Digital series premieres on YouTube ahead of America’s 250th anniversary featuring innovators who have shaped our nation’s story, including YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, USB inventor Ajay Bhatt, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang, rapper MC Jin, music executive Sophia Chang, NBA champion Jeremy Lin, and culinary pioneer Martin Yan.

TAAF expands its award-winning “Asian+American” campaign with a new storytelling initiative inviting communities nationwide to reclaim overlooked AAPI history.

New York, NY — Today, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) is unveiling The United States of  Asian+America, a digital series produced in partnership with Wong Fu Productions that tells the untold stories of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) firsts, inventors, and industry pioneers behind America’s biggest industries and cultural shifts (watch the trailer here and the premiere episode here).

From the music topping the charts to technologies powering our daily lives to the food enjoyed in every corner of the country, AAPIs have played an outsized role in the experiences that define America today. Yet as the country prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, much of the public still has limited knowledge of AAPI history and influence. According to TAAF’s 2026 STAATUS Index, more than half (53%) of U.S. adults cannot name a single major moment in Asian American history, and just 7% believe AAPI communities have “a great deal” of influence on U.S. culture.

The United States of Asian+America will take viewers on a journey to meet the AAPI trailblazers who have shaped modern American life, through a series of original and intimate interviews featuring guests like:

• Ajay Bhatt (Chief Architect and Co-inventor, USB, PCI Express, Thunderbolt)
• Sophia Chang (first Asian woman in hip hop)
• Steve Chen (Co-Founder, YouTube)
• Dr. David Ho (Professor of Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons)
• MC Jin (Asian American hip-hop pioneer)
• Dr. Kamal Kalsi (Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves; Chief Medical Officer, Victory Medical Institute)
• Jessica Koga (winemaker, Schramsberg Vineyards)
• Jeremy Lin (NBA champion, Co-Founder, JLIN LLC and Board Chair, Jeremy Lin Foundation)
• Chef Martin Yan (Founder, President and TV host of Yan Can Cook! on PBS)
• Jerry Yang (Co-Founder, Yahoo! and Founder, AME Cloud Ventures)
• Madelyn Yu (former president of Philippine Nurses Association of America)
• And more

Each changemaker is paired with a host carrying their legacy forward:

• Jaeki Cho (Righteous Eats)
• Lois Cho (Founder of Cho Wines)
• Piper Curda (actress)
• Shruti Ganguly (award-winning filmmaker and writer)
• Jon Kung (Chef, Cookbook Author and Content Creator)
• Philip Wang (Co-Founder, Wong Fu Productions)

Episodes will be released on a rolling basis through the end of 2026 on TAAF and Wong Fu Productions‘ YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram channels.