CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities

CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities is a grassroots movement building organization dedicated to organizing working-class Asian immigrants, tenants, and youth to fight for systemic justice and equitable communities. Founded in 1986 by Asian women in response to rising anti-Asian violence, the organization has spent four decades building institutional power across Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and working-class immigrant neighborhoods throughout New York City.

The agency organizes directly affected community members to combat predatory real estate speculation, tenant harassment, and gentrification. Through the Chinatown Tenants Union, the organization organizes low-income Chinese immigrant tenants in rent-stabilized and public housing buildings, providing tenant rights education, Know Your Rights workshops, and collective bargaining strategies to stop unlawful evictions and secure vital building repairs. Staff and member leaders organize public housing residents to demand safe, healthy living conditions and hold municipal housing authorities accountable.

Youth leadership development is cultivated through Asian Youth in Action, an intensive program that trains high school and college youth in community organizing, political education, and intersectional social justice. In addition, the organization builds coalitions with multiracial labor and housing justice alliances across New York City to advance pro-tenant legislation and equitable land use policies. Community members can participate by attending tenant meetings in Chinatown or connecting online. Supporters can advance the mission by volunteering for translation, joining public actions, or contributing financial donations.