NAMI San Francisco Presents the Third Annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Summit

Access and Equity in AAPI Mental Health: Centering Underserved Communities in San Francisco

May doubles as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. Join NAMI San Francisco for a meaningful conversation in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

This virtual panel will explore mental health access and equity across diverse AAPI communities. While often grouped together, AAPI communities represent a wide range of cultures, languages, migration histories, and lived experiences. This discussion will center the voices and needs of underserved and under-resourced communities—including Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities—who are often underrepresented in mental health spaces.

Together, our panelists will explore:

• Barriers to mental health care, including stigma, language access, and systemic challenges
• What culturally responsive and community-based mental health support looks like in practice
• The critical role of peer support and community connection
• The importance of early support for youth and teens

The event will include a moderated panel discussion followed by a live audience Q&A. Attendees will also receive a curated list of local mental health resources.

Event Details:
Date: May 12
Time: 5:00–6:00 PM
Location: Virtual (link provided upon registration)
Cost: Free

Who Should Attend:
Community members, families, educators, providers, advocates, and anyone interested in advancing mental health equity in AAPI communities.

Panelists:

Dr. Loan K Le, SFSU: Dr. Le is President and CEO of the Institute for Good Government and Inclusion (IGGI) and Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University. A political scientist focused on public policy and democratic inclusion, she is faculty advisor to a college mental health support initiative and has implemented numerous healing programs including creative artistic expression for healing efforts in higher education. Dr. Le is an active leader in national professional organizations, including the Association of Asian American Studies and the American Political Science Association, and is a two-time recipient of the Western Political Science Association’s Best Paper award in Asian Pacific American Politics. She earned her PhD in Political Science from UC Berkeley as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

Paul Hoang, LCSW: With over 20 years of field experience, Paul Hoang has a unique specialty of cross-discipline dynamics in mental health. While leading the Orange County Mobile Crisis Response Team, Paul developed his current mission and vision: to end suicide. Paul developed the first in the nation, DOL approved and certificated Community Mental Health Worker Apprenticeship Program to develop a pipeline for better qualified and more people tending to the field, runs a housing support contract to help the unhoused, develops therapeutic practice for and research into problematic gambling, and more. In his free time, he spends time with his family and plays basketball.

Michael Liao, MSW, NICOS Chinese Health Coalition: Michael’s career in social work has spanned various settings—including child welfare, domestic violence prevention, supervised visitation, mental health, and addictive disorder treatment and prevention. Michael is currently the Director of Programs for NICOS Chinese Health Coalition. For the past 25 years Michael has been engaged in capacity-building technical assistance and training, community-based research, community organizing, coalition building, and advocacy.

The AAPI Summit is part of NAMI SF x AAPI Mental Health, an event series focusing on AAPI mental health in May. We invite you to attend additional program:

Community Presentation: 廣東話教育晚會 / Cantonese Educational Evening(粤语/ in Cantonese) Tuesday May 19th

With questions, please contact Emma Peat, Director of Education Programming: emma@namisf.org.

We look forward to connecting with you on May 12!

NAMI SF Website

Learn more about our programs and how you can get involved. Register for upcoming support groups and classes.

NAMI SF Resources Page

General and community-specific resource pages and guides.

NAMI SF Resource Guide for Culturally Diverse Populations

Information about programs, resources, treatment centers, and more for diverse, multicultural communities.

Donate

NAMI San Francisco provides a variety of free mental health education and support to the AAPI community. Please visit our website to learn more. Support these efforts by donating today!