America, Through an Asian American Lens
Asian Americans have been part of the American story for centuries, building communities, shaping industries, serving the country, creating culture, raising families, and helping define what America has become.
However, many of those stories remain unfamiliar, fragmented, or absent from the way American history is commonly told.
Asians of America exists to help preserve, document, and share those stories.
Through documentary storytelling, oral histories, historical research, educational media, and community collaboration, we explore the people, experiences, and events that have shaped Asian America and, through them, America itself.
Our Mission & Vision
Our Mission
To preserve, produce, and amplify Asian American histories, cultures, and contributions through documentary media, public humanities, education, oral history, and community-centered storytelling.
By connecting personal experiences with the larger movements of American history, we seek to make these stories accessible to audiences today while preserving them for generations to come.
Our Vision
To become a leading institution for Asian American cultural preservation, documentary storytelling, public education, and community partner.
We envision a future in which Asian American experiences are widely recognized as an essential part of the American story. Our long-term goal is to build a growing body of documentary media, oral histories, historical resources, and educational content representing the extraordinary diversity of Asian American communities across regions, generations, and cultures.
Over time, Asians of America aims to become both a storytelling organization and a public resource, helping communities preserve their histories while giving students, educators, researchers, families, and the broader public new ways to discover them.
Why These Stories Matter
Asian American history is not a single story.
It’s the story of immigrants and refugees, laborers and entrepreneurs, soldiers and activists, artists and educators, families establishing new communities, and generations navigating what it means to belong in America. It stretches from the earliest recorded Asian arrivals in what would become the United States to the communities continuing to reshape American life today.
Some of these histories are well documented. Others survive primarily through family memories, community archives, photographs, oral traditions, and the people who experienced them firsthand. As generations pass, there is an increasing need to preserve those stories before they are lost.
Asians of America wants to bring these stories together, not as something existing separate from American history, but rather as an integral part of it.
How We Face the Challenge
Documentary Storytelling
We develop documentary films and episodic media that explore Asian American communities through the people, places, and historical events that shaped them.
Rather than treating history as a collection of dates and milestones, our documentaries connect broader historical movements with personal experiences and community stories.
Oral Histories
Some of the most important historical records exist in the memories of the people who lived them.
We work to preserve firsthand accounts from individuals and families whose experiences illuminate migration, identity, community formation, cultural change, and everyday life across generations.
Historical Research
Personal stories become even more meaningful when understood within their historical context.
Our projects draw upon archival materials, historical records, academic scholarship, photographs, newspapers, community collections, and subject-matter expertise to connect individual experiences with larger events in American history.
Educational Media
The stories we document should remain useful long after a project ends.
As Asians of America grows, we intend to develop accessible educational resources that can support teachers, students, families, community organizations, and anyone interested in learning more about Asian American history.
Our Leadership
Asians of America is guided by a Board of Directors responsible for protecting the organization’s mission, providing strategic and financial oversight, and supporting the responsible development of its programs. Our leadership brings together experience from fields including community service, nonprofit leadership, media production, education, business, cultural engagement, and the arts.
Joe Chan
Founder and Board Chair
Nonprofit leader and cultural advocate.
Justin Rojas
Board Secretary
Brings Asian entertainment and fandoms to Western audiences.