Rising Together: Celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month

During Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (ANHPI), Instacart aims to celebrate the diversity of Asian cultures, as well as the achievements and contributions of the community. To honor the month, members of the Asian@ Employee Resource Group (ERG) chose the theme “Rising Together to Empower Asian Leaders” with the goal of building stronger bonds with each other and their allies.

“ANHPI Month is important because we are able to appreciate our cultures and where we come from. We don’t forget the struggles that our ancestors had to endure for their children to have a better future and more opportunities,” says Asian@ member Kiki Tanaka. “With the rise in Asian hate over the last three years, we need to unify, support, and uplift our Asian brothers and sisters.” 

The month-long programming began with a fireside chat with senior Instacart leaders James Huang, Jennifer Yin, and Mick Suh. This intimate and transparent Q&A hosted by Hyun Jee Son, one of the executive sponsors of Asians@, gave attendees the opportunity to learn more about the leaders’ backgrounds and gain valuable career advice. Head of Content Design, Jennifer Yin, spoke about the importance of being heard, “Amplify our voices and carve out time for us,” she said. “We are not a monolith. We’re so much more than that.”

May is also designated as Mental Health Awareness Month, so Asians@ partnered with the Abilities@ ERG to launch the first-ever Employee Art Show. All artists—regardless of skill level— were given the opportunity to flex their creativity and submit artwork that captured their journey with mental health. 

Asians@ also partnered with the Advocates@-sponsored Social Justice Book Club that features works highlighting themes related to diversity, equity, and belonging. For ANHPI month, the Social Justice Book Club selected The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang as the featured book of the month, a series of essays on the struggles of mental and chronic illness.

Celebrating and standing with the ANHPI community doesn’t begin and end in May—it happens throughout the year, and, for many, Asians@ offers a link to culture and home. “There are times, when you look around in a meeting room (whether virtual or in-person) where you may feel out of place; like it’s difficult to relate just because of who you are and how you were raised,” says Gwyn Aldo Sera, member of Asians@. “Joining the Asians@ ERG gave me a sense of belongingness that I didn’t even realize I was looking for. Belongingness, inclusion and familiarity, that’s what joining the ERG gave to me and as a Lead, that’s what our team hopes to make everyone feel; like they belong and that no matter what, they’ll have a space that feels like home.”

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