Celebrating Five Years of PIVOT

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Celebrating Five Years of PIVOT

February 2022 is the fifth anniversary of the founding of PIVOT. In December 2016, following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election, a group of Vietnamese Americans met in Virginia to plan how we can stop what we correctly anticipated was a corrupt administration that was a threat to American democracy and minority populations. Other meetings followed in January 2017 in northern and southern California. We discovered that many Vietnamese American organizations were doing great things within their local region and in Viet Nam. However, there was no effective national organization for progressive Vietnamese Americans interested in working on politics in the United States.

On February 1st, 2017, this loose knit group of Vietnamese Americans created a listserv and after some debate, named ourselves “PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization.” Two weeks later we had a logo and a website. We agreed on a mission statement “to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans for a just and diverse America.” PIVOT’s vision is to be a collective voice for progressive Vietnamese Americans, to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans through civic engagement and leadership development, and to support policies and candidates that are aligned with our values. Having a mission and a vision that we all agreed on was important to build a sustainable organization that went beyond fighting the Trump administration. On February 21st, 2017, we submitted our application to be a 501c4 non-profit corporation.

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PIVOT Press Release: One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Climate-Related Executive Actions

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January 27, 2022

PIVOT Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Climate-Related Executive Actions, Urges Congress to Deliver on Climate Action

(Washington, DC) – Today is the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden issuing a series of signed a number of climate- and environmental justice-focused executive orders and presidential memorandums, putting the U.S. back on track to address the climate crisis and protecting our health and environment from the catastrophic impacts of climate change. These actions included rejoining the Paris climate agreement and establishing an administration-wide initiative on racial and environmental justice. 

To mark the anniversary, Dr. Tung Nguyen, President of the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization-PIVOT, released the following statement:

“In one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden one year ago today showed he was deeply committed to climate action with a series of ambitious executive actions to tackle this crisis. While PIVOT is grateful for all the progress made by the Biden administration over the past year to act on climate, more work needs to be done to address the climate crisis. Climate can’t wait, and the Biden administration and Congress must take bold climate action, starting with passing the historic Build Back Better Act before Congress right now and its $550 billion in investments that will deliver on climate, justice and jobs.”

PIVOT is Seeking Our Inaugural Executive Director

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PIVOT is Seeking Our Inaugural Executive Director

PIVOT –– the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization –– is excited to announce that we are seeking our inaugural Executive Director to lead and grow our national organization. Founded in 2017, PIVOT is at a critical growth stage, and this key position will provide instrumental leadership to take the organization to the next level. The position reports directly to the Board of Directors.

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PIVOT Press Release: Announcing PIVOT Executive Director application

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PIVOT Press Release: Announcing PIVOT Executive Director application

November 20, 2021

On August 25th, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse drove from his home in Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Using a semi-automatic rifle, he shot 2 men to death and maimed another. Rittenhouse’s presence and his shootings have never been in dispute as he was captured on multiple videos. On November 19th, 2021, the verdict in his trial was “not guilty” on all charges. PIVOT strongly protests this verdict, a toxic confluence of racism, gun violence, white vigilantism, and legal injustice. We are especially concerned about the chilling message it sends and the dangerous precedent it sets — that someone can come to a protest illegally armed with a semi-automatic weapon and kill protestors with absolutely no penalty.

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PIVOT Press Release: The Rittenhouse Verdict Reflects the Injustices in the U.S.

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PIVOT Press Release: The Rittenhouse Verdict Reflects the Injustices in the U.S.

November 20, 2021

On August 25th, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse drove from his home in Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Using a semi-automatic rifle, he shot 2 men to death and maimed another. Rittenhouse’s presence and his shootings have never been in dispute as he was captured on multiple videos. On November 19th, 2021, the verdict in his trial was “not guilty” on all charges. PIVOT strongly protests this verdict, a toxic confluence of racism, gun violence, white vigilantism, and legal injustice. We are especially concerned about the chilling message it sends and the dangerous precedent it sets — that someone can come to a protest illegally armed with a semi-automatic weapon and kill protestors with absolutely no penalty.

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PIVOT Press Release Build Back Better

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PIVOT Press Release Build Back Better

October 29, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This morning, President Biden released the framework for his Build Back Better Act. The framework presents historic levels of investment in climate, healthcare, childcare, immigration, justice, and jobs.

PIVOT applauds President Biden, as the announcement of today’s Build Back Better framework marks a significant achievement towards a $1.75 trillion investment into the American people to address climate change, healthcare access, immigration, childcare, and economic inequities. President Biden and Congress are on the verge of passing the largest economic investment since the Great Society. Today’s framework came after months of long negotiations and millions of activists, including PIVOT members, advocating for large investments.

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Call to Action to Help Afghan Refugees

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Call to Action to Help Afghan Refugees

September 2, 2021

Friends,

PIVOT recently issued a statement calling for the U.S. government to act on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. As Afghan refugees are now arriving in the US, we will be supporting them by raising funds for front-line organizations providing critical services for refugees as they resettle in this country.

Please help us reach our goal of raising $40,000 for Afghan refugees.

Your tax-deductible donations will be 100% matched to double the impact of your gift!

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PIVOT’S STATEMENT ON THE AFGHANISTAN CRISIS

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PIVOT’S STATEMENT ON THE AFGHANISTAN CRISIS

August 15, 2021

For those Vietnamese Americans and their families who experienced the fall of Saigon in 1975, the unfolding events in Afghanistan have brought a haunting sense of déjà-vu. While the situations are different, we have experienced some of what is happening and may be about to happen in that country: the chaotic evacuation of vulnerable Afghans from collapsing cities; the fear and panic among the Afghan population; the desperation of people seeking ways to leave the country at any cost and to get their family members to safety; a homeland lost and hopes dashed. This scenario has echoes of what happened in the last two years of the Vietnam War after American troops withdrew.

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PIVOT Proudly Endorses Joe Nguyen for King County Executive, Washington State

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PIVOT Proudly Endorses Joe Nguyen for King County Executive, Washington State

July 22, 2021

Joe is the son of Vietnamese refugees and a current Washington State Senator who has already made a big splash in the legislature with his effective and community-based leadership style and unwavering commitment to progressive values and working people. Driving the passage of historic bills on progressive taxation, police accountability, and economic justice, he knows what it takes to get things done.

In 2021, he’s running for King County Executive against a 12 year incumbent because we need a local leader to implement the wins he made in the legislature, and someone with the urgency to finally solve the issues we’ve been treading water on for years. The King County Executive office oversees affordable housing and homelessness, criminal justice reform and police accountability, and efficient and accessible public transit.

As a grassroots campaign that doesn't take corporate PAC money, first and foremost you can help Joe by donating here and asking your friends to do the same. You can also sign up to host a virtual or local in-person house party, or to volunteer here.

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PIVOT Applauds the Third and Latest Supreme Court Decision to Uphold the Affordable Care Act

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PIVOT Applauds the Third and Latest Supreme Court Decision to Uphold the Affordable Care Act

June 18, 2021

PIVOT applauds the third and latest Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), protecting all Americans' access to health care. Before the ACA, over a quarter of Vietnamese community members did not have health insurance—that dropped 63% so that nine in ten Vietnamese Americans from all class backgrounds now have health care access. This is a win for mothers like Linh’s who worked her whole life but was left without health care after her daughter aged out of Medicaid. This is a win for young college students like Long who has one less expense to worry about. This is a win for everyday Vietnamese Americans trying to make ends meet. While the health and vibrancy of our communities requires further investments in language access and cultural competency, the ACA plays a critical role in closing the health care access gaps our communities face.

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