Asian Pacific American Employee Association (APAEA)
July 15, 2010 “Focus Group” Teleconference
The purpose of this teleconference was to get a sensing from a limited number of early
& mid-career Asian Pacific American (APA) employees regarding their interest in the
Forest Service
’s Asian Pacific American Employee Association (APAEA) employee resource group.
Teleconference Objectives
1. Review the background, history, and past accomplishments of APAEA
2. Discuss the future of APAEA and its value to early & mid-career employees
3. Decide on next steps including future conference calls, organizational structure & leadership, operational guidelines
Participants: Aleta Eng, Annette Delos-Santos, Christina Liang, Clarisse Mack, Cliff
Alagar, Dale Hom, Jamie Palmer, Joan Louie, John Kusano, Judy Suing, Lynn Kanno,
Keeley Lee, Mary Marrs, Sharon Yeh, Wes Wong, Bill Otani, Yewah Lau, Rithy Bein
APAEA history & founding members
’ perspectives

How was APAEA most valuable to me personally?

How was APAEA most valuable to the Forest Service?
 In creating and building APAEA, what were the most important “lessons learned”?
John Kusano
– Provided opportunity to practice leadership; work on national programs
& projects w/ national leadership and diverse group; developed a network of friends & mentors; list of accomplishments in APAEA overview document; several APA members are now in positions of leadership.
Dale Hom – Personal growth, advocacy of APA members & mentoring opportunities; ability to work on special projects; 1998 conference provided networking opportunity; we always supported Agency goals.
Bill Otani – Critical mass of APA employees were able to get things accomplished; provided network, support system & friends who have been enriching; has helped connect others who have similar goals & issues; has helped establish APA employees in positions of leadership in FS.
Mary Marrs
– Though not a USDA-recognized employee group, it sought partnerships & positive outcomes that were beneficial to employees & leadership; operated with limited bureaucracy; was good at leveraging connections w/ WO & others; camaraderie with other APA became lifelong friendships & connections.
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New member perspectives on future of APAEA

How do you see APAEA helping you in the future?

How do you see APAEA helping the Forest Service in the future?

How can APAEA make the transition from current leadership to a new leadership?
Christian Liang
– Group to represent APA members; could provide education & outreach to public; ability to meet other APA in FS.
Clarisse Mack
– Support agency mission; innovative ideas, mentorship & networking, new opportunities & growth for new members; previous members can lead by example.
Cliff Alagar – Networking, creating friendships; address FS’s ranking in “best places to work
” & help make FS a better employer of choice; education & awareness to employees; have a APA mailing list for continuing awareness.
Annette Delo-Santos
– Personal growth; need to meet Civilian Labor Force; inviting new members be part of the transition process; consider USDA recognition; invite others who have interest in APA issues.
Jamie Palmer
– Contacts & connections; public outreach, mentoring program.
Joan Louie – Networking, meeting people w/ same goals; recruitment of APA; having a face-to-face meeting w/ leadership.
Judy Suing – Networking w/ other members, need to have a “face”; bring new employees into the FS & increase diversity to interact w/ our communities & visitors; mentoring program between leaders & new employees; more opportunities to meet w/
APAEA leadership.
Lynn Kanno
– Mentorship of new employees; need to know other APA’s in the FS & how they got to where they are.
Keely Lee
– Networking & camaraderie; helping to recruit APA employees; sharing new
& different perspectives; pairing older members w/ newer members; monthly meetings
& calls to connect; annual face-to-face meetings; Facebook social networking page for networking.
Sharon Yeh – Social networking & making connections w/ others; outreach & recruitment; need to stay relevant to American public by being diverse; mentorship with early leaders; what were the roles & structures of APAEA; what issues remain on the table?; share experiences.
Wes Wong
– Opportunity to practice leadership; looking for a sense of community & common ground; talk-story & meeting others face-to-face; help FS on retention of APA employees; educating APA employees, FS employees & public about the challenges faced by APA’s; feeling isolated, it’s important to tie in w/ each other; coordinate with
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White House Initiative on APA affairs; need to identify opportunities for mid-career APA; public outreach affecting perception; website for communications; advocacy of disparity, for management positions.
Yewah Lau – Peer network to provide advice & mentoring; use APA background to outreach to communities; group to provide perspective on diversity; how to serve diverse communities; overlap of leadership.
Aleta Eng – Networking between newer & older generations; networking for getting funding; strategic goal of reaching urban public & outreach to diverse publics; outreach to an early age (grade school, high school); learn about who is retiring & their roles in
APAEA.
Rithy Bein
– Just found out about APAEA, no comments.
Other discussion
USDA recognition - What are the benefits of USDA recognition? If APAEA is an official
USDA employee group, it may be able to participation in other programs; there could be some reporting commitments.
Funding
– Do employee resource groups get national funding? If there isn’t any national funding for employee resources group, are there other financial resources available?
Expanding APAEA participation
– Would like to include other potential members in future teleconferences & discussions. Should we keep discussion group limited in size?
We should use opportunities to invite others for teleconferences, add to mailing lists, have non-FS website, use social networking.
Networking models – Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) have a networking model that APAEA may be interested in using.
Next Steps
 Schedule next conference call
–Cliff Alagar & Mary Marrs will propose dates & coordinate next teleconference in August; others can send in agenda topics.
 Explore USDA-recognition process – Bill Otani & Mary Marrs will share information on the process, examples of other employee resource group charters & by-laws; will have as agenda topic at next teleconference.
 Transitioning to new leadership, organizational structure & operational guidelines
–
Founding APAEA members will share original APAEA proclamation, guidelines, past projects, organizational structure & list of past members.
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