The APEN has offices in Oakland Chinatown, Downtown Oakland, and Richmond. They utilize media to produce press releases and newsletters that can allow supporters to stay within the loop of the APEN’s latest campaigns and work.
They also utilize social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as platforms to share updates and circulate information regarding opportunities for members to get involved.
Their website features major funders that include many foundations and supporters and generous individual donations. A combination of grants, government contracts, and corporate sponsors contribute to funding APEN's work.
The APEN consists of 34 Staff Members and 10 Executive Board seats. Among the Staff of APEN are Organizers at varying levels for State, Youth, and Senior among regional areas. There are coordinators for Finances, Communications, and Research and Policy. There are Managers to support general operations, digital, and campaign policy, among many other positions. The Executive Board consists of chairs and directors who shape the future trajectory of APEN. The organization also relies on the work of volunteers and community leaders to support its campaigns and programs.
“All people have a right to a clean and healthy environment where their communities can live, work, learn, play, and thrive. Towards this vision, APEN brings a collective voice to develop an alternative agenda for environmental, social, and economic justice.
Through building an organized movement, we strive to bring fundamental changes to economic and social institutions that will prioritize public good over profits and promote the right of every person to a decent, safe, affordable quality of life and the right to participate in decisions affecting our lives. APEN holds this vision of environmental justice for all people. Our work focuses on Asian immigrant and refugee communities.”
The website clearly shows that their approach to collective community organizing together is stronger than the crises that threaten them. APEN’s mission is conveyed in the various campaigns and programs focusing on climate justice, immigrant rights, and workers’ rights.
The Love Canal disaster of 1970s
The publication of Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States in 1987 by the United Church of Christ Commission.
The rapid growth of the AAPI Population in the United States.
California’s environmental justice legislation.
The Covid-19 Pandemic.
The 1980s and 1990s were a period of momentum for the Environmental Justice movement in the U.S. There was a wave of awareness that communities of color began to realize the disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards such as toxic waste sites, air pollution, and contaminated water in their neighborhoods. APENs founders recognized that AAPI communities were often overlooked or ignored within the discussions around environmental justice. APEN saw this as an opportunity to build power and bring attention to these issues by organizing within the AAPI community.
The APEN was founded in the early 1990s. The website details its history from 1991, when following the attendance of the First National People of Color Environmental Justice Leadership Summit; the APEN sprouted into a full-blown idea. By 1993 the Asian Pacific Environmental Network was officiated as a non-profit organization. Its founding purpose was to address the environmental justice issues faced by Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States. The early structure of APEN consisted of small groups of organizers who worked to build relationships with AAPI communities in the Bay Area.