San Francisco, CA - The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the nation's oldest and largest Asian American civil and human rights organization, is the recipient of a grant from the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF/the Health Forum).  APIAHF is an advocacy organization whose mission is to enable Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to attain the highest possible level of health and well-being.  Health care reform and health disparities are critical civil rights issues of today.
 
The grant for $15,000 was part of the Health Through Action National Civic Engagement Grant funds which are to be used solely to carry out activities to support national organizations which are working to engage their members, constituents, and communities in health advocacy and health care reform.
 
The JACL instituted the JACL Daniel K. Inouye Fellowship which is focused heavily in health related areas.  The Fellowship, named for the Honorable Senior Senator from Hawaii, is for a college graduate who works in the Washington, D.C. office of the JACL.  A Health Fair Tool Kit, which was developed by Naomi Lim, the first JACL Inouye Fellow, is available at the JACL website (www.jacl.org).  The current JACL Inouye Fellow is Shirley Tang from California.
 
APIAHF and the JACL both have headquarters in San Francisco, California, and they currently share office space in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Ho Tran is the CEO, and Dr. Marguerite Ro is Deputy Director of APIAHF with Deeana Jang as the Policy Director in their Washington, D.C. office.
 
National Executive Director of the JACL, Floyd Mori, said:  "The JACL is very grateful to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum for this grant which will help in furthering our work in the important area of health reform and health disparities which are evident among the community of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.  The JACL values its partnership with the Health Forum and will continue working with them toward better health for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans."