May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the Asian Pacific American community and honor the generations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have enriched and shaped our country’s history and culture. This year, in light of the disturbing trend of increased racist acts and hate crimes against AAPI individuals over the last several months, AAPI Heritage Month 2021 represents for many a time to empower and stand up for our AAPI community and raise awareness around their unique experiences during these unprecedented times.
In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, we at the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado (APABA) have been working hard to create and implement several new programs with the aims of providing meaningful ways to support and connect with our AAPI community. We encourage you to read on and find a way to celebrate and empower AAPIs along with us this month and beyond.
Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/Xenophobic Harassment: With generous support from the Colorado Bar Association and the Center for Legal Inclusiveness and hosted by Hollaback! and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, APABA facilitated on May 18, 2021 an interactive training presenting strategies for bystander intervention specifically related to Anti-Asian harassment. Participants learned what to look for and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities. In addition, participants examined the five strategies for intervention: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct; and how to prioritize their own safety while intervening. The event was a great success and we appreciate all who attended.
“Compassion in Colorado”: APABA recently launched a program to protect and assist AAPI seniors in Colorado and to promote safety and community. In partnership with the non-profit A Little Help, this program matches volunteers with seniors who would feel safer being accompanied as they walk in their neighborhoods, run basic errands, or travel to see their doctors. Volunteers are background checked through A Little Help, who are helping us to run the logistics of participant/volunteer sign-ups. We are starting first with a pilot program assisting the few hundred low-income AAPI seniors residing at the Volunteers of America Sunset Towers and Sunset Park residential facilities in downtown Denver. If successful, and logistically feasible, we will widen the reach of the program to seniors outside of these facilities. You can find out more at our website (https://www.apaba-colorado.org/Compassion-in-Colorado) and through our social media.
#SupportCOAsianBiz” Small Business Weekends: During the month of May, to support our small businesses, APABA has launched a social media campaign showcasing Colorado AAPI businesses and an AAPI business directory. We are encouraging all Coloradans to support an AAPI-owned business during the five weekends in May and to tag those businesses using the #SupportCOAsianBiz hashtag on social media.
Self-Defense Workshop (Date and Time TBD): We are planning a self-defense workshop that will feature: (1) a free virtual training providing a general overview of self-defense strategies and techniques; and (2) information about how to sign up for more in-depth in-person self-defense classes to be discounted for our legal community. Please stay tuned for more information.
Ongoing Free Virtual Clinic Hotline: APABA is continuing to run a free virtual legal clinic hotline to serve our community’s legal needs during this difficult time. For more information about our hotline, click here.
Ongoing Elder Law Clinics: APABA is continuing to organize elder law day clinics where we assist low income seniors in the preparation of crucial estate planning documents. We are grateful to Metro Volunteer Lawyers and the CWBA for their sponsorship and support of this endeavor. We’ll be announcing details on our next clinic soon.
Hate Crime Resources: APABA has compiled hate crime resources on our website: https://www.apaba-colorado.org/page-18112.
We are thankful for your support and look forward to continued allyship across our legal community.
For more about us, our mission, programming, current events, membership, giving to the APABA Foundation, hate crime resources, and more, please visit our website at https://www.apaba-colorado.org/. We encourage you to follow us on Instagram at @apabacolo and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apabacolo/.
Nicki Cerasoli’s practice includes strategically advising companies, executives, and investors in a broad range of business transactions and corporate legal matters, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, entity formation, corporate governance, complex partnership and operating agreements, independent contractor and consulting agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, services agreements, and other commercial contracts. She has represented both public and private companies, big and small, across a variety of business sectors and industries from inception to exit.
Before joining Linden Law Partners, Nicki’s practice focused heavily on sell-side M&A transactions as part of a boutique business law firm. Prior to that, she worked in the corporate and securities practice group of Kamlet Reichert (now Lathrop GPM) in Denver. Before entering law school, Nicki successfully managed and consulted on a blend of technology and operations projects in the mortgage services industry. Nicki enjoys drawing on her business background and expertise in law to help clients address legal considerations while achieving their business objectives.