Who is 18MillionRising?

18MillionRising.org (18MR.org) brings Asian American communities together online and offline to reimagine Asian American identity with nuance, specificity, and power. We are using this Asian American identity as the foundation to build a more just and creative world where our experiences are affirmed, our leadership is valued, and all of us have the opportunity to thrive.

Using technology and popular culture, we develop new ways for Asian Americans and our allies to collaborate, create new ways of being, and transform the world around us. We utilize digital-first advocacy tactics to elevate the voices of and mobilize our over 120,000 members to take action on issues that matter to them. We create meeting places online where young Asian Americans can deliberate together about what it means to be Asian American in the 21st century.

Find out more about us and our work here.

Our Wins

We launched just before the 2012 Presidential election with a mission to register and turn out young Asian American and Pacific Islander voters across the country. Since then, we’ve engaged AAPIs in a wide range of civic engagement activities, getting out and protecting our right to vote.

2012

• We formed a coalition with over 40 AAPI organizations across the U.S., helping them bring the voter registration process online for hundreds of thousands of members.

• We created some of the first online content tailored to young AAPI voters, like voter registration memes for sharing across social media.

• We collaborated with pop culture creators to produce and distribute PSAs tailored to AAPIs online, like this funny series focused on Desi voters with actors Parvesh Cheena and Sonal Shah, and this PSA with Jubilee Project and Far East Movement.

• We created the digital version of the first California Statewide APIA Voter Guide, developed by Asian Pacific Environmental Network and Mobilize the Immigrant Vote.

• Over 100 members sent us their selfies with their reasons for voting.

2014

• We created and distributed a new California Statewide AAPI Voter Guide, developed by Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

• We collaborated with activist designer Sandra Khalifa to channel Grace Lee Boggs for National Voter Registration Day.

• We supported Rock the Vote’s #CareLikeCrazy campaign, getting featuring actor/dancer Gabriel Valenciano.

• When 40,000 Georgia voters were mysteriously not registered for the 2014 election, we teamed up with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Georgia, Moral Monday Georgia, and Rise Up Georgia to hold the Secretary of State accountable and ensure that communities of color could exercise their right to vote.

2016

• We collaborated with investigative journalist Greg Palast, who broke the story about “Interstate Crosscheck” – a state-based program designed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that systematically purges registered voters if their first and last name is shared with a voter in another state. We mobilized tens of thousands of people against it, and multiple states have since either withdrawn from or considered legislation to withdraw from the program.

• We continued our partnership on a new California AAPI Voter Guide with newly formed AAPIs for Civic Empowerment.

• We started working on our first standalone tech tool, VoterVOX. Conceived by recognizing the value of personal experience translating for our families and designed after an extensive community-led process, VoterVOX is the first web tool by and for limited English speaking communities to connect and get personalized assistance when they go to the polls.

• We produced Voices of Our Vote: #MyAAPIVote Album - a compilation album featuring 32 politically empowering tracks by an eclectic mix of Asian American musicians, because we believe that music can change hearts and minds and ignite action. You can still name your own price to download the album.