Distributable Amount | — | — | — |
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2024
Grant Size Distribution
185 grants across all recorded years
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
No grants recorded for .
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
- John Yang – President and Executive Director
- Marie Nguyen – Director of Development
- Grace Pai – Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
- Sangini Brahmbhatt – Director of Development, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
Compensation Overview
From 2024 IRS filing
From 2024 filing
| Name | Title | Hours | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| KIM TRAN | CHAIR | 1 | — |
| GINA SHISHIMA | VICE CHAIR | 1 | — |
| LINDA MAR WEIDMAN | SECRETARY | 1 | — |
| MARK FORDHAM | TREASURER | 1 | — |
| JAVADE CHAUDHRI | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JUDY LAM | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JEFF HSI | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JACINTA TITIALII ABBOTT | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| KAREN KOREMATSU | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| HABIB ENAYETULLAH | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| EMILIO GONZALEZ | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JOAN HARATANI | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| KENZO KAWANABE | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JOANNE KENNEDY | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| ANDY LIU | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JANE SETO | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| ALICE TRUONG | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| TIM WANG | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| ANURAG VARMA | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JASON VE | BOARD MEMBER | 1 | — |
| JOHN C YANG | PRESIDENT & EXEC. DIR. | 40 | $245,000 |
| LUCY LEE | VP, FINANCE & OPERATIONS | 40 | $214,089 |
| JINY SHIN | VP, POLICY & PROGRAMS | 40 | $214,685 |
| GAYLE YAMADA | VP, DEVELOPMENT (UNTIL 10/24) | 40 | $360,571 |
| LISA CAMPBELL-THORNTON | VP, HR & ADMIN | 40 | $210,265 |
| NIYATI SHAH | DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION | 40 | $177,484 |
| NOAH BARON | ASST. DIR LITIGATION | 40 | $152,458 |
Recent News & Activity
Recent developments and announcements
AAJC has announced several recent grant initiatives:
Announced a $500,000 grant to support community organizations with AI and digital literacy
Asian Americans Advancing Justice \u2013 AAJC Announces $500,000 Grant to\Allocated an additional $280,000 in second-round digital literacy subgrants to four community partners in AANHPI communities
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Allocates Additional $280,000 inAnnounced support for community-based groups through a $250,000 grant from Google.org
Asian Americans Advancing Justice \u2013 AAJC to Support Community-Based\Received a grant from Google.org's AI Opportunity Fund
AAJC Receives Grant from Google.Org's AI Opportunity FundThe organization continues to engage in civil rights litigation, with recent activity including filing lawsuits challenging federal policies affecting Asian American communities.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice \u2013 AAJC Announces $500,000 Grant to\Subject Areas
Focus areas based on grantmaking activity
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Data last updated April 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated April 2026.
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