Formerly known as API Obesity Prevention Alliance – API Forward Movement’s mission is to cultivate healthy, long-lasting, and vibrant Asian and Pacific Islander communities through grassroots organizing.
Our Vision:
We want a world where Asian and Pacific Islander communities – and all communities of color – have full power to access good health and a healthy environment.
Our History:
API Forward Movement (APIFM) was founded as the Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance, or APIOPA, in 2007. The founders were a group of community advocates who saw that Asians and Pacific Islanders were being left out of public health efforts to address the obesity epidemic, which is why our organization’s name centered obesity prevention at the time.
Our Work:
Since then, the organization’s focus has broadened to ensure APIs are served and represented in efforts to address a range of community health and environmental justice issues. This work has included COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL ASIAN AMERICAN FARMERS AND OTHER SMALL FARMERS OF COLOR, building a LOCAL FOOD HUB to distribute produce from these farmers to small corner stores in LA’s low-income neighborhoods and to the general public via COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE, as well as ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WITH HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH in San Gabriel Valley. Over the years, we’ve also offered dynamic active living programs, like monthly HIKING groups and community bike rides that integrate physical activity with education about the cultural history of LA’s Asian enclaves. More recently, we have also been working on transportation and parks, to ensure that discussions on these key issues include API faces, voices, cultures, and languages. With the support of LA County Department of Public Health’s CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE grant, we’ve also rolled out culturally responsive nutrition education and neighborhood-based advocacy for healthy food access for immigrant communities in Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Historic Filipinotown, and Chinatown.
