Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 8, 1 August 2000 — WONG RESPONDS [ARTICLE]

WONG RESPONDS

from time to time, my name has appeared in print. I breathe deeply, and do not respond. This time, the reference included an organization that I am affiliated with. Therefore, I offer the following corrections: The Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute (APAWLI) is a non-profit organization solely dedicated to enhancing and enriching leadership skills among and for women leaders of Asian and Pacific Islander ancestry. By board policy, APAWLI takes absolutely no position for or against any issue. By "no position," I mean that APAWLI does not stand for, lobby, advocate, speak out for, speak out against, or in any other way communicate a position. As you might imagine, this policy has been the subject of considerable debate among a board filled with active and passionately involved women. We believe the women themselves - not the organization - are the voices of their respective communities and causes, whatever those might be. There are hundreds of individuals - mostly women, and some men - who support the organization's mission with personal contributions. However, APAWLI is not a membership organization. APAWLI's board consists of women of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Caucasian and Hawaiian ancestry. Our current chair is Hawaiian-Chinese. The chair-elect is of Korean ancestry. Our decisions are by consensus and delegation - no one "controls" the organization

or its mission. APAWLI board members and contributing supporters are very active people. The Japanese American Citizens' League (JACL) is only one of a very, very long list of organizations that these women and men are affiliated with and/or support. APAWLI's principle program is a year-long, fellowship intensive. APAWLI fe!lows are eompetitively chosen from applicants throughout the nation. Pacific Isianders who have been APAWLI fellows are Na'uanikīna'u Kamali'i, Meleanna Aluli Meyer, Marie Ma'o (ffom American Sāmoa), Dona Hanaike and Haunani Apoliona. Mervina Cash-Ka'eo is a fellow in this year's class. To date, APAWLI's fellows are indigenous Hawaiian and Samoan women and first, second, third and fourth generation women of Japanese, Chinese, Laotian, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Burmese, Korean and Indian ancestry. They work in business, naūonal and loeal govemment, nonprofit, philanthropic, advocacy, arts and educational organizations. Finally, I am awfully sorry to admit I do not know if Sen. Daniel Inouye knows anything at all about APAWLI. I have made a note to brief him about our organization. I have no further comment on the editorial content of the article. We must all make our own decisions about how we advance the needs and desires of our community and what kind of leadership we choose to emulate. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to eall. Mahalo for your patience. Norma Wong Honolulu 111 1 I v ill