About Us

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The Asian American Legal Foundation (“AALF”) is a non-profit organization, based in an Francisco, California. It was founded to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans, but is dedicated to the principle that Americans of all races and ethnicities have the right to be treated as individuals, free of discrimination. AALF is recognized as a non-profit entity with 501(c)(3) status, and donations to AALF are tax deductible

Current executive officers of AALF are:

President . . . . . . . . . Henry Louie

Vice-President. . . . . Denise Louie

Secretary . . . . . . . . . Lee Cheng, Tel: (626) 255-5861

Treasurer . . . . . . . . . Alan Tse

Members of AALF were instrumental in bringing Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District, a class action filed in federal court in which schoolchildren of Chinese descent sued to stop the San Francisco public school system from imposing racial quotas to achieve “diversity.” The district’s discriminatory admissions program made it difficult for children deemed “Chinese” to attend even their own neighborhood kindergartens.

In the Ho case, after five years of litigation, the school district was forced to abandon its racial classification scheme. See Ho v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., 147 F.3d 854 (9th Cir. 1998) (on interlocutory appeal, Court of Appeals found district court must apply strict scrutiny in examining school district’s race-based admissions plan); Ho v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., 59 F. Supp. 2d 1021 (N.D. Cal. 1999) (approving settlement by which school district stopped its use of race).

AALF has filed amicus curiae briefs in the United States Supreme Court and other courts to support individual rights. It has filed Supreme Court briefs in cases including Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), and Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 570 U.S. 297 (2013) (Fisher I), 579 U.S. ____ (2016) (Fisher II).

AALF vigorously advocates to protect the rights of Asian Americans wherever they are threatened. We invite you to join with us in this mission. Your tax-deductible donation may be mailed to the address below, or you may use the “Donate” button to make a donation via credit card or PayPal..