LOS ANGELES – Fil-Am community and labor activist Gloria T. Caoile was one of four outstanding community leaders who were honored during a dinner awards program hosted by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), a non-profit organization that encourages individuals to assume leadership positions at work and in the community.
The event was in celebration of LEAP’s 27th year of “growing leaders and was held on July 16 at the Omni Hotel. The dinner awards program was hosted by Channel 7 Eyewitness News anchor David Ono.
After accepting her award, Caoile, remarked, “I am very humbled by this award. This is a very meaningful because it symbolizes the essence of my work, because mentoring young people and encouraging leadership development have always been my life’s passion.”
Mrs. Caoile, who lives in Springfield, Virginia, and works in Washington D.C., was one of a group of Asian Pacific Islander Americans that was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the first ever Asian Pacific Commission. The commission reached out to the grassroot APA communities about the issues that affected them. Today, Caoile is pushing for voter participation among APA communities. “The electoral process – voter registration, voter education, voter protection, how to get the votes – most of these work is very tedious,” Caoile declared. “But it is tedious work that is very necessary; without these work, there is no political empowerment,” she said.
“Be a leader,” Caoile exhorted. “Be willing to do the small tasks; the small tasks, in turn, lead to big achievements,” Caoile said. “When a community participates in the political process, our voices are heard, our issues are ventilated, and our needs are met,” Caoile remarked. “It works because, collectively, through our efforts here in Los Angeles, and throughout the country, we have achieved some victories, like the election of Congresswoman Judy Chu to the US Congress.”
She closed by saying, “Always aim for achievement and forget success. I want to say to you, the next generation. There is so much more that we have to do. Our APA community needs your energy.” Caoile asked the young LEAP trainees to participate in the electoral process; fight for social and economic justice and gender equality.
“When you are in a position of power and authority, and I expect most of you are, do not forget to provide opportunities,” Caoile said.
Other honorees were Henry Gee, vice president of student services of Rio Hondo College; Kenneth Lee, president of Organization of Chinese Americans and former vice president of Security, US Operations of United Parcel Service; and Sree Sreenivasan, professor, Columbia journalism School and co-founder of South Asian Journalist Association.
“Today we are faced with some challenges due to the bad economy,” declared JD Hokoyama, LEAP President and CEO. “Through it all we have managed to continue LEAP’s program to grow leaders.” He said that the Asian Pacific American community has made huge gains following the election of President Barack Obama, with three Asian-Americans occupying cabinet positions in the White House. However, Hokoyama acknowledged that Asian Americans are still severely under-represented. “We still need to do a better job in every sector, although we are making gains, it is not enough,” Hokoyama deplored.
Hokoyama announced that LEAP is developing a new workshop – called leadership through philanthropy – which means giving back to the community through a leader’s “tie, talent and treasure.” n
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
