WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Tens of thousands of Asian immigrant women work in low-wage
jobs in garment, electronics, hotel, janitorial and other
low-wage manufacturing and service industries in the United
States. Women leaders at AIWA are no different – faced
with poverty, anti-immigrant sentiment, racism, and sexism
in their daily lives. It is within this context that AIWA
is committed to building the leadership and power of low-income
Asian immigrant women to be able to advocate for justice in
their communities and workplaces.
AIWA’s current organizing work focuses on two main
industries where low-income Asian immigrant women are heavily
concentrated. These include Northern California’s garment
industry (Oakland and San Francisco) and the electronics industry
(in the San Jose/Silicon Valley area).
AIWA has three main Leadership Development Programs to organize
and empower low-income Asian immigrant women:
- Committed to the leadership of Asian immigrant women,
AIWA’s Membership Board is the governing body
for the organization. Made up of immigrant women leaders
working in different low-wage industries, the Membership
Board organizes events, outreaches to the community, conducts
political education training and plans AIWA’s campaigns
for justice.
- The Workplace Literacy program teaches survival
English skills while focusing on issues affecting low-income
immigrant women such as workers’ rights and occupational
health and safety, as well as immigrant and women’s
rights. The program utilizes a popular education and peer
teaching model so that former students of the classes, immigrant
women, teach the classes with volunteers.
- Immigrant Women’s Leadership Academy (IWLA)
further develops and focuses on developing the leadership
skills of low-income Asian immigrant women. Through education
of the economic and social history of immigrant women in
the US, training in public speaking, networking, building
coalitions, organizing and facilitation skills; sponsoring
speakers forums for political education; and organizing
intensive leadership training retreats, IWLA develops the
collective leadership of Asian immigrant women.
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