In March, Kites to Southeast Asia (SEA) traveled to Cambodia to visit with deported community members and their families to hold resource fairs and social events. Kanley Souet-Pich, Program Manager at the Center for Empowering Refugees & Immigrants (CERI), and her husband participated in this year’s trip. In this reflection, Kanley, shares her family’s journey…
This Women’s History Month, we spoke with Chhaya Chhoum (she/her), Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN), about her three decades of community organizing. Read on as she shares her experiences and reflections as a woman of color in leadership. SEAFN was founded in response to the 2002 U.S.-Cambodia Repatriation Agreement, which created…
Maya Iwata, Director of Strategic Partnerships at New Breath Foundation, reflects on her trip last Fall to Hawai’i to learn about systemic drivers behind the incarceration of Native Hawaiians. As we celebrate Black History Month and welcome the Lunar New Year in February, I reflect on New Breath Foundation’s commitment to cross-racial and cross-cultural solidarity.…
Eddy Zheng, president and founder of New Breath Foundation, shares his thoughts on hope and offers strengthening reminders for the year ahead. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. wars in Vietnam. This year is especially important to us as an organization that supports Southeast Asian organizations working on the frontlines to address the…
Last month, we announced our 2024 We Got Us Fund grantees. As we wind down grantmaking season, we met with New Breath Foundation’s Director of Programs, Claudia Leung, to learn more about how her background in the arts led her to philanthropy, what makes NBF’s programming unique, and what she’s looking forward to with NBF…
Eddy Zheng, president and founder of New Breath Foundation (NBF), shares insights on the organization’s exciting plans for the next three years. Eddy reflects on NBF’s journey and discusses New Breath’s newly developed strategic framework that looks ahead at NBF’s future steps. Part 1: Creating a Seat at the Table: New Breath Foundation’s Birth and…
At New Breath Foundation, we are committed to supporting people directly impacted by deportation and incarceration, ensuring they know they are not forgotten, and sharing a platform for their voices to be heard. Since the mid-1990s, over 16,000 Southeast Asian refugees have been deported under the Clinton-era Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA),…
This month, we had the privilege of sitting down with Alina Fa’aola, the founder and executive director of the Oakland Pacific Islander Network (OPIN). OPIN is dedicated to creating confident, high-impact Pacific Islander Leaders in every career path and industry and empowering Pacific Islander (PI) youth to thrive in every aspect of their lives. Alina…
We met with New Breath Foundation’s Sr. Director of Operations & Communications, Stephanie Gee, to reflect on her past 5 years with the organization. Stephanie shared what led her to this work, her pivot from Tech to Philanthropy, and some lessons she’s learned from her time at NBF. Stephanie is based in San Francisco, CA.…
Last month, New Breath Foundation held its annual celebration and awards ceremony, Collective Liberation 2024, where they featured a panel including three NBF Community Advisory Committee members: Lon Chhay of Asian Solidarity Collective; Leesa Nomura of California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) and F.O.U. Movement; and Ny Nourn of Asian Prisoner Support Committee and Survived…