SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2026, AT 6:00 PM PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER, ROOM 1406 6310 WILHELMINA DELCO DRIVE AUSTIN, TEXAS Some members of the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission may be participating by videoconference. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, contact Nekaybaw Watson, 512-974-2562, nekaybaw.watson@austintexas.gov. CURRENT COMMISSIONERS: Seonhye “Sonny” Sin, Chair Sarah Chen Zachary Dolling Hugh Li Alpha Shrestha Nirali Thakkar CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Padmini Jambulapati, Vice-Chair Sarah Xiyi Chen Hanna Huang Ahmed Moledina Nayer Sikder Kuo Yang AGENDA The first ten speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission regular meeting on February 17, 2026. STAFF BRIEFING 2. Staff Briefing regarding the Levers of Economic Mobility Index. Presentation by Gary Aaron, Business Process Consultant Sr., Austin Equity and Inclusion and Shivani Datar, Business Process Specialist, Austin Equity and Inclusion. WORKING GROUP UPDATE 3. Update from Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission Commissioner Search Working Group DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 4. Approve two stakeholder seats to the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission. 5. Approve a Budget Recommendation to Council regarding the Quality-of-Life study. 6. Approve a Budget Recommendation to Council regarding Asian American Resource Center (AARC) staffing. 7. Approve a budget recommendation to Council regarding unmet needs of the Asian American Resource Center. 8. Approve a Budget Recommendation to Council regarding Austin Public Health (APH) Immigration legal services. 9. Approve a Budget Recommendation to Council regarding APH social services and community health navigator positions. 10. Approve a Budget Recommendation to Council regarding Historic Preservation 11. Approve a Proclamation for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. For assistance, please contact the Liaison …
ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, February 17, 2026 Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 17, 2026 The Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission convened in a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at Austin Energy Headquarters, Room 1125, 4815 Mueller Blvd. in Austin, Texas. Chair Sin called the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission Meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. COMMISSIONERS IN ATTENDANCE: Seonhye “Sonny” Sin, Chair Padmini Jambulapati, Vice Chair Sarah Chen Nirali Thakkar COMMISSIONERS IN ATTENDANCE REMOTELY: Hanna Huang Ahmed Moledina Nayer Sikder Zachary Dolling PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Hector Ordaz- Cultural Arts Funding/ACME/Creative Reset APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission regular meeting on January 20, 2026. The minutes from the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission regular meeting on January 20, 2026 were approved on Commissioner Chen’s motion, Vice Chair Padmini’s second on an 8-0 vote. Commissioners Xiyi Chen, Li, Shrestha and Yang were absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Staff briefing regarding We All Belong Campaign updates and upcoming programming. Presentation by Shafina Khaki, Human Rights Officer, Austin Equity and Inclusion. 1 ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, February 17, 2026 The presentation was made by Shafina Khaki, Human Rights Officer, Austin Equity and Inclusion. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. 4. 5. Presentation by American Gateways regarding successes with the City of Austin and a request for the Prioritization of immigration funding in the FY 26-27 budget. Presentation by Edna Yang, Co-Executive Director, American Gateways. The presentation was made by Edna Yang, Co-Executive Director, American Gateways. Discussion regarding the creation of a proclamation for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Discussed. Discussion regarding the Commissioner and Stakeholder Search Community Working Group outreach plan. Discussed. WORKING GROUP UPDATES 6. 7. Update from the Asian American Resource Center Working Group regarding the AARC’s Capital Improvement Projects. The update was given by Commissioner Huang. Update from the Joint Inclusion Committee Working Group regarding the budget impacts for community organizations, collaborating across commissions for budget updates, and other budget considerations informed by Austin Equity and Inclusion and Austin Police. The update was given by Commissioner Huang and Commissioner Thakkar. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 8. Approve a meeting date change to the March meeting. The motion to approve a meeting date change to the March meeting …
Economic Mobility Austin Equity & Inclusion Our Time Together • Economic Mobility Overview • Quality-of-Life Studies: Key Connections • Building the Economic Mobility Index • Turning the Index Into Action • Upcoming Event 2 What Drives Economic Mobility Economic mobility is shaped by our systems, policies, and investments — not just individual effort. Mobility includes building wealth and long-term stability for future generations. Education, health, housing, childcare, and strong social conditions enable families to thrive. In Austin, persistent disparities limit opportunities, but a person’s future shouldn’t be determined by their neighborhood or systemic barriers. Beyond Wages Quality of Life We Shape Systems 3 Quality-of-Life Studies: Key Connections High-Level Themes Financial Progress & Economic Outcomes • Deeply affordable housing • • Utility assistance and energy relief Job pipelines and employment access programs Quality of Life & Well-Being • Pop-up clinics in high-need areas • Culturally competent healthcare training Inclusive planning processes for older • adults Opportunities & Access Teen job search portal • • Strengthen multilingual outreach • Partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and public agencies Families, Communities, & Systems • Neighborhood safety audits • Greening and beautification initiatives • Strengthen family-support systems through childcare access and wraparound services 4 Definition Economic mobility addresses systems to improve unfair conditions that influence whether individuals, families, and communities can prosper over time and across generations. It means access to opportunities and resources needed for basic needs, financial security, and a dignified, high quality of life — regardless of race, place, gender, or ability. 5 Economic Mobility Index Human-centered, place-based tool for understanding conditions that shape residents’ ability to thrive in Austin. Visualizes neighborhood- level disparities as defined by economic mobility. Focuses on underlying conditions to guide service delivery and decision- making using data and community insights. Provides a common lens to support coordination, planning, and shared outcomes—without replacing existing tools. 6 Our Approach: Identifying Levers National Frameworks & Local Tools • Drivers of Poverty • Social Vulnerable Index • Justice 40 • Neighborhood Prosperity Dashboard etc. Hybrid Engagement Process • Quality of Life Studies • CoA Commissions • Internal & External Stakeholders • Every Texan Peer Cities Review 10 cities similar in: • State • Size • Demographics • Product CoA Levers of Economic Mobility • 3 Themes • 6 Sub-themes • 18 Levers of Economic Mobility 7 Building the Index Together Early childhood foundations shape mobility • Indicator: Enrollment in early education (public …
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION Recommendation Number: [YYYYMMDD-XXX]: Funding to Conduct an Updated Asian American Quality of Life Study Date of Approval: _____________ Recommendation: The Asian American Quality-of-Life Advisory Commission recommends that the City of Austin allocate $200,000 in the FY 2027 budget to conduct an updated Asian American Quality of Life Study. Description of Recommendation to Council: Austin’s demographics have changed. The data guiding City decisions has not. This funding would support: • Survey design, administration, and data analysis • Participant incentives to ensure representative participation • Community outreach and engagement • Reporting and presentations to City departments and advisory bodies This investment accounts for population growth, inflation, and improved data collection methods compared to the 2014 study. Rationale: The City’s most recent Asian American Quality of Life Study was completed in 2016, using data collected in 2014. That data is now outdated and no longer reflects Austin’s current demographics. Asian Americans are among the fastest-growing populations in Austin, with significant changes in population size, geographic distribution, languages spoken, housing conditions, economic stability, and health needs—particularly following COVID-19. Despite this growth, City departments continue to report limited and incomplete data on Asian American residents, making equitable planning and service delivery difficult. Without updated, disaggregated data, Asian American communities remain underrepresented in City decision-making and program design. The updated study would: RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL • Reflect current demographic and population changes • Provide disaggregated data across Asian ethnic groups, age, language, and neighborhood Identify gaps in access to health, housing, economic, and City services • • Support data-driven planning and equitable service delivery across City departments The study will result in a public report and actionable findings for City use. Seconded By: Motioned By: Vote: For: Against: Abstain: Off the dais: Absent: Attest: __________________________________
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION Recommendation Number: [YYYYMMDD-XXX]: Recommendation on the FY 2026-27 Budget for an Additional FTE (Division Manager) within Austin ACME (Arts, Culture, Music, & Education) to oversee cultural programs. Date of Approval: ________________ Recommendation: The Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission (AAQoL) recommends that the City of Austin fund and establish one full-time equivalent (FTE) Division Manager position within the Office of Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment (ACME) for cultural programs. Description of Recommendation to Council: This position would provide dedicated leadership and oversight for ACME’s cultural facilities and programs, align authority and compensation with the scope of responsibility currently being carried through acting roles, and address inequities in program management and staffing structure when compared to similarly titled Division Manager roles across the City. Rationale: In 2025, the City of Austin established the Office of Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment (ACME) to consolidate cultural facilities, programming, and creative-sector initiatives that were previously distributed across multiple City departments. The creation of ACME was intended to improve coordination, visibility, and strategic leadership for Austin’s cultural infrastructure while ensuring equitable access to arts, culture, and heritage programming across communities. ACME now oversees the City’s major cultural institutions and community-centered programming sites, including the Asian American Resource Center (AARC), Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), George Washington Carver Museum, the African American Cultural Heritage Facility, and the newly acquired Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex. Many of these facilities operate as active community hubs, offering daily public programming, intergenerational services, extended hours, rentals, festivals, and citywide initiatives. Despite the scope and complexity of this portfolio, ACME currently does not have a permanently appointed, full-time Division Manager dedicated to overseeing its cultural facilities and programs. Instead, leadership responsibilities have been assumed by existing cultural center managers — most notably the managers of the AARC and MACC — who have been serving in acting leadership capacities over multiple large cultural institutions in addition to their primary site responsibilities. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL Their acting roles have included the hiring and onboarding of several new leadership staff within ACME. These acting roles significantly expand the scope of responsibility and require oversight of facilities with distinct missions, staffing needs, and operational demands, including newly onboarded assets. However, acting pay does not compensate at the same level as a permanently classified Division Manager position, resulting in staff performing sustained, higher-level …
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE COMMISSION Recommendation Number: [YYYYMMDD-XXX]: Recommendation on the FY 2026-27 Budget Asian American Resource Center (AARC) Unmet Needs Date of Approval: _____________ Recommendation: The Asian American Quality of Life Commission (AAQoL) recommends that the City of Austin allocate additional funding in the FY 2026–27 budget to address critical unmet needs at the Asian American Resource Center (AARC), including staffing, temporary workforce support, and senior nutrition services. The Asian American Resource Center has experienced significant growth in programming, facility use, and community demand since its opening in 2013. To sustain and expand its impact, targeted investments are needed in the following areas: • Pavilion Staffing: Funding for additional full-time staff to support the activation and ongoing operations of the AARC Pavilion, enabling expanded cultural, educational, and community programming. • Temporary Staffing Budget Increase: Increased funding for temporary staff to support programming and operations. Current temporary staffing allocations are not aligned with the level of programming and service delivery provided at AARC compared to cultural centers across the division and department. • Meals on Wheels Support: Increased funding to support senior nutrition services, including Meals on Wheels, to meet the needs of a rapidly growing senior population served by AARC. Senior transport administered by the Parks department is dependent on seniors being registered for the meal program as well. Rationale: The Asian American Resource Center is already operating at a scale comparable to larger City facilities—without equivalent staffing and operational resources. Since its establishment, the Asian American Resource Center has grown into a vital cultural and community hub serving one of Austin’s fastest-growing populations. Data from the FY 2024 Annual Report demonstrates both the scale and continued growth of its programming and services. In FY24 alone, AARC: • Served over 38,800 visitors to the center RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL • Hosted 154 rental events and facilitated 258 community room reservations • Supported 178 artists and presented 9 new exhibits • Engaged 753 volunteers across programs and events AARC’s senior programming has experienced particularly significant growth. This year, the Congregate Meals program serves 80 meals daily and is estimated to reach 16,000 meals by the end of the fiscal year, a 60% increase from FY24. Within 2 months of the current fiscal year, the Senior meal program hit its Meals on Wheels contract cap of $38,000. This amount and overages were covered post-pandemic with American Rescue Plan …
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION Recommendation Number: [YYYYMMDD-XXX]: Recommendation on the FY 2026-2027 Budget related to Austin Public Health Immigrant Legal Services Date of Approval: ______________ Recommendation: Restoration of the 10% funding cuts to Austin Public Health Immigrant Legal Services Description of Recommendation: Restoration of the 10% cut to the contract to American Gateways and Catholic Charities contracts. Continued ongoing funding of all current contracts along with an expansion for Pro Se services is recommended. Pro Se services provide immigrants with legal advice, help with paperwork, and coaching through the legal system. Although stopping short of full legal representation, these services are a highly efficient use of taxpayer dollars and are vital to helping immigrants navigate the immigration process, since hearings and court dates may take years to schedule in the judicial system. Rationale: The Asian American Quality-of-Life Advisory Commission (AAQoL) strongly recommends continued funding for the Austin Public Health (APH) Immigrant Legal Services, Pro Se services, and Citizenship Clinics programs in the FY 2026-27 budget. This program plays a critical role in supporting the well-being of Austin's immigrant population. This need is particularly important at a time when regional and national policies continue to further reduce services for immigrants. Additionally, immigrant rights are being stripped due to frequent recent changes in immigration policies, significant shifts in immigration enforcement and detention, and inaccessible services. APH Immigrant Legal Services currently has several contracts in place for American Gateways and Catholic Charities. Many of these contracts are coming to an end. The 2023 closure of Refugee Services of Texas has further reduced options for legal immigration assistance available in the community for refugees, many of whom are from Asian and Middle Eastern countries. For example, due to the budget shortfall, American Gateways has been forced to reduce the number of people it can provide with direct legal representation by approximately 10%, totalling nearly 30 clients (our fellow Austinites!). Cuts to its Pro Se Assistance funding have similarly required American Gateways to reduce the number of individuals it can serve in Austin/Travis County through its pro se clinics by approximately 10%That means 10% fewer families and individuals receiving RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL assistance with Know Your Rights information, filing pro se motions with the court, applications with the immigration court, and family safety planning materials and assistance. These individuals all earn below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines and, …
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION Recommendation Number: [YYYYMMDD-XXX]: Recommendation on the FY 2026-2027 Budget related to APH Social Services Budget Date of Approval: _________________ Recommendation: Restoration of the 10% funding cuts for social services Description of Recommendation to Council: The Commission recommends that the City of Austin exercise expediency in the contracting process to ensure organizations providing the contracted Community Health Navigator (CHN) services have contracts for ongoing funding. Currently, a delay in new contracts has put funding for these services in a precarious situation with unknown timelines for extensions and when requests for proposals will occur. The Commission recommends that the City of Austin dedicate a 10% percentage of each contract to language accessibility. The commission also recommends that overall funding be increased to expand Community Health Navigator (CHN) services for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) communities within the Asian American population. This funding will support navigation services for highly needed language-specific groups, such as Pashto, Farsi, Tagalog, Urdu, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), and Nepali, who currently do not receive consistent language access due to funding cuts. Rationale: The Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission recommends that the City restore the 10% funding for Austin Public Health with an emphasis on Community Health Navigator (CHN) services to address the growing needs of Austin's diverse Asian community. The Commission recommends that the City restore the 10% cut to social services to ensure that the rapidly increasing Asian population continues to receive necessary services. According to the City Demographers office, Asians are the fastest growing subgroup in the Austin area. It is perilous to decrease health services at a time when they are needed more than ever. Without funding, the City of Austin endangers the access to competent and knowledgeable healthcare to many individuals. Since the pandemic, demand for CHNs has surged, and one-time grant funding several years ago had allowed for services in several Asian languages, including Arabic, Burmese, Chin Tedim, RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Nepali, Hindi, and Vietnamese. But now, organizations such as Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (AACHI) can now only service Korean, Vietnamese, and Burmese communities leaving numerous communities without equitable language access to their healthcare. If this funding expires as planned for September 2026, essential services for more vulnerable populations will go unfunded, creating an even larger gap in care. For example, in 2025, AACHI supported 325 clients and …
