Immigrant History Initiative

The Immigrant History Initiative is a non-profit organization founded in 2017 by two Asian American women passionate about bringing immigrant histories, like those from their own communities, into the mainstream. They understand the deep power that learning one’s own history can have on identity development, mental health, civic engagement, and community advocacy. 

 Based in northern New Jersey, IHI facilitators are available for both virtual and in-person professional development workshops that can be tailored to your district’s needs. IHI has facilitated customized trainings with Boston Public Schools, Princeton Public Schools, Robbinsville Public Schools, and many other public school districts, and is a respected curriculum developer offering free, high-quality K-12 lesson plans. 

 To bring IHI to your school or district, please contact them here. To apply for financial assistance, please get in touch with us at Teach Asian American Stories via our interest form.

YURI Education Project

YURI Education Project was founded by two long time Asian American educators who were former classroom teachers and are current teacher educators and educational leaders. YURI creates educational resources and experiences for cultural institutions, teachers, and PK-12 students. With a specialty in creating curricula on Asian American histories and stories, they aim to teach the power of coalition building in order to create understanding across diverse communities. YURI’s collaborators include teachers, teacher educators, curriculum designers, and university faculty, that are experts in both Asian American Studies and Education.  

YURI’s school based, and district level professional development is designed by Dr. Cathlin Goulding (YURI co-founder) and Dr. Karishma Desai (Rutgers GSE professor). YURI Education Project offers one and multiple day workshops on essential themes in Asian American Studies using an inquiry approach to professional learning. Their team of highly experienced teacher educators and university faculty provides a rigorous and accessible grounding in scholarship. At the same time, participants study their curriculum, locating points to intercede and augment it with Asian American histories and stories. This program supports educators in changing their instruction to reflect this unique and fast-growing racial demographic.

 To inquire, please contact YURI directly; alternatively, please feel free to get in touch with us at Teach Asian American Stories via our interest form, particularly if you wish to learn more about applying for a subsidy for this training.

South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

South Asian American stories are an integral part of the American story, yet little information is available to the public about these stories. SAADA’s work aims to bring these stories to light. Using primary artifacts directly from SAADA’s archive, our professional development workshops introduce participants to the rich history of South Asian Americans through the stories of incredible individuals and notable historical moments. Teachers will receive informational resources, lesson plans, and activities that they can use directly with their students.

SAADA’s work has been recognized with awards and support from the American Historical Association, Society of American Archivists, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Institute of Museum and Library Services, among others. The organization has been highlighted by the New York Times, the Atlantic, NPR, and other national and international media. SAADA is working to create a future where each person’s story is valued and given the dignity and importance it deserves.

Both online and in-person professional development opportunities are available. To inquire, visit the SAADA website and please contact SAADA directly at info@saada.org. 

Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice

 The Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice is the brainchild of Dr. Khyati Joshi and Shanelle Henry. It was originally born from a collaboration between Fairleigh Dickinson University and The American Conference on Diversity, and was first hosted in New Jersey over a decade ago. Its approach is based equally in the hand, head, and heart. They believe that a multi-pronged approach to equity and justice work and culturally responsive teaching leads to the most authentic and long-lasting changes, both in us as individuals and in our institutions.

TAAS is working with Dr. Joshi to schedule a one-day institute for teachers on teaching AAPI history and contributions. If you are interested in being notified when this workshop is scheduled, please contact Teach Asian American Stories via our interest form.

The Asian American Education Project

Founded in 2021 by civil rights activists Stewart and Pat Kwoh, The Asian American Education Project (AAEdu) provides free, online K-12 curriculum lessons on AAPI history for teachers and school districts nationwide. AAEdu offers frequent live, virtual PD workshops for teachers. 

If you are a curriculum provider and would like to join our network, please reach out via our interest form.