CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE: STAFF HONOREES
This year, CPAF is presenting its Champions for Change award to our compassionate and dedicated STAFF. The diverse team of 54 essential workers shows up 24/7, even during this pandemic, to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families. Our community is strengthened by their resilience and bravery.
We wanted to honor staff not only collectively as the Champions for Change but also individually by sharing highlights about them. Each week we will update with additional staff biographies.
Please consider donating to CPAF as part of our Annual Benefit with a staff tribute.
This week’s staff highlights…
Image Description: Miko, wearing a purple and green floral top with jeans and a visor, leans on a bamboo fence in front of a temple in Kyoto.
Miko, Virtual Community Outreach Specialist
Hometown: born and raised in Tokyo, Japan
Favorite Food: Good Bento Box, Chirashi sushi, Thai food, French Onion Soup, Molten chocolate fudge cake, Tiramisu, and Good Red wine
Favorite Book: Chasing small writings is getting harder for me, so I watch more movies. I like movies based on true stories. Naming a few I enjoyed: Hidden Figures, Hustlers, Lost Girls, The Farewell, Hillbilly Elegy, Nomadland etc… My all time favorite is The Joy Luck Club
Hobbies: Gardening, hiking, making healthy dressings and sweets, upcycling old jeans (to bags and accessories), DIY home projects
Best Vacation: I loved the Cruise to Bahama and Ensenada, visiting Canada (Banff and Victoria), and historical European countries but Vietnam and Thailand are on my bucket list for sure!!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I started as a volunteer in 2012. I wanted to work with people/family in need and utilize my skills and experience in mental counseling. CPAF was a perfect place I was looking for.
Primary Responsibilities: My role is to develop effective and safe outreach plans and platforms to disseminate information about CPAF’s services in Japanese community. Also, I wish to raise more awareness of effects of DV in the community and nurture survivor leaders to join EVAWI.
Impact of COVID-19: I was rehired during a Pandemic and working 100% remotely so no big environment shift or challenges for me. But reports of domestic abuse and family violence have increased during Covid in the US, the same as Japanese community. I hope to continue reaching out to my community and people in need.
Image Description: Kwan poses from a balcony by the beach with her hand under her chin wearing a black top.
Kwan, Senior Community Outreach Specialist (thai)
Hometown: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Favorite Food: Sushi
Favorite Book: If You Tell By Gregg Olsen
Hobbies: Spending time with my dogs
Best Vacation: Sedona
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I always want to help people and I’m glad that from my part CPAF can help a lot of Thai people.
Primary Responsibilities: I have a lot of connections for networking within the Thai community. I have met with Thai consulate, Thai leaders, and attend Thai events, including at the temple where I join and introduce CPAF to Thai community.
Impact of COVID-19: It changed how Thai community connect to each other. Before we met in person and now we try to connect through social media.
Staff Highlights from the week of 11/9-13/2020
Image Description:
Patima pictured in a black and white portrait wear a dark dress and a patterned scarf.
Patima, Shelter Program Director
Hometown: Los Angeles
Favorite Food: Chicken wings stir fried with Thai basil/Thai chili paste
Favorite Book: Power Politics by Arundhati Roy
Hobbies: Cooking/Pilates/Shopping
Best Vacation: Camping in the Baja Peninsula for 2 weeks
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I had never heard of CPAF until I actually searched my AOL (yes that long ago!) and saw that they were the only DV and SA organization that focused on helping API survivors. I was curious and wanted to volunteer initially and then was asked by the fabulous Volunteer Coordinator, Rucha, to apply for the FA position, and, well, the rest is history.....
Primary Responsibilities: My job is to make sure that our Shelter Programs run as smoothly as possible. How successful our shelter programs are in terms of providing services and running programs, is dependent upon our incredible staff that work out of our shelters on a daily basis (Family Advocates, Shelter Program Coordinators, Operations Team, Residential Counselors, Housing Coordinators, Shelter Program Managers).
Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 has altered our shelter in ways that no one would have ever anticipated. We have taken thoughtful and necessary safety precautions at all of our shelter sites and have had to scale back on how many staff are present at any given time. The challenges are still here and still growing, as COVID is not going away anytime soon.
Image Description:
Rachel pictured in a white and blue-striped dress inside a sky tram overlooking a forest with a city and blue skies in the background.
Rachel, Community Partnerships Manager
Hometown: Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania
Favorite Food: Peanut Butter
Favorite Book: Little Women
Hobbies: playing board games, checking out breweries, cooking/baking, visiting farmer’s markets
Best Vacation: a recent, memorable one was Barcelona
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Having worked in international development both in the field and from headquarters in the U.S., I was really interested in making a shift to working in much closer proximity to the community and working in a way that allowed me to develop more consistent, in-person relationships. I was tired of saying good bye to people and weathering big changes in my social circle, and I was ready to be done working across so many time-zones/the date line!
Primary Responsibilities: As the Community Partnerships Manager, I have the opportunity to focus on how CPAF forms and maintains relationships with many different kinds of community members. Our work necessitates that we have not only strong personal relationships, but also connections between institutions that are supportive, mutually beneficial, and ultimately allow us to work in the community more effectively. We don’t want to do this work alone, and we will never see our mission and vision being realized if we try to go it alone—so it’s important that resources are put into making sure our relationships and partnerships are strengthened.
Impact of COVID-19: For me, one of the biggest challenges posed by COVID-19 is the reliance on virtual platforms and video meetings. So much of my work—training, capacity building, networking, assessment—is with other people! The loss of face-to-face meetings, body language, and a sense of place has definitely impacted me. I’ve also had to get comfortable leading Zoom calls with 50+ people on them, which is slowly getting less intimidating. And it’s just one indicator that virtual platforms are often more accessible to a greater number of people than in-person forums. For sure that has been a bright spot in the last 7 months.
Staff Highlights from the week of 10/26-30/2020
Image Description: Michelle, wearing a gray sweater with dark pants and shirt, leaning against a white wall with streams of bright multi-color lights between panels.
Michelle, Administrative Assistant
Hometown: Monterey Park
Favorite food: Any type of noodles!
Favorite book: The Da Vinci Code
Hobbies: Listening to music from my favorite groups has been a big self-care in the last few months, along with playing with my dog, and watching shows or movies on Netflix.
Best Vacation: When I was in college, I did a short study abroad program during the summer in Taiwan. Though I had to attend classes, it was still really fun being with classmates, learning Mandarin, and getting involved other activities of the Taiwanese culture. My classmates and I enjoyed the delights of Taiwan's wondrous nightmarkets, and enjoyed day trips to different places with Taipei's simple and efficient metro system.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: When I graduated from college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, I just knew I wanted to help people. A friend of mine at the time
introduced me to CPAF as she had taken the advocate training prior. After completing the training, I began to volunteer, and did a summer internship at CPAF's Emergency Shelter. I went back to school for a Master’s program, and then came back to CPAF, and worked on CPAF's Hotline, Development Team, and now the Admin Team. Working at CPAF has really been an eye-opening experience, as domestic violence and sexual assault was hardly mentioned within my family while I was growing up. And now I understand there's more to the "violence" that kind of is an umbrella to the many behaviors we don't see from perpetrators behind closed doors.
Having worked in services, development, and now administration, I'm thankful to learn about the different ways that I can contribute to the clients we serve, the community that supports CPAF, as well as our staff who work hard every day to help survivors affected by domestic and sexual violence.
Primary Responsibilities: At CPAF, I provide support to our HR team, as well as in Admin and Fiscal functions.
Impact of COVID-19: When the Stay at Home order started, I was a little lost at first. The majority of my duties and functions revolve around the office site, and also around staff events. Given that we were asked to work remotely, and that staff functions would have become virtual, those were the major changes that I had to work towards.
I'm thankful for our managers and directors for making necessary changes to help staff work better remotely, and continuously looking for ways of doing things more efficiently. It's definitely been an ongoing journey since our remote work started. Duties and priorities change depend on circumstances, but I am grateful to be working and supporting within staff who are essential workers.
Image Description: Jo’s “pet therapist” Shimmer, a gray and white cat with blue eyes, pictured in front of a cartoon forest background with varying shades of green from Clips.
Jo, Shelter Program Manager
Hometown: South Pasadena
Favorite Food: Have so many favorites, but my current obsession is Crispy Hainan Chicken
Favorite Book: Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano (transformed my world view)
Hobbies: Sleeping
Best Vacation: A trip to NY, loved it.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Shelter work encompasses so many issues that I am passionate about which include but not limited to, health, food, and housing access. With each client and every challenge, there is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of how our society works and to hone our abilities in working with clients that are facing multiple barriers.
Primary Responsibilities: As shelter program manager, I manage an intrepid team of advocates, housing coordinator and residential counselors. They are superheroes!
Impact of COVID-19: Pre-pandemic, virtually all of our work with clients has been done in-person. In implementing the recommendations of the public health department, our work then shifted to on-line or telephone interactions, which remains difficult for staff. The silver lining is that we have had time to explore the online tools available to us and have found opportunities to expand the online materials available to clients. Currently each staff member is working to add to an online video resource for our families.
Mark, Grants Manager
Hometown: Lakewood, CA
Favorite Food: an Indian buffet
Favorite Book: Privilege, Power, and Difference, by Allan G. Johnson
Hobbies: reading, watching films, playing with my boys
Best Vacation: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was special because it was our first time leaving Cambodia (where we were living at the time) just for fun. My wife was expecting our younger son at the time, so it was our last vacation as a family of three!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Addressing and ending gender-based violence is an important issue for me, and the focus on API communities resonated well with me, having lived and worked in Cambodia for over 12 years.
Primary Responsibilities: As Grants Manager, I work to secure new and ongoing government funding for our work.
Impact of COVID-19: While my work lends itself fairly well to working remotely, I definitely miss the opportunity to engage more directly with our programs staff. It’s the exciting work that we are doing directly with survivors and with the community that energizes me, and these particular circumstances create some added distance from that inspiration!
Image Description: Nat, wearing dark gray leggings, a light gray shirt, white shoes and a visor, pictured standing on rocks in shallow water with graffitied rocks and a waterfall in the background.
Natchawi “Nat,” Community Program Director
Hometown: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Favorite Food: anything spicy especially noodle soup!
Favorite Book: Anne Frank : The Biography by Melissa Müller my very first book to learn about social injustice, gender inequity, discrimination and the impact of the conflict and war.
Hobbies: Playing tennis, gardening (revisiting my inner self) and hiking (any hiking trail recommendation send them my way!)
Best Vacation: Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia (the very first time that my husband and I traveled without our children!)
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: My goal and mission in life is to bring the unjust to justice, bring the voices of voiceless and forgotten population to be heard and seen, and to keep challenging the dominant paradigm which
discriminates, devalues and dehumanizes others of their being regarding their race, gender, age, ethnicity, ability, religion and so on and so forth. My personal mission and vision aligned with CPAF’s mission and vision and violence against women issues and experiences are so close to my heart.
Primary Responsibilities: I provide strategic direction on the development of community prevention and intervention programs in API communities and support the team to implement the programs providing crisis intervention services through multilingual 24/7 crisis lines, case management, counseling, peer counseling, youth leadership development, intergenerational work, parenting with nonviolence through effective community partnership and collaboration.
Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 brought tremendous challenges to provide crisis intervention services to API DV/SA survivors through virtual platforms and telephone services. CPAF moved the entire operations of 24/7 crisis intervention remotely within a week time with the advantage of existing infrastructure that was built prior we were able to continue to provide support without a gap in services. The opportunity brought to us during COVID-19 is the boundaries that CPAF has pushed through our virtual services and programs we provide especially the youth leadership training, wellness and healing groups including parenting with nonviolence, youth virtual engagement space and our state DV/SA certified advocate training. We were able to reach the population in the geographical location that we were not able to for instance from the Northern California or other state. This has brought the new paradigm to think critically about the virtual outreach strategy that we can do to reach out to API communities beyond LA county as well.
Image Description: Samantha, wearing a navy and cream striped dressed with a gray sweater and hat, pictured on a beach with sky and coastline in the background.
Samantha, Development Specialist
Hometown: Bowie, MD (The halfway point between D.C. and Annapolis as I like to describe it.)
Favorite Food: It depends on my mood, but I love curries—Thai, Japanese, Indian—and fruit!
Favorite Book: It's usually the one I'm currently reading, but my favorite author is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Hobbies: Traveling and visiting museums (pre-COVID); hiking, dog watching at the beach or park, and now virtual game nights with friends.
Best vacation: Last summer I reunited with close friends in the Philippines and fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit the Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan. But most of my favorite vacations were when friends and family visited me while I was living in Hawai'i. I would take them around to all my favorite spots for hiking, swimming, and local food.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: In short, it felt right. When I spoke with Karen from the Asian Pacific Community Fund about available positions for AmeriCorps members, she listed CPAF and the work they do and I told her, "That's the one." When I had my interview, it felt more like a conversation with friends, and during my first all-staff meeting it was further confirmed that I’d found the right organization. I'm grateful to be a part of CPAF’s efforts to support survivors
and their families, and to be at a place where we're having honest conversations about systemic racism and the intersectionality of oppression.
Primary Responsibilities: As an AmeriCorps VISTA, one of my guiding principles is capacity building. While running the social media accounts at CPAF, I’m working with the development director and other members of staff to establish a communications system that facilitates the telling of CPAF’s story.
Impact of COVID-19: I interviewed prior to the “Safer at Home” order but began my position during the pandemic. Originally, I was going to help with events in addition to supporting CPAF’s social media so my role shifted in assisting the development team with online fundraising in lieu of our gala. I filmed my first video entirely via Zoom and have met my co-workers mostly via Teams.
Staff Highlights from the week of 10/19-10/23/2020
Image Description: Dom, wearing gray camo patterned top and metallic pants, pictured in front of Studio Ghibli Museum’s yellow walls and glass ticket box with Totoro (large gray and white animal character with whiskers) inside.
Dom, Housing Coordinator
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
Favorite Food: Tacos
Favorite Book: Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Hobbies: Cooking, eating, hiking, camping, shopping, & traveling.
Best Vacation: Japan 2019!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I wanted to help others and make a difference in the community.
Primary Responsibilities: Prepare women for independent living by providing education on financial literacy and independent living skills.
Impact of COVID-19: Due to COVID-19, face-to-face interactions have turned into virtual meetings. It has impacted how staff builds rapport with clients. Its a new learning experience for staff to provide services on a virtual platform.
Anna, Community Program Manager - Prevention
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Favorite Food: Chirashi Bowl, Thai Spicy Basil Fried Rice, Jimmy John’s subs, Pizza, Bun thit nuong, Sopes, any thick, chewy, handmade noodles (i.e. biangbiang, pappardelle) – to name a few?
Hobbies: “Car”aoke, Journaling, Running (at least.. pre-covid), Writing extensive Yelp reviews, Learning original dance choreography/routines (usually hip-hop, jazz funk, and dancehall)
Best Vacation: Two-week trip to Boston, New York, and D.C., staying and hanging out with friends all along the way, taking on solo adventures during the day.
Primary Responsibilities: The focus of the prevention program at this time is to have youth and adult both recognize their own power and privileges in their positions and recognize the value in each other, and to see that as something they can work with rather than against. It’s understanding that youth have power and that adults have power and those powers may look differently but they most definitely can and should work in partnership to be an example of a healthy relationship, and to continue building and fostering the vision of a violence-free community.
We hope that the work we do through our prevention program energizes and nourishes conversations outside of our workshop circles; because that’s the point – to build that bridge across different community members and for them to take these conversations into their own hands and to initiate those conversations without organizations like CPAF, to build true community accountability and community care for the health and wellbeing of that community unit.
Impact of COVID-19: On the one hand, there’s been an increase in number of participants in groups because of accessibility from being virtual. On the other, also wanting to acknowledge whom we’re not able to reach because of lack of access to technology and not being able to access those underserved communities. And so, building the capacity in those we can reach to act as advocates for those who are unheard and unable to be in these virtual spaces – to be inclusive of who ‘community’ is and help us bring everyone into that picture.
Image Description: Adriana, wearing a white, button-up, long-sleeved shirt with her black and white dog on a fluffy pink pillow, and a Christmas tree and furniture behind them.
Adriana, Shelter Program Coordinator
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
Favorite Food: Thai Food
Favorite Book: I do not have a favorite book. I fall quick for each piece. In many ways, each builds me intellectually.
Hobbies: I love to read, hike, work-out and take long walks on beach
Best Vacation: Hawaii
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Fell in love with the vision and mission that cpaf grounds fundamental changes.
Primary Responsibilities: Module healthy relationships by building and strengthening family's independent skills.
Impact of COVID-19: Covid disrupted the flow of programs. It forced distanced on a group that ground in close relationships. Our families rely on close communication and proximity to build their community. However, Covid opened other platforms otherwise not accounted that we could expand mediums of interaction. Creativity during Covid became a necessity for our programs to survive.
Image Description: Heidi pictured wearing black scarf and black jacket holding a bouquet of pink flowers with window, restaurant patrons, and heat lamp in the background.
Heidi, Volunteer Program Coordinator
Hometown: South Bay, CA
Favorite Food: There are too many! Some of my favorites are: most Korean soupy foods, pho, sushi, pasta, and most shrimp dishes (all cuisines).
Favorite Book: The Fountainhead
Hobbies: A lot of my free time is spent with my 3-year-old poodle, Bear, who is extremely emotionally needy because he is just very loving and loves to play.
Best Vacation: My favorite vacation is when I went to South Korea to visit my grandparents a few years ago. My husband and I had a blast spending quality time with my grandparents, eating DELICIOUS food and desserts at all
hours (ranging from everything fried and spicy on the streets to all kinds of casseroles with incredible depth and flavors) and just getting more in touch with our heritage but also taking in all the cool advancements that we got to experience. We loved it so much that we would go there every year if we could!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: In my previous job, I worked with survivors of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence and I knew it was something that I would stay involved with for the long run. CPAF, as an organization, brings in another aspect that I personally deeply care about, helping the (API) immigrant population. Having grown up in an East Asian immigrant family myself, I have known and felt the need for organizations like CPAF to exist and cultivate growth in immigrant families that struggle with language and cultural barriers.
Primary responsibilities: My primary responsibilities are to recruit, onboard and engage volunteers and interns, making sure that both the needs of our organization and the interests of our volunteers and interns intersect.
Impact of COVID-19: My role has been affected by COVID-19 in many facets. With everything that has been going on in the last 6 months, folks are now more interested than ever in CPAF’s work, and many of our volunteers have more time available during the day. In addition, I needed to figure out how to create, implement and support new remote volunteering and internship opportunities.
Staff Highlights from the week of 10/12-10/16/2020
Image Description: Jane pictured wearing glasses white top and black shrug with event tables, chairs, and big windows in background.
Jane, Administrative Manager
Hometown: Cypress, California
Favorite Food: Anything spicy and/or rice
Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre
Hobbies: Checking out new restaurants and sharing about them with my friends and family.
Best Vacation: My honeymoon to Europe. I got to visit London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Santorini, Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid in 2.5 weeks. My husband and I were so tired, but it was amazing to see all the sights.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I have always wanted to do work to help the API community and utilize my counseling background. CPAF was a perfect fit for that. I do not do direct service anymore, but I really enjoy the behind the scenes work to help staff be able to do their work.
Primary Responsibilities: I am part of Human Resources, so I get to a play a part in finding the amazing folks we all get to work with.
Impact of COVID-19: With COVID-19, it has been more challenging to connect with everyone, since a lot of us are working from home. Thankfully via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, our team has found creative ways to connect with folks, but it's not the same. Through all this, I am once again reminded that humans are not meant to be isolated and we are meant to be in community. I am looking forward to the day that we can all have potlucks in the office again!
Jessica, Finance Manager
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Favorite Food: Mexican, Sushi, Charcuterie, there's really no end to this category.
Favorite Book: Recently, it's been Giraffes Can't Dance. I love reading it to my son but I don't think he enjoys it as much as I do. He turns the pages before I'm even halfway through the page.
Hobbies: Reading... by way of audiobooks. So I guess, listening. Audiobooks have been a great way for me to get some form of reading in my life now with a toddler since I get to listen to them while doing chores around the house and running errands.
Best vacation: Visiting my brother-in-law’s family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The food was always amazing and it was eye-opening exploring the places my husband grew up in.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Jane’s insta-stories of the famous CPAF potlucks! Half joking…
Having worked in the banking industry prior to, I enjoyed the fiscal and administrative nature of my position. However, in my time in banking, I also grew a desire to work with an organization that impacted people outside the realm of just finances. Luckily, through Jane, I was presented with an opportunity to make that transition a reality and so, here I am getting to work with awesome people who not only create a special work environment, but also contribute to the meaningful purpose of why CPAF exists.
Primary Responsibilities: I work closely with the rest of the Admin team in handling the logistics and finances of the agency. Specifically, I deal with aspects of the agency's budget, payroll, and bills, among other tasks.
Impact of COVID-19: Specifically, what challenges and opportunities have you experienced in your role due to the pandemic? A big challenge was adjusting to the new routine of working remotely with a toddler at home but it's also been a great opportunity for me to watch him grow up in his early years. I was actually a bit sad when returning to work after my maternity leave because I was going to miss out on his milestones and being a big part of his days, so it's really been a huge blessing to be able to be with him even though it can be challenging to balance everything day-to-day.
Image Description: Angela pictured wearing glasses and gray sweater inside a red phone booth in Solvang with four relatives.
Angela, Community Advocate
Hometown: St. Paul. MN
Favorite Food: Anything spicy, Japanese, Korean
Favorite Book: His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman
Hobbies: Art, video games, DnD, cooking, voice acting
Best Vacation: Paris 2017, it was my first time travelling solo and it was a great experience!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved DV work due to how many people in my own life were impacted by it. As an API American it was difficult to find resources in the Midwest, so when I moved to LA permanently, I was so excited to find an agency that specializes in the Asian population. At the time I wasn't sure if I would be able to work here, however I was hired on and have since been in different roles that have hugely contributed to my growth as a person.
Primary Responsibilities: Being based at our community center, I work with survivors who need assistance but may not always be able to enter into a shelter program. My duties include case-management, paraprofessional counseling, crisis intervention, hotline coverage and community partner engagement, among other things. I also conduct our art-based healing groups and assist with training and workshops internally and externally.
Impact of COVID-19: COVID has caused my team and I to really adjust our perspective of what kinds of crisis intervention we can provide as individuals working remotely. We continue to encounter much more intense levels of trauma and need than we would normally witness pre-COVID, and with that comes the need for staff to practice more resiliency and self-care in order to avoid burn-out than usual. It has been challenging to connect our families to resources when everything else has been impacted by the pandemic as well; there are programs that have closed their doors or resources that have run out at a faster rate than before etc.
Staff Highlights from the week of 10/5-10/9/2020
Image Description:
Portrait of Matthew with dark blue background and blue-patterned button-down shirt.
Matthew, Community Youth Organizer
Hometown: Rosemead, CA
Favorite Food: Pork Belly and Kimchi Tofu Soup and a side of Bulgogi
Favorite Book: Creatures of a Day - Irving Yalom
Hobbies: Dance, drawing, cooking, and experimenting with tea/milk tea recipes!
Best vacation: Working on a farm near the Black Forest in Germany for 2-weeks
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I wanted to bring my experience in youth organizing and program development to provide programming to API youth to openly explore their identities. I've grown so much through the 6 months that I've been here and I'm so happy to be able to work with so many knowledgeable and compassionate people.
Primary Responsibilities: Community Youth Organizer - I create spaces at CPAF for youth to connect with one another, learn about root causes of relationship violence, and advocate for changes they want to see in their community to help end violence. Those spaces are open to youth ages 13-18 and they are called Greenhouse, Know Your Roots, and Rooted Leadership Project! I also help to build generational bridges between youth and adult allies in this work by inviting CPAF's community to provide mentorship to the youth in Rooted Leadership Project. One of my favorite things about this role is how much I'm constantly learning from the experiences and thoughts that youth bring to the table.
Impact of COVID-19: It has been a challenge to figure out how to best support young leaders in virtual spaces, especially in a way that fosters a sense of community and supports their needs. Thankfully, these leaders have had so much interest in learning about themselves and helping to end violence in their communities that we've been able to co-create and nurture these virtual spaces for youth at CPAF. The virtual shift has also gotten rid of physical barriers for getting involved in this work, and our programs have continued to grow despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. As we move forward, my priority is to continue listening to and uplifting the needs and interests of these young leaders.
Janet, Shelter Program Advocate
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Favorite Food: Acai Bowl, pasta, and fried chicken
Favorite Book: Tuesdays with Morrie, Little Prince, Five People You Meet in Heaven, Harry Potter series
Hobbies: hiking with my dog, going on food adventures/trying out new places, going to concerts/music festivals
Best vacation: San Diego Trip with my boyfriend
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I believe it allows me to get in touch with my inner self as I work here when I learn from helping people in need they are also helping me grow to become a better version of myself. I also enjoy being a part of someone’s positive journey in life. The welcoming community CPAF has provided also made me want to be a part of the team.
Primary Responsibilities: As a shelter program advocate, my primary responsibility is working closely with survivors with whatever case management needs they come in with and connecting them with community resources. The best part is being able to watch the clients grow throughout the program; they become independent, determined, and have admirable resilience. I also evaluate the families' circumstances and give them directions to self-efficient goals and be an active listener as they reside at CPAF shelter.
Impact of COVID-19: Due to Covid-19, my role as an advocate shifted significantly because whereas I would interact with clients on a daily basis, that connection became limited and mostly remote. Since many community resources that families needed to access closed down, the team and I had to navigate other ways to advocate for the families residing at shelter outside of our normal procedures. Nonetheless, Covid-19 made me realize how supportive and strong our team is and that we did not lose focus of the goal we had as advocates.
Image Description:
Selfie of Diana (right) wearing sunglasses and jean jacket with her partner (left) in a black jacket and green-accented top at Big Sur with green mountain tops in the background.
Diana, Regional Domestic Violence Coordinator
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Favorite Food: Sopes, which I think is one of the most perfectly assembled foods.
Favorite Book: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex by INCITE Women of Color Against Violence.
Hobbies: Writing, reading, and consumption of all other creative or informative outlets (i.e. movies, T.V. shows, investigative journalism-driven podcasts, radio, museums, other visual art, cooking or skincare videos via YouTube, Just Dance 2020, and so on).
Best vacation: NYC.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: For so many reasons! More than I can succinctly say –the wonderful community reputation that CPAF has; the amazing folks to work with and for; the nuanced nature and responsibilities of this position itself. I think the DV field is truly the crux of all violence prevention work, reflective of the root cause of violence. And I wouldn’t want to do any other type of work. Being a part of a movement that is working towards ending all forms of systemic oppression and violence(s), including misogyny, racism, heterosexism, adultism, ableism and all the rest of it, means everything to me. I only hope to contribute something worthy and honor the movement as wholly and thoroughly as I wish to.
Primary Responsibilities: Per Service Planning Area (SPA) in L.A. County, there is a Regional Domestic Violence Coordinator who is designated to resolving the gap between Victim (Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault/Human Trafficking) Service Providers and Homeless Service Providers. As the intersections between DV/SA/HT and homelessness are becoming more visible and immediate, collaboration among agencies with specialties is essential so that we can holistically serve clients and do our best to place their nuanced, complicated, traumatic experiences at the center, meet people where they’re at. With the broad scope of this work and task at hand, my primary responsibilities for SPA 4 and with CPAF are training, partnership building, case consultation, expediting and assisting with referrals, resource guidance, and policy and funding advocacy.
Impact of COVID-19: Other than the devastating personal impact on individuals and families experiencing domestic violence and/or homelessness, COVID-19 has changed the landscape of service provision. For instance, shelter has grown even more complicated as everyone figures out how to maintain health safety for their staff and clients while bearing in mind the other safety concerns for clients fleeing violence and seeking services. On a positive note, I think this has forced providers to collaborate in new and uniquely creative ways, and has increased providers' availability and accessibility to engage in dialogues, meetings, and training on best practices.
Image Description:
Siedah pictured in a giant rainbow-colored deck chair on sand with rocks dividing the shore line of a body of water with slight waves, and trees in the distance.
Siedah, Shelter Program Coordinator
Hometown: born and raised in Los Angeles 🙂
Favorite Food: So many!...Belizean/Caribbean, Mediterranean, Vietnamese and Thai
Favorite Book: A recent favorite is The Sun and her flowers by Rupi Kaur but overall, I love reading food recipes
Hobbies: singing, going to concerts, trying new restaurants, and being anywhere near the beach
Best vacation: Negril, Jamaica
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I started interning with CPAF in 2013 through my BASW program. I learned about the DV movement from knowledgeable staff and working directly with survivors. Since then, I have been passionate about working with survivors and their families and feel proud to align my values with CPAF's vision.
Primary Responsibilities: As shelter program coordinator, my primary responsibility is overseeing, coordinating, and mostly facilitating program activities for emergency shelter residents. I work alongside amazing, shelter staff to provide supportive services.
Impact of COVID-19: The pandemic has changed the amount of staff we can have on-site each day; therefore, it also affects the amount of programming provided to the shelter residents. My role has changed due to providing more shelter coverage and basic needs services than program activities. However, the change has motivated me to deepen my creativity through a wider range of fun and healing activities and to learn about "non-traditional" ways of programming.
Staff Highlights from the week of 9/28-10/2/2020
Image Description: Matilda pictured between a split tree trunk covered in swatches of moss, wearing silvery gray traditional Thai clothing
MaTilda, Youth Engagement Specialist
Hometown: Monterey Park, CA
Favorite Food: Fruits, lots of fruit. Secretly, good dark chocolate.
Favorite Book: Howl’s Moving Castle
Hobbies: “Running” with my dog, swimming, badminton, making calendar schedules of my life, cooking, amateur bird watching/hiking, collecting tidbits of random facts
Next vacation: Thailand, Canada, East Coast
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I want to work at CPAF because growing up, sexual assault and domestic violence was not something that was widely discussed (but really need to be) in my community but was and still is unfortunately very prevalent. As I got older, I started to understand that domestic violence expressed itself in many forms, and one of them was the mental and verbal oppression that occurred between my parents-which effected and manifested itself in me and my brothers development.
When I arrived at college, I worked alongside students in the form of a residential advisor and began to move closer to organizations like Check It that worked to prevent and reduce instances of sexual assault and partner violence, while also pushing the community and students to move away from the culture of in-action and to a mind-set of
actively watching out for one another. This work really touched me because it addressed and acknowledged the cultural and mental barriers that exist in different communities against standing up to sexual assault and domestic violence (prevention and intervention)-which is why CPAF really drew my attention, it focused on a community, my community that looked at sexual assault and domestic violence survivors in the lens of shame and victim blaming and actively worked to break the cycle and acknowledge the intersectional struggles that exist in the community (language, jobs, immigration status, discrimination, stereotypes, racism).
Being in a community that was predominantly white and observing the racism, discrimination, and police violence that occurred pushed me towards actively fighting back against the oppressive system and changing the narrative for minority communities. Eventually, I came into a role that worked to give a voice to Asian, Desi, and Pacific Islander students and communities at Humboldt, pushing me back towards my roots. So when the opportunity arose to work in an organization that assisted both survivors and the Pacific Asian Community, I couldn’t think of a better way to serve and give back to the community that shaped me.
Primary Responsibilities: As a Youth Engagement Specialist, I facilitate school-based Healthy Relationship and Leadership workshops focusing on topics of Culture, Identity, Healthy Boundaries, Leadership/Advocacy skills, Teen Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault. Holding space for conversations about the intersection of gender and violence.
Impact of COVID-19:
We have been able to reach out to more youth virtually, no longer confined by distance or transportation.
At times it can feel really disconnected to facilitate virtually and not be able to see the youth face to face
Implementing activities and campaigns look different (negative and positive)
Ensuring materials and resources reach the youth
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Debra’s portrait in black and white with blurred background of tree foliage
Debra, Executive director
Hometown: Seoul
Favorite Food: Anything spicy and vegan
Favorite Book: The Quiltmaker’s Gift—it's a children’s book that adults can also enjoy.
Hobbies: playing/walking with my furry son Milo & playing board games with non-furry kids
Best vacation: backpacking in Kauai before kids & camping in Yosemite after kids
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: CPAF perfectly merged my passion in addressing gender violence with my commitment to support API immigrant community.
Primary Responsibilities: As ED [Executive Director], I have the good fortune to meet movement leaders and allies who have mentored, inspired, and supported me. I try to share both what and how I learned at CPAF.
Impact of COVID-19: I’m a consummate planner, so having so many unknown and unpredictable variables has definitely been challenging. I also have numerous meetings that have mostly gone virtual. While I REALLY miss seeing people in person, I am comforted by the fact that I’ve reduced my carbon footprint.
Image Description: Sarah pictured in cream sweater and blue plaid shawl with broad palm fronds behind her.
Sarah, Community Relations Specialist
Hometown: Simi Valley, CA
Favorite Food: Any Asian noodle dish! For example, I love pad thai, ramen, and món bún.
Favorite Book: I can't pick just one, but a recent favorite is The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the 21st Century by Grace Lee Boggs
Hobbies: reading, writing poetry, learning about medicine/health, power napping
Best vacation: Not a vacation, but I spent 4 months studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. I loved bonding with my host family, exploring the country, and learning about its sociopolitical system. It was also my first time in Europe and I traveled to several other countries while I was there, including Scotland, Germany, and Hungary.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: In college, I was an Asian American Studies minor and leader with Asian American student organizations. Not only did these spaces allow me to explore my identities, but they also taught me how to care and advocate for marginalized communities both within and beyond the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. After college, I wanted to practice applying those principles to spaces outside of schools, and CPAF has been an excellent place to start! I am glad to have found community with CPAF staff members and to spend every day working towards a world free from violence.
Primary Responsibilities: I work on the Community Partnerships team at CPAF as the Community Relations Specialist. I help facilitate CPAF's relationships with community partners, specifically colleges and universities, in order to spread awareness about CPAF's services and programming, collaborate on projects about domestic violence and/or sexual assault, and invite partners to join us in being United Against Violence in all communities. Community Partnership is a new reframing of our team at CPAF, and we're excited to explore the possibilities of what community partnerships mean! Examples of past partnerships include CPAF presenting at college/university advocate trainings, being a guest on panels, cross-posting information and materials on social media platforms, or tabling at school events. However, we are open to new ideas especially during the age of COVID-19.
Impact of COVID-19: Working remotely and virtually has definitely been a challenge because there are less opportunities to engage physically with the community, as we have done through things like tabling. Our partners are having a challenging enough time adapting their own work to pandemic conditions, so collaborations between CPAF and our partners must be intentional and look completely different than what partnerships have looked like in the past. However, meeting and working virtually has also opened up opportunities. It is easier to connect with college/university students in different locations and invite them to attend virtual events. Since virtual presentations do not require travel time, there are less logistics to determine for CPAF staff who want to lead a guest presentation. The COVID-19 pandemic has made a lot of situations unpredictable, but CPAF has proven its ability to be adaptable, thoughtful, and optimistic.
Staff Highlights from the week of 9/21-9/25/2020
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Maria pictured in white dress with blue graduation sash in front of grocery shelves.
Maria, community advocate
Hometown: El Monte, CA
Favorite Food: All kinds of noodle soups, especially INSTANT NOODLES!
Favorite Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
Hobbies: Spending time with my family, my friends, and my dogs Dobby and Hagrid. Watching pimple popping videos and ear-wax removals. Cooking, gardening, threading eyebrows, and embroidering!
Best vacation: Vietnam!
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: My mission statement has always been to improve the economic, social, and political conditions of under-served communities. Yet, through my involvement in API resource centers, womxn’s program, and studying family violence in college, I have expressed deeper interest in domestic violence and Sexual Assault within the API community. Working for CPAF would allow me to learn and grow in an organizational team setting—while contributing, strengthening, and expanding a cause I’ve been so passionate about.
Primary Responsibilities: The role of the community advocate is to provide direct services for survivors non-residential survivors of DVSA. That includes CPAF's 24 hour hotline, paraprofessional counseling and case management, shelter assessment and intake, accompaniment (to the courts, to file a police report, or SART), and advocacy in linking survivors to other community and partnering agencies, in language when applicable.
Impact of COVID-19: As a hotline counselor and advocate, I have observed that the length and intensity of the calls I have been receiving has increased since COVID-19. Both advocate and survivor have been working hard to not only navigate the traumas of abuse, but also the traumas of a pandemic that is affecting survivors economic, social, and emotional/physical well-being. Although it has been difficult to adapt to the challenges with the survivors, and the challenges of working from home, it has been a pleasure to work with various programs and projects that have emerged in order to create more resources for survivors.
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Close-up of Alfred with blue plaid collared shirt and cream-colored background.
Alfred, Family Advocate
Hometown: Mid City / Culver City, California
Favorite Food: Filipino / Chinese Food – Sinigang, Laing, Lumpia, Pancit Palabok, Siomai
Favorite Book: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Snow Falling on Cedars
Hobbies: reading/collecting comic books, walking/jogging, eating, travelling
Best vacation: Philippines 2010!!! I got to explore Boracay and Batangas. I have more of an appreciation now for traveling to learn more about my native language and culture.
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I was an intern at CPAF’s CC and ES years ago. After working in several medical and mental health settings, I remembered and was inspired by CPAF’s holistic approach to working with clients. Therefore, when given the opportunity to return to CPAF as an employee was given, I ran with it. I’m happy and excited to be back. More importantly, I’m ready to get to work!!!
Primary Responsibilities: I am a Family Advocate (FA) for our agency's shelter program. As a FA, I provide direct case management and counseling for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I also facilitate skill building workshops that promote healthy coping, non-violent parenting, and healthy communication.
Impact of COVID-19: My role and duties have changed due to the current pandemic because I now have to provide services that incorporates using masks, face shields, and social distancing. My colleagues and I now have to adapt to using new technologies for client interactions. Due to the increase of family violence caused by the quarantine, I am now working on hotline, which is something I have not done since I was an intern at CPAF seven years ago. The pandemic has allowed me to branch out with new ways of providing services that combine my education and experience as a social worker to help survivors in a holistic manner.
Staff Highlights from the week of 9/14-9/18/2020
Image Description:
Photo of Esther with her partner and twin toddlers in matching black and white plaid.
Esther, Community engagement Coordinator
Hometown: Monterey Park, born and raised.
Favorite Food: Tacos and Korean
Favorite Book: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Hobbies: Currently, tie-dying anything I can find in the house that is dyeable
Best Vacation: The most relaxing has been my Hawaiian honeymoon
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: As a new parent, I was excited to come back to CPAF (after a 3 year hiatus) to deepen my knowledge and practice of the Parenting with Nonviolence philosophy and how to create more opportunities for other parents and children in our communities to learn and develop deeper, connected relationships.
Primary Responsibilities: My title is Community Engagement Coordinator and I work alongside several others on CPAF's amazing Prevention Team!
My role is to provide culturally contextualized support and knowledge to parents in our API communities through dialogue. We use Parenting with Nonviolence (PNV) philosophy as a framework to look at all the different elements and experiences that help shape and influence our parenting choices.
The Parenting with Nonviolence philosophy guides us to be intentional in our parenting and to develop deep and connected relationships with our children. Our vision is to prevent violence from happening in our communities and that begins with knowing how to build healthy relationships within our families.
Impact of COVID-19: On the upside, COVID-19 has allowed me to spend more precious time with my twin toddlers. I had been torn about returning to work as I would be missing out on a lot of their day-to-day developments, but being able to work from home has taken that pressure off my shoulders. The shelter in place experience has definitely challenged me to be a more present person and has given me endless opportunities to practice empathy...on others AND most definitely myself.. The pandemic definitely highlighted the need for more empathy in our world and that is one of the core principles of Parenting with Nonviolence. I feel extremely lucky to be able to help move CPAF's mission forward with PNV at the heart. The pandemic has definitely allowed us space for introspection and to reassess priorities. I see a lot of growth happening with people on an individual level and even as an organization and that is hard, but exciting. Discomfort always precedes growth and we are all going to come out as super chia pets.
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Photo of Karina on empty, tree-lined street with shadows and a bright blue sky.
Karina, Remote Counselor
Hometown: Ipoh, Malaysia
Favorite Food: Laksa (I highly recommend Borneo Kalimantan in Alhambra, their laksa noodles are on point!)
Favorite Book: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Hobbies: Cooking, board games
Favorite Vacation Spot: Jeju Island in Korea
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: To be part of and learn from a team that truly cares about the well-being of the people around them, and I value the work that they do to build safer communities through outreach and education.
Primary Responsibilities: As a remote counselor, I was responsible for providing client services such as domestic violence case management and advocacy for the clients' needs including safe housing. I also provide crisis management and act as an avenue for resources to our hotline callers.
Impact of COVID-19: Joining a team completely remotely was initially challenging, but everyone on the team was very supportive and understanding. I have learned a lot, and am excited to apply these lifelong skills to future endeavors.
Staff Highlights from the week of 9/7-9/11/2020
Tiffany, Residential Counselor (RC)
Hometown: San Francisco
Favorite Food: Sushi
Favorite Book: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Hobbies: Going on walks and reading
Best vacation: Japan with my family
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: I wanted to be a part of something that was helping the community. I wanted to be able to learn more on how I could provide support and resources to those that needed someone to listen and be there for them. CPAF's mission and values resonated with me and I wanted to learn more about the cultural aspects when working with APIs and how we all can connect to create a brighter outlook for the future by being there for each other.
Primary Responsibilities: As a RC, I make sure I tend to the needs of clients in ES, providing support and crisis intervention. Communicating and ensuring the safety of the clients is a big portion as a RC, while also attending to the 24/7 hotline, where I provide emotional support or referrals to the appropriate resources/services.
Impact of COVID-19: My role has been affected by COVID-19 through the awareness of interactions. RCs are in the heart of ES, but to ensure the safety of the clients and staff, changes needed to be made so everyone could be safe and healthy during the pandemic. CPAF has been active on adjusting to the regulations surrounding COVID-19 as it is constantly evolving and ask for employee feedback to make sure any concerns regarding the employee's safety are addressed.
Lou, community response coordinator
Hometown: San Juan, Philippines
Favorite Food: SUSHI ❤️ , Sinigang, & instant Pancit Canton
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: Growing up in a dysfunctional household, I identified the need to provide services and support to marginalized families. CPAF provides a platform for me to learn about innovative strategies in addressing the gaps in service delivery to the API population, specifically DV/SA survivors.
Primary Responsibilities: As a community response coordinator, I develop and implement comprehensive trauma-informed practice initiatives for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. To achieve community engagement, I cultivate relationships with community partners and key stakeholders to ensure culturally and linguistically responsive services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Moreover, my current projects include spearheading the Help Room online platform, evaluating the social messaging platform used by Los Angeles County Asian communities, and coordinates the 24-hour multilingual hotline. These initiatives increase access to services and provide support for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, with a focus on the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community.
Impact of COVID-19 There was an increased level of effort to coordination and to increase our assistance to the API community due to the pandemic. We also intensified our community-centered approach to serving clients by delivering services through virtual and telephonic platforms. For example, we conduct a bi-weekly online wellness group to create space for healing and self-care. Moreover, we also created a partnership with the LA City Mayor’s Office and partner safe housing programs in providing free accommodations, case management, and access to services for survivors of domestic violence and their families through the Project Safe Haven program. As of today, we assisted a total of 17 families and 14 single adults since April of 2020.
Maria, Residential Counselor
Hometown: El Sereno
Favorite Food: Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo
Favorite Book: Of Mice and Men
Hobbies: Sing and cook either at the same time or individually.
Favorite Vacation Spot: Guatemala
Why I wanted to work with CPAF: The reason I chose to work at CPAF is to make a difference, to be able to let people know their story matters. To provide a safe place for them to tell their story. That they are worth it and help them transition from a victim to a survivor, help them find their voice.
Primary Responsibilities: Other than hotline, RC's do crisis counseling, ensure all clients are safe at ES [Emergency Shelter]. I work mainly on weekends. Friday overnight, Sunday and Monday overnight. As an RC we need to make sure the pantry has no expired food, that inventory does not run low (hygiene, bedding, house items, food, etc.). Check-in with clients, FA [Family Advocate] lets us know if they may be having a difficult day, so the RC checks in with them. RC assist with chores or even watching the little ones to allow moms to cook or have a minute for themselves. Many of the clients are out and about during the day and when they come back to ES in the afternoon or evening they open up to one and as an RC I am able to build rapport and be supportive when they need someone to listen.
Impact of COVID-19: I think that a challenge for me is social distancing. The RC room was moved to the front. No longer in the back area. When stationed in the back the RC room was always open unless a hotline call came through. The kids would run in and shared what they did at school, or during the day. This has been a challenge for me, personally because I feel a distance from the clients.
Sayaka and Patima have been very supportive. I am able to check in with either of them when need to. Jane and Michelle from CC [Community Center] have also called to check in with me. I appreciate it and can feel the love, CPAF is a family.