In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, CPC launched “Our Community, Our Stories” to share the personal stories of community members directly impacted by CPC. Through these stories, we celebrate our collective impacts and our community's contributions and resilience.  

Our fourth community story features Karen Li.

Karen Li is a high-energy alumna who is now studying Ethnicity, Race and Migration at Yale. For her, the future has many possibilities. Li has a strong interest in social justice efforts and is considering going into grassroots organizing and/or nonprofit management.

“I just imagine a better world, being a world where we can communicate with each other, where people are more compassionate.”

Born in Chinatown to immigrant parents, she lived on Mott Street in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and older sister. Then at the age of seven her family moved to public housing in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Despite the move, Li and her family still maintained strong ties to Chinatown since that was where her grandparents lived and where services, such as CPC and Chinese school, were located.

Li became involved in CPC while in high school. She first participated in the SYEP program where she became very close to the staff at Elizabeth Street. Then she applied for the Learn and Earn program, which she participated in her junior and senior year.

SYEP was Li’s first experience working at a job and earning an income. While there, she learned about all the challenges adapting to workplace etiquette, which helped prepare her for the professional world.

Li loved how CPC was a comfortable and casual environment with “friendly staff who cared about us” and gave her a real support system.

For Karen, a significant memory of CPC being a major support to her was when CPC staff advised her on her cover letter for an internship application. As a result, Karen secured an internship with Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou's office.

Li’s participation in Learn and Earn also helped her in the process of getting matched to Yale through the QuestBridge program. During her junior year, she received application support from staff members and took advantage of opportunities to visit colleges. One of Li’s favorite memories of the Learn and Earn program was being taken on a trip to Six Flags and Princeton.

“Coming from a low income family, I never had that type of opportunity to go to Six Flags and or even visit Princeton, because we didn't have a car. So that kind of opportunity is a memory I will always be grateful for”.

Li appreciated how CPC’s staff would go the extra mile to stay connected and make sure that young people have these experiences.

Li wants to give back to CPC “because it gave so much” to her. Though Li is still figuring out what she wants to do after college, giving back to her community and making the world a better place is definitely part of her plans.

Share Karen's story on social media using #cpcstories.

By sharing the stories of our community members, CPC hopes to inspire and empower all our communities and allies to use their voices to set forth the change they want to see as we rally together to #StopAsianHate.

ABOUT CPC

The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) is a social services organization that creates positive social change. Founded in 1965, CPC is the nation's largest Asian American social services organization and aims to promote the social and economic empowerment of Chinese American, immigrant, and low-income communities of New York City. CPC is the trusted partner to individuals and families striving to achieve goals in their education, family, community, and career. 

關於華策會

華人策劃協會（簡稱“華策會”）是一個致力於創造正向社會變革的社會服務機構。華策會成立於1965年，是美國最大的亞裔美國人社會服務機構，旨在促進紐約市華裔美國人，移民，及低收入社區的社會權益和經濟賦權。華策會是為實現其教育，家庭 ，社區及職業目標而努力的個人和家庭可信賴的機構。