Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Family cookbook: our wider Asians of Decoded family submitted family recipes, favorite foods, and anything that they love to cook—we then leveraged our design department to create this beautiful cookbook, called SERVE IMMEDIATELY, the highlight of our 2021 programming.

Guest speakers: we brought in two sets of amazing speakers.

• Non-profit apparel brand Made in Chinatown spoke about cultural heritage and the impact of collaborating with local Asian-owned small businesses.

• Award-winning poet Kimberly Nguyen discussed intergenerational trauma, Asian women, mental health, and representation in media.

Short film screening: we selected the critically acclaimed landmark short Bao for the agency to watch together, and led a successful discussion session afterward where we talked about belonging, identity, West versus East, family, and tradition.

Playlists: we compiled two playlists of Asian music to share with the agency—one for traditional/folk songs and one for modern popular music.

Trivia night: we held a fun and engaging trivia night about AAPI history and geography of Asia, where first prize was a donation by our agency to a charity of the winner's choice.

Origami class: as a longtime paperfolder, I led a small class on how to fold an origami shrimp. We also discussed Asian art, and the history of Chinese paperfolding versus Japanese origami.

Resources list: we compiled and shared out a list of our favorite Asian fashion brands, writers, films, artists, restaurants, musicians, and events for our friends and colleagues to patronize, visit, and support.

Artist hero video: we profiled Pat Kim, a local Korean-American woodworker and artist who often incorporates his heritage into his works. In the 8-minute video, Kim gives a tour of his workshop, then creates a sculpture from start to finish while discussing his upbringing and identity. An homage to AAPIHM, this film was our 2022 magnum opus.

• Watch the video here.

Boba happy hours: we hosted two in-office happy hours for the wider agency with Asian small plates and snacks (dumplings, shrimp crackers, lumpia, and more), Asian American hard seltzers, and of course, various types of bubble tea. Chatter at both events ranged from weather to work to sports, but the focal point of the nights was decidedly the Asian fare. With food being such a defining feature of AAPI identity, we felt it only right that we centered food during our landmark in-person events for 2022.

Collaboration with Black ERG: though it was cancelled last-minute, we organized an interactive livestream in partnership with the Black ERG at the agency: inspired by the wildly popular Hot Ones YouTube series, 3 Asian and 3 Black colleagues were going to sit down in a room, eat different types of quintessentially Black and Asian hot sauces, and talk about race, culture, and the longtime intersection and interaction of Black and Asian communities—while livestreaming to the entire agency and fielding live questions from our co-workers.