About Chinese Progressive Association
Founded in 1972, the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) educates, organizes and empowers the low income and working class immigrant Chinese community in San Francisco to build collective power with other oppressed communities to demand better living and working conditions and justice for all people.
Focus Areas
tenant rightsworker rightsimmigrant community supportyouth programs (Youth MOJO, Enoki Collective, Young Men's Circle)Asian American movement buildingfellowship programs (Eva Lowe / Seeding Change)
Who They Fund
Black communitiesBlack-led organizations and coalitionsgrassroots organizers and basebuildersemerging leaders / Seeding Change fellows501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (regrantees)
About Chinese Progressive Association
The Chinese Progressive Association’s recent grantmaking is anchored by Black civic participation and organizing, even though the organization’s own roots are in educating and organizing low-income and working-class immigrant Chinese communities. In 2023, it made a $4.5 million grant to Center for Empowered Politics for Black to the Future, followed by a $301,919 grant to the same grantee in 2024. Those awards sit alongside a broader set of grants supporting movement-building, basebuilding, and leadership development across communities of color. The foundation also funds work connected to Asian American community organizing. In 2025, it awarded $150,000 grants to Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Asian Americans United, New Virginia Majority Education Fund, Southeast Asian Coalition (seac Village), Community Partners, and Arab American Action Network, all described as support for basebuilding and leadership development. Its portfolio also includes grants to organizations working on programmatic, educational, and shared-work efforts, including Chinese for Affirmative Action and Race Forward. Across the recent grants list, the foundation appears to use large strategic awards alongside mid-sized grants to sustain organizing infrastructure and leadership pipelines.
What Chinese Progressive Association Funds
A major thread is Black organizing and civic participation. The foundation gave $250,000 to Black Voters Matter Fund for Bay Resistance Institute and Seeding Change Fellowship grants, and $250,000 to State Democracy Project for Black Organizing Innovations. It also supported Equity & Transformation, Power Coalition for Equity & Justice, and Women Engaged under the same Black organizing portfolio. Another clear area is Asian American movement building. Chinese for Affirmative Action received a $103,128 programmatic grant, while Asian Pacific Environmental Network received $96,606 for educational work in 2023 and $150,000 in 2025 for basebuilding and leadership development. Worker-centered organizing appears as well: Filipino Workers Center of Southern California received $75,430, and Filipino Advocates for Justice received $64,424 for elections-related regranting. The foundation also backs cross-organizational collaboration. Race Forward received $80,000 for shared work between Race Forward and CPA.
How Chinese Progressive Association Gives
Typical grant sizes cluster at $17,125 at the 25th percentile, $50,000 at the median, and $100,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent record shows both large anchor grants and a wider band of mid-sized awards, including multiple $150,000 grants in 2025 and several $100,000 grants in 2024. The presence of awards in both 2023 and 2024 to Center for Empowered Politics suggests repeated support across years for at least one recipient. CPA is a regular funder rather than a DAF and does not make program-related investments. It also runs named programs and fellowship initiatives, including Seeding Change Fellowship, the COVID-19 Emergency Stabilization Fund, and youth program applications, all of which accept unsolicited applications.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$9.2M
Total Assets
$32.5M
Total Revenue
$22.9M
Total Expenses
$18.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $17K and $100K, with a median of $50K.
25th Percentile
$17K
Median
$50K
75th Percentile
$100K
Geographic Reach
National19 states funded
About 31% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
KIMI LEE
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