This Year’s Challenges
Looking back on 2025, it’s difficult to fully grasp the year. Our communities and our democracies have been harmed in ways that impact us all. In 2020, a virus was attacking humanity; this year, the attacks have been political, social, and ideological, unfolding both domestically and internationally.
There’s been a constant cycle of reactivity, marked by a persistent ‘shock and awe’ energy: we’re attacked, we defend, we go into rapid response mode, and then we try to figure out a long-term plan. As this mentally and emotionally draining cycle continues, a scarcity mindset settles in. People want to protect what they have. Institutions fear being targeted (with some even afraid of being labeled a “terrorist” organization), and that fear freezes them. It’s not that the money isn’t out there; it is. The challenge is whether those with resources are willing and able to move them meaningfully.
Keeping Families Together
“Keeping families together” has always been central to our mission. To us, this means fighting against the systems designed to tear families apart. It means refusing to normalize the violence of separation. It means seeing the humanity of our communities even when the world refuses to.
Throughout this year, I have kept grounding myself in the reasons why I started this foundation in the first place. My lived experience–being separated from my family for 21 years because of my incarceration–has shaped it from the beginning. I intimately know the kind of trauma I hope no one else ever has to experience, the same trauma affecting communities of color, especially immigrants and refugees.
This year marked the 50th anniversary of the U.S. wars across Southeast Asia. Yet instead of reckoning with that history, the administration continues to perpetuate harm. Detentions, raids, deportations, and family separations deepen existing wounds and create new ones—while Southeast Asian communities remain largely invisibilized. Even as we uplift SEA organizations working at the intersections of incarceration, deportation, and detention, we’re not seeing a broader public shift in understanding. But the urgency is always with the people. The intergenerational trauma our communities carry is a direct result of U.S. foreign policy, and it’s unfortunate how quickly that history is forgotten or not realized.
This year forced us to question and respond: How do we take care of our team and our communities while everything around us feels unstable?
Moving and Responding as a Team
When I try to pinpoint defining moments of 2025, what comes to mind is how difficult fundraising has been and how the year demanded flexibility. We made rapid adjustments as a team: our funding schedule was moved up by two months, enabling us to deploy resources more quickly in response to urgent needs. When it became clear we wouldn’t be able to distribute our original goal of $1 million this year, we recalibrated it to $800,000. We modified our budget by making sacrifices while ensuring our staff remained supported. Ultimately, our team was able to pivot because of our alignment in shared values.
We also invited a healing justice practitioner to support safe, honest, and courageous dialogue about ongoing events. Our time together allowed us to address the tensions and conflicts we were carrying, to practice showing up with integrity, and to remember that when we commit to something, we show up because we have chosen to. These moments reminded us that integrity, honesty, and shared values are part of New Breath’s ecosystem.
Our Form of Boldness
We’ve always been bold—simply by staying committed to an issue area that isn’t “popular” and that many funders avoid out of fear or discomfort. For us, boldness is a form of authenticity and responsibility, to ourselves, to our grantee partners, to our funding partners, and to the communities we care about. It keeps us rooted in our purpose, even when the landscape is uncertain.
As we grow and evolve, authenticity matters even more. We’re bridging sectors and communities, holding vulnerability, and navigating natural, personal, and professional challenges. Tension and conflict still arise. But when we center authenticity and care, we create room for collective learning and collective healing.
Looking Ahead into 2026
If I had to capture this year in one word, it would be breath.
Because breath allows us to see what’s possible.
As long as we’re breathing, there is hope. There are opportunities to heal.
As we move towards 2026, I’m finding hope in the places of abundance, especially in our relationships. Our grantee and funding partners remind us why this work matters. They trust us, allowing us to walk alongside them.
I continue to move forward, knowing that we are organizing. We are building authentic connections. We are nurturing trust. And we are more powerful together.
