Asian American Institute’s leadership programs aim to create a pipeline of informed, aware, and strategic leaders who are passionate about both leadership and Asian American issues. AAI will empower these leaders to be the catalysts for positive change in the Asian American community.

AAI aims to cultivate emerging leaders and strengthen existing leaders to create a network of change; we strive to build a collective force of strong Asian American leaders to be effective agents of change in the corporate, government, nonprofit, and academic sectors. AAI charges these leaders to take action and achieve results for the Asian American community. AAI’s leadership programs accomplish this by providing unique opportunities for leaders to build individual capacity through training, workshops, and experiential learning framed in an Asian American context. AAI provides general training in leadership development paired with specialized training on Asian American focused arenas such as identity, community, issues, and advocacy.

Impact Fellows Program

The Impact Fellows Program (IFP) is an intensive six-week leadership program seeking to develop young civic-minded leaders interested in working in the Asian American community. The goal of IFP is to develop a pipeline of young leaders who will make an impact in the Asian American community by becoming aware of social issues, and engaged in civic participation. Each year, IFP recruits and trains 15 young leaders with a focus on leadership development and workforce readiness. Fellows receive nearly 100 hours of training, including workshops on these issues and skills areas: Asian American identity; leadership training; communication, career development, networking, and team building; and, social justice issues. At the end of the training, the Fellows are placed in four-week internships with nonprofit and governmental agencies to learn about issues and organizations. During the internships, Fellows continue to meet on a weekly basis for additional leadership development including field trips to legislative representatives and non-profit institutions.

Asian American Leadership Forum

The annual Asian American Leadership Forum (AALF) is a unique conference whose goals are to bring together diverse people from different sectors, industries, and backgrounds to share, learn, and network. We seek to educate and train attendees on differences, issues, needs, and successes within the Asian American community. We hope our attendees will develop new skills to encourage multi-level and multi-disciplinary development.  AALF will also focus on the issues and events taking place in the current year to connect education and training to action and impact in the Chicago land and Midwest region.

AALF is a partnership between AAI, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), the National Association of Asian American Professionals – Chicago Chapter (NAAAP), and the University of Illinois-Chicago's Asian American Studies Program and Asian American Resource and Cultural Center. AALF is an interactive, people-focused learning opportunity that is subsidized by community resources and sponsors to bring value and accessibility to all members of the community. Now in its 8th year, AALF has gained infrastructure, community commitment, and credibility. The event continues to grow while bringing unique impact to extremely diverse constituents ranging from college students and new entrants to experts in the corporate, small business, non-profit, governmental, and academic sectors, including members of diverse Asian American ethnic communities.

Catalyst for Responsive Civic Leadership

AAI’s CRCL Program aims to more equitably distribute resources to the Asian American community by increasing Asian American representation in the leadership of key civic institutions.

The CRCL “Expanding the Circle” Leadership Training Series is designed to develop participants’ individual and group leadership skills related to board and commission service, and to increase familiarity with Asian American community issues. Through this program, AAI aims to develop Asian American leaders who are prepared to serve on leading civic boards. AAI also advocates to match training participants and other established Asian American leaders with civic board service opportunities. In addition, AAI, CRCL Program sponsors public roundtable discussions with Asian American board and commission members to open a policy dialogue between community members and the institutions that serve them.

Expanding the Circle: An Assessment of Asian American Participation in Metropolitan Chicago Civic Institutions