In early May, California Executives’ Alliance members briefed the California Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color on My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) efforts across the state.

The legislative hearing hosted by the Select Committee, consisting of 22 Assemblymembers from across the state, took place as My Brother’s Keeper marked its second year. More than 240 communities throughout the country, including 26 cities in California, have taken up President Obama’s call and joined his MBK challenge to create pathways to success for boys and men of color. The hearing was supported by the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and the CEA.

Leaders from around California gathered to brief the Select Committee on cities’ plans and efforts to date, with a specific focus on Oakland, Sacramento, and Stockton. Along with city and community leaders, the Select Committee heard from Fred Blackwell, CEO, San Francisco Foundation; Shane Goldsmith, President and CEO, Liberty Hill Foundation; James Head, CEO, East Bay Community Foundation; and Matt Cervantes, Senior Program Officer, Sierra Health Foundation. Speakers offered compelling and action oriented testimony. Please view the hearing recording here.

In 2015, the CEA formalized a partnership with Assembly Select Committee on efforts that align with our work.

Addressing Economic, Health and Educational Disparities for API Youth

A bill authored by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and championed by more than 80 Asian-American and Pacific Islander advocacy organizations aims to uncover disparities within California’s diverse Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations.

AB 1726 (Bonta): Accounting for Health and Education in API Demographics Act (AHEAD Act) is a priority bill for both the California Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color, co-chaired by Assemblymember Bonta, and the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color. AB 1726 takes a critical and practical step for the API community by requiring higher education institutions and public health agencies to disaggregate data into additional categories. The bill requires the California Community Colleges, California State University, the University of California, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Healthcare Services to collect and release demographic data for the following additional populations: Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Thai, Fijian, and Tongan Americans. The data collected will include rates of admission, enrollment, completion and graduation in the education field, and disease rates, health insurance coverage, and birth and death rates for the health field.

Recent studies demonstrate that some communities within the API community have fallen behind in important measurements of public health and education. Although data shows the average API tends to have health insurance and is on track to obtaining a four-year degree, a break down by ethnicity demonstrates that Koreans, Cambodians, and Thai Americans have a higher percentage of being uninsured, and that Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and Hmong American adults have the lowest educational attainment of Asian American ethnic groups.