History of NAAAP

NAAAP, the National Association of Asian American Professionals, was founded in 1982 in New York City. First established as the National Association of Young Asian Professionals, the name soon changed to embrace a broader range of Asian Pacific American (APA) professionals and to better reflect the rapidly changing demographic.

The organization at first provided informal networking and other activities for post-collegiate APA professionals and their families. Its commitment as an organization for all Asian ethnicities, and for all professions, made it different from other groups in the city.

The organization’s concept couldn’t stay bottled up for long and new chapters soon sprung up in Boston in 1986 and Chicago in 1987. These three chapters formed the beginnings of NAAAP National. Initially, NAAAP National consisted of informal networking and idea sharing amongst the local officers of the three chapters at an annual summer retreat, but the benefits of having a structured national entity soon became apparent.

NAAAP National’s 1991 retreat held in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was more structured and was made accessible to the general membership. 1991 also saw the creation of the NAAAP National Board. NAAAP National held its first “real” convention during the 1992 Labor Day weekend in Chicago with multiple tracks and programming, corporate sponsors and evening gala events. The Labor Day weekend timing of the convention was a tradition for several years. At the request of sponsors and career fair recruiters, the NAAAP National Convention finally changed to occur over a non-holiday weekend in 2000. The NAAAP National Convention site now rotates annually from city to city in North America. The Houston chapter was founded in 1994. The Asian Management
Business Association in Seattle joined NAAAP in 1992, and Club Asean in San Francicsco joined in 1996. These chapters officially changed their names to NAAAP-Seattle and NAAAP San Francisco in 1999.

To make NAAAP available to a wider audience, beginning in 1997, NAAAP National encouraged the development of chapter start-ups (known as Ventures) throughout North America. A few recent successful ventures who have achieved chapter status include Atlanta (in 2002), North Carolina (in 2006), Philadelphia (in 2006), and Colorado (in 2008). Currently, there over 25 chapters and ventures across North America.

Particularly noteworthy is NAAAP-Toronto, founded in 1999, which became NAAAP’s first Canadian chapter in 2001, and was the site of the NAAAP National Convention in 2003. Both Americans and Canadians of Asian Pacific Islander heritage share similar professional needs and challenges, and the growth of NAAAP into Canada reflects this.

Still an all-volunteer organization, NAAAP has grown nationally and internally as well. The NAAAP National Administration team has grown from three positions in 1991 to 12 today with a National Board of more than 20 directors, who represent the NAAAP chapters and ventures across North America. Realizing that greater collaboration and communication is essential, the National Board meets at the NAAAP National Convention, during the annual NAAAP National Leadership Retreat (first held in Dallas in 2001), and monthly teleconference calls.

2001 marked the first year that the NAAAP National Convention attracted over $100,000 in corporate sponsorship. The NAAAP National technology platform (”Backoffice”) was launched in 2002 and has been updated to provide a unified web presence and infrastructure for the chapters and ventures.

NAAAP partnered with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in 2002 to lead a first-of-its-kind study into APA Mentoring and its Effects on Salary Attainment on Career Advancement.

In 2003, NAAAP was invited to participate on a federal-level committee, under the auspices of the U.S. General Accounting Office, to contribute to a project on Key National Performance Indicators.

NAAAP has channeled relief aid from the APA community to victims of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, NAAAP launched its first major national fundraiser to raise money for the victims of tsunami-devastated Indonesia, where our ambitious goal of raising $25,000 was surpassed by the generosity of our members who gave an astounding $30,000.

2007 was noteworthy for the launch of the NAAAP National Career Center, an online nexus for job opportunities and resumes that targets the Asian Pacific American professionals.

This year marks a renewed organizational commitment to leadership and professional development, as NAAAP unveiled a more refined mission: NAAAP's mission is to:

Cultivate and empower leaders for professional excellence
Connect accomplished professionals for mutual success
Engage and participate with the community-at-large
Inspire leaders to make a meaningful difference in government, education, business, and society.
and even better, a new simple vision: “We make leaders!”

NAAAP has had the foremost APA leaders pass through its conventions and halls over the years, including:

Jerry Yang, co-founder, former CEO of Yahoo
Indra Nooyi, current CEO of PepsiCo
Elaine L. Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor
U.S. Congressman Michael Honda
Guy Kawasaki, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, formerly with Apple
Jane Hyun, author of “Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling,”
Qui Duc Nguyen, host and producer of KQED Public Radio
Former Washington State Governor, Gary Locke

NAAAP today is over 25 years old. Its ongoing commitment to professional and leadership development will help NAAAP continue to succeed for future years to come. However, this success would not happen without the enthusiasm, innovation and hard work of NAAAP’s members and sponsors. Be a part of NAAAP’s future as an active member, sponsor or officer, and help write the next chapter of NAAAP’s history!