Why AAPI Representation in the Workplace Matters

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI), like most celebratory heritage months, started as a weekly celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It wasn’t until 1992—nearly two decades after the week-long celebration was passed in Congress—that Congress passed Public Law 102-450 , moving AAPI Heritage Month to be an annual month-long celebration. May was the chosen month as a representation of the first Japanese to immigrate to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, for which most workers were Chinese immigrants.