KEN JEONG AND CA ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA AMONG RECIPIENTS

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 13, 2021 – Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California today announced its 2021 honorees for its 38th Anniversary Gala, United in Action: RISE UP. Scheduled for this October, the event will serve as a celebration of the strength and solidarity of the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPIs) communities over the past year. The recipients, selected by the nonprofit’s Board of Directors are:
- CA Attorney General Rob Bonta for the Public Service Award;
- Actor and Activist Dr Ken Jeong for the Public Image Award;
- Filmmaker and Producer Melvin Mar for the Public Image Award;
- Founder and CEO of NextShark, Benny Luo for the Community Partner Award; and
- Victim Advocate Hong Lee for the Joseph Ileto Courage Award.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California presents awards to individuals or groups whose work and/or collaborations have made significant and positive impact on the AANHPI communities through work in public service, advocacy, entertainment, and the media. Past honorees have included CA Gov. Gavin Newsom, Actor George Takei, NALEO Educational Fund, AngryAsianMan.com’s Phil Yu, and the late John Eric Swing of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA).
This year’s anniversary gala will be a hybrid event – an in-person VIP reception by-invitation on Thursday, October 21, 2021, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel rooftop deck in Downtown Los Angeles and a free live-streamed virtual program for the general public on Friday, October 22, 2021. The annual event, expected to reach over 10,000 people, is one of the most anticipated in the AANHPI community. To register for the free virtual program, go to: AdvancingJustice-LA.org.
The gala serves as Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California’s premier fundraising event for the year. Its 2021 fundraising season kicked off with commitments, thus far, from sponsors and donors such as SoCal Gas (Gala Chair), Dr. Susan Chung, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast NBCUniversal, UPS, Bank of America, Nielsen, Cathay Bank, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, So Cal Edison, and more. The full list of sponsors is here. For sponsorship opportunities, contact JHu@ajsocal.org.
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Media Contact:
Liza Ameen, (213) 241-0258
LAmeen@ajsocal.org