For Immediate Release
December 23, 2019
Livingston, New Jersey: On December 19, 2019, the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) awarded Ms. Holly Ham, former Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI), with the “Champion of Equal Education Rights” award. Ms. Ham received this honor for her outstanding support for advancing the noble cause of equal education rights and her excellent work to promote our dynamic Asian-American community.
Ms. Holly Ham has dedicated her prolific career in both the public and non-profit sectors to increasing democratic representation of Asian Americans and our community’s common welfare. In her official capacity as the Executive Director of WHIAAPI, Ms. Ham played a key role in facilitating the advancement of AACE’s policy recommendations and other concerns to the Federal Government under the Trump Administration. Moreover, her leadership provided effective channels of communication between AACE and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Her significant contributions to AACE’s fight for equal education rights are emblematic of the current administration’s willingness to grant equal protection of the laws to Asian Americans, a remarkable shift from the previous administration’s divisive politics.
In May, Ms. Holly Ham delivered the keynote speech at AACE’s First National Conference on Equal Education Rights, reaffirming that the American spirit stands for equal opportunity, not equal results. In October, Ms. Ham accepted a new position as Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency. We are confident that she will continue to work with our communities to promote innovation and prosperity for Asian-American families and businesses.
Mr. Yukong Zhao, the president of AACE said: “Ms. Holly Ham is an outstanding leader for the Asian-American community. Ms. Ham’s public advisory work at the Federal Government to inform and guide policies impacting AAPIs is complemented by her continued commitment to help strengthen families, neighborhoods and communities. As we send our sincere congratulations to Ms. Ham for accepting this well-deserved award, we also wish her all the success in her new post at the Department of Commerce!”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dr. Wenyuan Wu, telephone: (786) 393-8028, email: admin@asianamericanforeducation.org.
Ms. Swann Lee, telephone: (617) 906-6380, email: swanleeca@gmail.com
About the AACE: www.asianamericanforeducation.org
Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) is a non-political, nonprofit, grassroots national organization, the proven leader in fighting for Asian-American children’s equal educational rights. On May 15, 2015, the founders of AACE united 64 Asian-American organizations and jointly filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to request that they conduct investigations into Harvard University’s discriminatory admissions practices against Asian-American applicants. As the largest joint action taken by Asian-American communities over the last few decades, this complaint is now being investigated by the Justice Department. Over the years, we have advanced the cause of equal education rights for the Asian-American community.