The following is a message from Kimberly Miyazawa Frank, Cambia's senior partner of diversity, equity and inclusion, who shared with employees about this year’s attacks on members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Today, I write to you both as an Asian American woman and as the new senior partner of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Cambia. As a company, we are appalled by the unconscionable attacks against members of the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ communities and all other groups based on hatred and bigotry.
This past year, there has also been a significant increase in anti-Asian sentiment and attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), including the recent murders in Atlanta. In addition to physical violence, AAPI community members report being denied service by businesses and rideshares, verbal harassment with racial slurs, and property vandalism. AAPI-owned businesses have also experienced racially motivated animosity and boycotts.
Racially motivated violence causes trauma affecting well-being and can have a lasting impact. The AAPI community in the four states served by our regional health plans is significantly larger compared to the nation.
To our AAPI employees, partners, and communities: We see you, and we stand with you against hate, intimidation, and violence.
As an organization where diverse voices, perspectives and experiences are foundational to serving our mission, we are committed to driving our DEI work forward. This includes:
- Continue to redesign policies, procedures and processes that limit opportunity or create a disparate impact for any of our employees or those we serve.
- Provide professional development resources and opportunities for all employees, especially those in underrepresented groups.
- Develop and support a new employee resource group for AAPI employees and allies.
- Amplify employees’ donations to nonprofits dedicated to protecting Asian Americans’ civil rights, including but not limited to the following organizations:
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice: @AAAJ_Atlanta
- Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: @aaldef
- National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance: @NQAPIA
- Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum: @APIAHF
- National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum: @napawf
Together we stand against racism, xenophobia, hate, and intolerance targeted at any community.
In the words of Asian American human rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, “We are all part of one another.”
