Renegades | Christine Chen on Getting Out The Vote!

The Co-Founder and Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) shares the importance of not only voting, but also staying engaged past election day

Welcome to Renegades, Gold House’s newsletter series spotlighting Asian Pacific leaders and creatives who are carving their own paths and defying stereotypes along the way. As election day quickly approaches, this week features Christine Chen, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of APIAVote, the nation’s leading national, nonpartisan organization to engage, educate, and empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to strengthen their voices and create impact.

Christine talks to us about her career journey through the world of advocacy and civic engagement, shifting API mindsets from “voting as a task” to “voting as a routine”, and knowledge-sharing community outreach strategies with the next generation of changemakers. For more information on how to get involved, visit APIAVote.org!

---

What did you want to be when you were growing? And how does it compare to what you currently do? 

Dad was an engineer, mom was an accountant. But I knew that wasn't what I was destined for, and they did as well. So I was very fortunate to have parents that were not necessarily just pushing me toward what they knew. Going to Ohio State University, I always thought I would be a business major, move to Chicago and start working there. The whole idea of politics, policy, and community organizing: these were never ideas or things that had been presented to me. These opportunities only really emerged once I was at Ohio State and was helping to organize around different Asian American issues. That’s how I got exposed to organizations like Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and the policy advocacy world here in Washington D.C.

Under your leadership, APIAVote achieved two historical milestones: attracting Joe Biden to speak directly to AAPI voters and contributing to the highest AAPI voter turnout in history. What do you believe were the key factors behind these groundbreaking successes? 

For over a decade, we’ve been seeing tremendous growth in the APIA community in all 50 states. We saw AAPI individuals make a real difference in places like Georgia and Nevada—big presidential battleground states—in all the local elections leading up to the 2020 elections, whether it was a Senate race, Congressional race, Governor’s race. The APIA voter numbers just increased so much during 2020 that it got everyone’s attention, especially in places like Georgia where the election was so close. 

When you look at the margin of victory for Biden in 2020 and you look at the number of APIAs that cast a ballot, when you do the math its about a 3x margin of victory from this community. People were caught off guard, they did not realize that there was such a large population. If those numbers hadn’t participated, we don’t know what that election might have looked like. And many of these were first time voters. 

Heading into 2020, we had bigger infrastructure. In 2019, we did 50 regional trainings to get our communities ready for not only the elections, but also to get counted in the 2020 census. We had resourced local organizations to do this work and those same institutions were the ones that ended up helping the community during COVID-19 and PPE distribution, and also during the rise of Asian violence. These organizations are important because they help connect the dotes; like look, decisions being made about COVID-19 or whether or not we’re addressing the rise in AAPI violence: they’re all being decided by those who are elected at the federal state or local level. So connecting peoples’ current needs to the local elections, that ultimately helped us increase the huge participation rate that we saw in 2020.

Moving from Ohio to Washington, DC, you took on prominent leadership roles early in your career. How did your time at the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) shape your perspective on AAPI advocacy? Can you share one of the most important takeaways from that experience? 

I’m very glad I started out with a membership-based organization because that really allowed me to understand the diverse communities in different states. OCA, by the time I left, had 50 chapters across the country. So I was able to understand what that level of infrastructure looked like, as well as what the populations looked like in the Midwest versus the Northeast, the West Coast, the Southeast, Southwest, it all varied. I already knew much of this coming from the Midwest, early in my career, I was the one that was flagging for everyone in DC, look there's growing populations between the East and West Coast. Because even when I started out in my career, it was very focused on the Coasts. 

Heading into 2020, we started to see the growth of AAPI civil rights advocacy organizations. We’re still not as strong when we’re not getting our community voting. So we’re leaving out a tool in our toolbox if we don’t get our community voting every single election cycle. I always say the work continues after election day because we hold the elected officials accountable: we meet with them to align on the priorities for the community, and we keep track of what legislation or policies are actually moving forward. We also make sure they hire API staffers or appoint AAPIs to different boards and commissions. That way, we can really be part of the solution process and not necessarily just flagging issues during election season as a voter. 

Your experience at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics as a Resident Fellow in 2022 gave you a unique platform to engage with young leaders. Was there a mentor, key figure, or friend you spoke to during that time that has had a lasting impact on your career journey? 

Two pivotal folks I always mention are Daphne Kwok and Karen Narasaki. When I first came in as an intern then later on as staff at OCA, Daphne was the executive director at that time. And Karen, before she went over to become the executive director of what we now know as the AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice), was also the Washington D.C. rep for the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League).

Seeing how women here in Washington D.C. were representing the community was eye-opening because for the longest time it was just the two of them; I got to see how they work in coalition with other civil rights advocacy organizations, understand not only how to work with the coalitions but then also to work with those on the hill, in actual federal agencies, and in the White House. It's really those lessons and inspiration, of having strong AAPI women do that work when no one else was doing it, that was what actually allowed me to shape my philosophy of “if we don’t have it, that means we need to build it”. Our community is continuing to grow, which is why I’m always honing in on building infrastructure to ultimately build our political power to be seen and heard.

Throughout your career, you’ve worked with both grassroots organizers and high-profile leaders. What do you believe has been one of the biggest challenges in maintaining these relationships and how did you overcome it? 

Everyone is coming into the space with different experiences and different cultural baggage and lenses, and we have to meet people where they are at, whether it's cultural, generational, or regional. I truly am looking at the diversity of our community in totality. So as a result, you have to pivot and address different types of people.

Sometimes, with those who are already politicized or really involved with politics, I’m always having to remind people that not everyone sees it the same way you do, not everyone has the same information as you: especially in this age of dis/misinformation. People used to say, “Oh, it’s just common sense.” But the reality is there's no such thing as universal, common sense anymore. Everyone's level of common sense is different based on who they are hanging out with and what information they are getting. So part of my job, I feel, is making sure those in D.C. or elected officials—essentially anyone who is not necessarily connected to the grassroots—are reminded of how they need to message or talk about these issues. It’s important for them to know what is really important to the community versus what else they might actually be focusing on policy-wise. 

Looking forward, what’s next for APIAVote? Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives you’re particularly excited about that will further amplify AAPI engagement in the civic space? 

Like I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t stop on election day. Now that we have hopefully a new set of voters, we want to make sure they continue to be engaged. Whether it's to educate them on their elected officials or other opportunities for them to join town halls or weigh in. But we want to make sure people feel like there is progress happening and understand how they can get involved if they choose to. We also want to remind them that, next year, there are local elections happening. 

We’re trying to change the culture of how our communities' relationship with civic engagement and voting. It should be seen as something you do on a regular basis, like paying taxes or going to the doctor or dentist. We need to try to ingrain that. Studies have shown that if you get a voter to vote 3x in a row, they’re more likely to be a lifetime voter. Especially with the emerging population of Gen Z voters, they’re a big part of the increase we’re seeing in APIA voters. How do we make sure that they don’t get discouraged? That they see progress, feel empowered, and understand the importance of voting every single election cycle?

After such an impactful career, what advice would you offer to someone just beginning their journey in advocacy or community organizing, especially in underrepresented communities like the AAPI population? 

Part of it is not getting burnt out. I’ve not taken a sabbatical yet even though I’ve been doing this for 30 years, but I’ve been able to keep going because I find success and joy along the way. Sometimes we tend to focus on the bigger problems of the world and get discouraged by their size. but I always look back and enjoy the interactions I’ve had with local partners and smaller successes, we always have to celebrate that. 

I’ve also learned that you’re not always going to get what you want in totality, so it's truly more about how do we keep moving it all forward. It’s like playing football: you just want to be moving down the field to ultimately have that touchdown. It’s certainly important to understand your greater vision of what you want to accomplish and what will make you happy, but it’s also important to celebrate all those little successes along the way. Ultimately, I’ve always been very happy—that's part of my personality—and it’s necessary for the longevity of this work. 

Your career has spanned decades of change in both the AAPI community and in the U.S. political landscape. Looking back, how has your personal definition of success evolved? Can you share a particular rewarding moment you have recently experienced? 

It’s all tied to my time at The Institution of Politics (IOP) over at Harvard. Because I was engaging with students every day, it unlocked new perspectives and questions that helped me truly understand what’s needed. One big realization I had through that work was that much of this world—advocacy and community organizing—is not actually written down. We need to start documenting this history as time continues to move on. In 2020, what we’ve faced in our community, with so many people leaning in and creating new organizations trying to get more involved, a lot of the tactics and strategies are actually the same throughout the decades: it's just re-emerging again.

So it was a big recognition moment for me, where we just need to learn and figure out a better way to document and relay this knowledge to this next generation that are eager and coming into this space to do the work. It's the same tactics or strategies, but maybe how you implement it is different, with social media and now AI.                  

Lightning Round 

Comfort Movie: This movie isn’t even out yet but I’m such a huge musical fan, I’m really excited about the Wicked movie

Winter or Summer: Summer

Go to Asian Snack: Those Korean seaweed potato chips from Calbee. And the honey butter ones! 

Hidden Talent/Fact: Maybe not so hidden but I’m also a singer!