Organizing Southeast Asian Communities for Change

Welcome to Southeast Asian Action, a national political organization (C4) dedicated to building the political and civic power of Southeast Asian communities in the United States.

Our mission is to build healthy united SEA communities through grassroots advocacy, political activism, policy and legislative change while centering the leadership of those most impacted.

Our Primary Strategy,

Revolves around grassroots advocacy, fostering strong leadership, and building solidarity with other communities. By engaging in these efforts, we aim to effect transformative structural changes that uplift SEA communities and contribute to broader social justice movements.

Our Overall Goal,

To strengthen and harness the collective power of SEAs to achieve justice and uplift our community. Borrowing from Rising Majority, we define power as the ability to determine the norms and values that guide society, control the distribution and use of material resources (e.g., money, land), establish the mechanisms (e.g., laws and policy) by which society operates, and affect how societal influence is regulated (including through shared action).

To Build Southeast Asian Power,

We must strengthen grassroots advocacy, activism, and mobilization in the SEA community, develop strong SEA leaders and organizations, promote electoral justice, wage campaigns to win policy change and build solidarity with other communities.

Our Values

Collectively, we commit to our seven Paths to Liberation and Anti-violence:

ABOLITION

build Southeast Asian resistance to mass incarceration, deportation, and an end to the Prison Industrial Complex.

ANTI-IMPERIALISM

name and abolish United States imperialism in our home countries and in the world.

GENDER JUSTICE

call upon Southeast Asian men to end patriarchy.

HEALING JUSTICE

build the intersections of healing and organizing through transformative and somatic leadership.

QUEER LIBERATION

Support and liberate our queer and trans family.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Build Black & Southeast Asian solidarity to support the movement for Black liberation.

YOUTH POWER

build the power of young people to confront and dismantle systems of power.

Finding Lasting Change

Our mission transcends election cycles, focusing on reshaping narratives and transforming the lives of Southeast Asian communities across the U.S. By fostering progressive feminist leaders and strengthening Southeast Asian organizations, we lay the groundwork for enduring influence.

Guided by five decades of community wisdom and lived experience, we go beyond rhetoric—cultivating leaders and building organizations that champion the interests and future of SEA communities.

TO THIS END, WE HAVE DEVISED A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY ENCOMPASSING FOUR KEY PILLARS:

Amplifying Our Voice

Southeast Asian Americans, tracing their roots to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, form one of the largest refugee communities in U.S. history, resettled after U.S. interventions in Southeast Asia. Over the past 50 years, SEA refugees and their descendants have faced systemic challenges while building resilient and thriving communities. Our shared history of displacement and unity in diversity drives our pursuit of justice and equity, addressing the lasting impact of imperialism and militarism.

SEA Action draws strength from the unity of our diverse cultures and a collective history of resilience. By focusing efforts where SEA populations are most significant—like Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington—we’ve organized impactful voter initiatives and amplified our communities’ voices. It starts with us, building a future where justice and equity thrive for generations to come.