AAPI Heritage Month Introduces New Events and Employee Resource Group

By Paola Adler

Each May since 2020, LADWP has celebrated Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. This year was particularly noteworthy, as the Department marked the debut of LADWP’s first official employee resource group: ASPIRE (Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Supporting Progress, Inclusion, Respect and Empowerment). Led by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with Communications and Corporate Strategy, the Department offered a slate of activities for employees to celebrate the month and Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) leadership.

Day of Service

On May 20, LADWP participated in the Department of Public Works’ Day of Service event to beautify and clean five historically AAPI neighborhoods across the city: Chinatown, Thai Town, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown and Koreatown/Little Bangladesh. The Department also provided hydration stations for the volunteers. This was LADWP’s second time partnering in the event alongside many other city and local government participants.

Virtual AAPI Events

Two virtual events took place the following week. The first, on May 22, was a virtual visit to the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Museum staff presented powerful artifacts, images and documents found in JANM’s collection that showcased the history of the Japanese American experience. Most powerful of all was a presentation by June Berk on her experience with World War II incarceration in Rohwer, Arkansas. The 144 attendees were moved by Berk’s story of tragedy, persecution and resilience, and were able to ask questions about how the experience affected her family and her views on discrimination in the U.S.