KGA is excited to welcome Mayta to our team!

Mayta Lor is a second-generation Hmong American, born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, with her bachelor’s degree in History and Southeast Asian Studies and a Certificate in Asian American Studies. Mayta has over ten years of experience working with Asian and Pacific Islander youth and over five years of professional nonprofit experience in grant writing, strategic fundraising, and building key partnerships. She has worked with nonprofit organizations such as LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics), the Little Tokyo Community Council, MAASU (Midwest Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Student Association), and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent. Mayta is passionate about community empowerment, creating intentional leadership pipelines, and advocating for resources and equal opportunities for marginalized communities and communities of color. She hopes to continue creating a more equitable world in affirming and empowering the experiences, ideas, and leadership of Southeast Asian women and youth of color.

Long Beach Gives is a 24-hour, online giving day that provides 150 + Long Beach nonprofits the opportunity to share their stories and build relationships with new donors and the community.

On Thursday, September 24, 2020, Help KGA fundraise and reach our $10K goal!
Join us & #LongBeachGives in celebrating and supporting the critical work of Long Beach nonprofits.

You can donate directly on our LB Gives Page or be a volunteer fundraiser.
Early giving starts on Thursday, Sept 17th!

For additional questions or info, please email justice@kgalb.org with LB Gives Fundraiser in the subject line.

Long Beach, August 20, 2020 – Khmer Girls in Action is proud to announce it has been selected as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year by Senator Lena Gonzalez, representing California’s 33rd Senate District!

Khmer Girls in Action (KGA) is one of over a hundred other nonprofits that will be honored by their state senators and assembly members for their tremendous contributions to the communities they serve.

Khmer Girls in Action invests in the leadership of young people to create social change needed in their community. Youth knowledge, power and experiences drive the organizations campaigns and create programs that uplift Southeast Asian women and youth to be community leaders who dismantle systemic oppression and advance gender, racial and economic justice.

Associate Director and founding member, Sophya Chum exclaims, “On behalf of our members, alumni, board & staff, Khmer Girls in Action would like to thank Senator Lena Gonzalez for this recognition! It is an honor to continue to work alongside leaders who advocate for the health and well-being of women, youth and our communities.”

Link to full Press Release

Khmer Girls in Action Featured in National Museum of American History Series by the Smithsonian Institution

Without a doubt, youth have shaped the course of history and fought fiercely for our democracy. Southeast Asian youth in Long Beach have empowered those with deep-rooted fear and trauma with the government to participate in civic engagement and turn out in elections.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History archives generations of courage and resistance in Young People Shake Up Elections (History Proves It) a video series where KGA is featured in Episode 4: Getting Informed!‘

Check Out the Whole Series Here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/democracy-exhibition/education/young-people-and-elections

GET YOUR VOTE ON!

We have a lot of things happening, read on to find out how you can help!

11 Days to Vote!

The California Voter’s Choice Act brings 11 days of voting starting this weekend, Saturday, February 22nd through election day on Tuesday, March 3rd!  

This new model makes voting accessible for everyday people to vote on weekends and have access to translated materials in 13 languages!  

Our vote is our power!  Visit www.lavote.net for more information.

PHONE BANKERS

Thursday, February 27th- Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 is a big year to connect, educate and mobilize our communities to vote! Our Integrated Voter Engagement Program is seeking volunteers to phone bank this week and for our summer and fall field campaigns.

Bi-lingual speakers in Khmer and Spanish and those with experience in canvassing are strongly encouraged to sign up and volunteer!

TUTORS

Every Monday & Wednesday 3:30- 5:30 PM

Our LIFE Program is seeking tutors from March through May. If you have experience working with high school students and/ or excel in the subject areas of Math, English and Science, consider volunteering today! Sign Up to Volunteer.

Read on in our Latest Newsletter: Click Here

The Welcoming and Safe Schools for All model resolution focuses on expanding “safe haven” schools to include all students impacted by the current climate of fear, hate, and discrimination. It provides commitments for local education agencies to take action in three broad areas to proactively uplift Welcoming and Safe Schools for All Students––Safety and Protection, Supports and Services, and Affirming and Celebrating Diversity.

The model resolution emerged from a successful delegation meeting of youth leaders from organizations affiliated with Youth Organize! California network with State Superintendent Tom Torlakson’s office, organized by the Advancement Project and Movement Strategy Center in May 2017. Since May 2017, an ad hoc committee of youth organizations including Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network, Californians for Justice, RYSE Center, Khmer Girls in Action, Del Norte and Tribal Lands Building Healthy Communities, Resilience Orange County, Dolores Huerta Foundation, and InnerCity Struggle have worked with the Advancement Project and Movement Strategy Center to draft a model resolution on Welcoming and Safe Schools for All.

The resolution highlights the experiences and needs of indigenous, African American, Latinx, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander students, undocumented, immigrant, and refugee students, transgender and LGBTQ students, Muslim and Sikh students, homeless students, English Learner students, foster youth, low-income students, students with special needs, and students impacted by the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

For more info visit https://yocalifornia.org/content/welcoming-safe-schools

Khmer Girls in Action is ready for another exciting year of empowering youth, building leadership and community power!  We are now accepting applications to our Young Women’s Empowerment Program and our Young Men’s Empowerment Program!

If you are a Khmer/ Southeast Asian sophomore or freshman who wants to make this school year fun while learning about your identity, culture and social justice then apply today!

Applications are due on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH!!!

YOUNG WOMEN’S EMPOWER PROGRAM (YWEP) Application
YOUNG MEN’S EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM (YMEP) Application

We prioritize Southeast Asian freshmen and sophomores who attend Poly, PAAL or Wilson and who live in Central Long Beach or in zip codes: 90806, 90813, and 90804.  However, if you have transportation to and from our office and back to your home, then please apply!   If you are not Southeast Asian but would still like to be part of KGA, you can also join our school club!  More info on clubs coming soon!

Not sure if you qualify? If you have any questions or would like more information please contact:
Alisha – alisha@kgalb.org  or Johnny- johnny@kgalb.org
You can also message us on IG @kgalongbeach

Our workshops take place once a week at our office which is located at
1355 Redondo Avenue Suite #9
Long Beach, Ca 90804
562.986.9415 | www.kgalb.org

As youth organizers rooted in working class and low-income communities of color, we are well acquainted with the pain that is felt when loved ones are lost to violence. Our hearts and solidarity are with the community members of Parkland, FL. We are also excited and inspired by the young people from Marjory Stoneman High School who have chosen to channel their grief and anger into a fight for change. Many of us became activists in direct response to injustices perpetrated against us, our families, and our communities. We too are dissatisfied with the status quo we inherited. We too feel the call to change this society we live in.

Unfortunately violence in America comes in many shapes and forms. Everyday in our communities we see both individual acts of interpersonal harm as well as state violence enacted by police, courts, immigration agents, and even our schools. Regardless of how it is expressed, one thing we know from personal experience is that violence causes pain. It takes people away from us, whether through death, incarceration, or deportation. It destroys families and it traumatizes young people. As we try to make sense of yet another mass shooting, we invite the rest of the country to join us in analyzing root causes and demanding transformative solutions.

We unite with the Parkland youth who have called on the entire country to move beyond thoughts and prayers and move into meaningful action. And we urge those concerned with making progress to think beyond the narrow debate of gun control vs. gun rights. Yes, we do have a gun problem in this country. There are too many of them and they are way too easy to access. We also have a systemic racism problem in this country. Historically, in the aftermath of tragic shootings such as the one in Parkland, the result has been laws that subject us – youth of color- to even more violence. Bringing more police into our schools, putting guns into the hands of our teachers, creating more reasons to lock up black and brown people, these are false solutions that increase the level of harm experienced in our day to day lives. If we truly want to make our society safe for everyone, we need solutions that address systemic injustice, invest in our communities, and rebuild social institutions that center human connection and supportive relationships.

This is why we are calling on policy makers at all levels of government to do the following:

• INCREASE INVESTMENTS in social, emotional, and mental health supports for all young people.
• DIVEST from the systems of incarceration and deportation and INVEST in quality public education for all, robust community programs, and universal healthcare.
• DIVEST from school police and absolutely DO NOT put guns into the hands of our teachers or other school staff.
• DO NOT feed the jail system by increasing the penalties for illegal gun possession.

To the activists around the country standing up for tighter gun laws, we wish for our movements to be in solidarity with each other. Therefore we ask the following of you:

• SUPPORT our vision of a safer society that is grounded in expanded democracy, racial justice, and a just economy.
• DO NOT fight for gun control laws that will bring further harm to communities of color.
• STAND WITH US to fight back against right wing control of our politics.

Finally, to the world of philanthropy and motivated individual donors, help us resource the movements we need by doing the following:

• PRIORITIZE GRASSROOTS organizing groups who have a track record of activating youth of color around these issues. We encourage you to support organizations directly and through collective funds such as the Youth For Safety and Justice Fund.
• Make LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS in our organizations so that we can sustainably do the time intensive work of growing and deepening our bases while also forging the broadest progressive alliances possible.

This crisis has opened up an important opportunity for us to unite across race and class to demand safe schools and communities for all people. The forces aligned to prevent meaningful changes to our gun laws are the same ones committed to keeping our communities under resourced and overpoliced. Fortunately for us, we who desire a society based on safety and inclusion outnumber those who would keep us separated and afraid. It is now up to us to build our collective power and win the change we desire, the change we deserve.

Visit the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) site and sign on to the statement

Late in the evening on March 13th after hours of community testimony, the Long Beach City Council voted 6-2 (Councilmembers Supernaw and Mungo voting no) to pass the Long Beach Values Act with several accessory motions, including a presentation from city staff on the proposed “carve-outs” or exclusions of certain immigrants from protections against deportations. The city council also voted 5-3 (Councilmembers Price, Supernaw, and Mungo voting no) to approve a city-run Deportation Defense Fund with a funding commitment of $250,000.

​Tuesday night’s vote is an important step in the history of Long Beach. Nearly a year after the sanctuary conversation began locally, and on the day Trump visited California for the first time, Long Beach furthered its commitment to including immigrants as part of our collective values. This night was also historic because of the unprecedented community support for prohibiting the entanglement of ICE with the Police Department and other city departments.

These important steps were only possible because Long Beach residents stood united. Public comment on the item was near unanimous and included youth, students, community leaders, legal experts, and many others in solidarity with the Cambodian refugee community to ask for no “carve-outs” of immigrants with past convictions. The community came through once again, as it has at previous city council votes on immigration issues. We expressed our support and commitment to a shared future with everyone at the table, and decision makers heard us loud and clear.

With this important step towards sanctuary for all, we remain undaunted by the challenges that lie ahead. On Tuesday night, the police department demonstrated the influence they have over some city councilmembers and displayed their passionate desire to criminalize and deport some immigrants. Tuesday night also reminded us of the need to continue to dispute the “good immigrant versus bad immigrant” narrative and instead embrace second chances and redemption for everyone. At a time when ICE is escalating the targeting of immigrants through deception and force, we need to stand with all communities rather than perpetuate divisive language.

​As a campaign and a community, we are committed to sitting down with the people, city staff (including the Long Beach Police Department), and councilmembers to finish what we started and make sanctuary for all a reality. The question before the city council is: will we have a Values Act that is inclusive of all immigrants or will we continue assisting ICE in terrorizing some of our communities?

Learn more about #SanctuaryLB
Download the Statement