Leadership and governance
Who runs The AAPI Network, how decisions get made, and what records we make available.
Founder
Lakhi Siap
Founder
A super-connector and community advocate with more than 13 years of experience in business development, multicultural marketing, public relations, and strategic community outreach.
The organization exists because of a specific frustration: watching community groups do outstanding work and then watching that work go unnoticed for reasons that had nothing to do with quality. The pattern repeated often enough, across enough communities, that it stopped looking like bad luck and started looking like a structural gap somebody should fill.
That perspective still shapes how the organization allocates its time. We measure ourselves by what member organizations are able to do, not by our own profile.
Governance
The AAPI Network is governed by a volunteer board of directors. The board meets regularly and is responsible for approving the annual budget, reviewing programs, and authorizing any related-party transaction, with conflicted parties recused from those decisions.
As a small organization, we hold ourselves to written policy rather than informal practice, because informal practice is exactly what fails when an organization grows or when the people running it change. Our conflict-of-interest procedure, nondiscrimination policy, and records practices are documented and applied consistently.
Related-party transactions
Where any service is provided to the organization by an entity connected to a board member, officer, or founder, that arrangement requires board approval, must be at fair market value, and the conflicted party does not participate in the vote. This is standard practice for a nonprofit and we follow it deliberately rather than treating it as a formality.
Public records
Our IRS determination letter and annual filings are available on request. Write to hello@aapinetwork.com and we will send them. We publish our EIN, address, tax status, and exemption date on this site rather than requiring anyone to look them up.
Nondiscrimination
The AAPI Network serves and employs people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. This applies to who we serve, who we work with, and who we hire.
Organization record
The AAPI Network
33-2987062
501(c)(3) public charity, exempt since December 2024
State of Illinois
35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 650, Chicago, IL 60601