Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF)

99 Hudson St., 12th Fl.
New York, NY 10013
212 966-5932 phone
212 966-4303 fax
info@aaldef.org email
www.aaldef.org website

Area of Interest:
Organization - Civil Rights, Legal Aid, Political Advocacy

Primary Ethnic Community Served:
Pan-Asian

Description:
Founded in 1974, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is the first legal rights organization on the East Coast serving Asian Americans. We were founded by a group of lawyers, law students and community activists who believed that the law should be used as a tool to achieve social and economic justice for Asian Americans and all Americans.

AALDEF focuses on critical issues affecting Asian Americans, including immigrant rights, civic participation and voting rights, economic justice for workers, language access to services, Census policy, affirmative action, youth rights and educational equity, and the elimination of anti-Asian violence and police misconduct.

AALDEF engages in the following activities: litigates cases that have major impact on the Asian American community; provides legal resources for community-based organizations and facilitates grass-roots community organizing efforts; conducts free, multilingual legal advice clinics for low-income Asian Americans and new immigrants; educates Asian Americans about their legal rights; comments on proposed legislation and governmental policies; and trains students in public interest law and encourages them to use their legal skills to serve the community.

AALDEF has a 17-person staff, including nine attorneys. We are assisted by over 300 volunteers, including pro bono attorneys, community workers, and students. Each year, we serve more than 20,000 Asian Americans through our legal counseling and community education programs. AALDEF is a not-for-profit organization and is supported by contributions from foundations, corporations and individuals from across the world.

For more information about our current programs and initiatives, please visit our website at www.aaldef.org.

Staff:
Margaret Fung - Executive Director
Lillian Ling - Assistant Director
Kenneth Kimmerling - Legal Director
Stanley Mark - Program Director

Submitted by:
Shirley Lin

Update - 01/06/06
New - 03/15/03