Tiffani Sykhammountry

[MUSIC] Look at the Pay Jack also known as the Oriental Exclusion Act, right? It's one of the first immigration laws that was made in the US, and it targeted Chinese women. So do that research. I mean, one of the first, and I learned this recently, despite being Southeast Asian, that there were a Filipina settlers here all the way back in the 1700s. You know, they were one of the early settlers also in America. And they were called Manila Men. And so like learn that history, and through that history, you will see the diversity of the API community in America. [MUSIC] That's my colleague, Tiffany Sikamontri, sharing some of her wisdom regarding the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islanders here in America. Tiffany joined the team here at New Politics several months ago as a director of development, following many years of work with political candidates. She was the National Finance Manager for both Representative Joe Kennedy III here in Massachusetts, and for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, so she has years of experience in the world of politics. Tiffany is also Asian American. Her parents immigrated to the US from Thailand and Laos, and she grew up in a working class community in Arlington, Virginia. She also identifies as queer and non-binary, and her path through politics has involved integrating all of those identities while working with and around some of the most powerful elected officials in the country. Through her work as a volunteer with the Asian American Women's Political Initiative, she is also deeply involved in the work of supporting other Asian American women who feel call to enter politics at a moment when it remains rare to see representation from that community in elected office at any level. [MUSIC] I'm Dr. Max Clow, Senior Director of Leadership Development at New Politics, a bipartisan organization dedicated to revitalizing American democracy. By recruiting, supporting, and electing servant leaders who put community and country over self. This AAPI heritage month, we're excited to lift up Tiffany's voice to highlight the vital contributions that the AAPI community is making to our civic life, and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and struggles they face in the world of politics. Tiffany is a deeply thoughtful and committed servant leader, and I'm thrilled to welcome her to our show. [MUSIC] Tiffany, Sikha Monterey, thank you so much for being with us today. Thanks for having me, Max. Awesome. So I'm excited for this conversation and to lift up your voice during AAPI heritage month. And here's where I always start with is just what's your earliest memory of learning the value of service? This is a bit of a silly answer. I'm not sure if you've gotten this response yet on the potter and your experiences with folks who do service. But actually Girl Scouts, I was a JZ in kindergarten all the way through my senior year of high school as an ambassador. And actually my earliest memory as I was reflecting on this question was the Girl Scout promise. The first line is literally, I think I promise to serve God in my country and tell people at all times and talk onto the Girl Scout code. Or the Girl Scout laws. So that is the first time I remember service. And you know, we get together every month. We would do fun things like sports and kayaking and all these fun things that I'd never done before. But we also really centered service at least once and once. So if that was a, you know, going to a senior center and hanging out with the seniors there or a sick kitchen or something like that, we'd always be doing that. So really deep service in the Girl Scout community. You know, I found out it was several cycles ago, but there was a time where every woman in Congress had been a Girl Scout. So it's powerful stuff. That's so interesting. Yeah, I don't know if it's true now, but it was there was a time several years ago. Anyway. So I know you've written that you inherited a sense of altruism and the importance of community by growing up among lotion and Thai women. Tell us a little more about that. Happy to, you know, I think growing up by just remember how important it was to be around my entire extended family. I mean, I had probably like 20 or 30 uncles and aunts that weren't actually uncles and aunts and cousins, but we're, you know, extended family members through not blood or marriage, but really basically first and second generation immigrants would come to where I grew up, Arlington, Virginia and had built a community there. And so when I say that I got my sense of community altruism from them, it's because growing up, it really did take a village to raise me and all the kids that I grew up with because, you know, working class families, you know, some people who are at work late or early. And I was always with, you know, either my grandmother or a grandmother that wasn't actually my grandmother or someone and, you know, sometimes dinner was with other kids and really just taking care of the whole village and feeling like there was always something to give even if you didn't have anything, you know, whether that was food or attention or helping someone out with homework. And that's basically how I grew up and so, you know, the time relation communities are really matriarchical here and, you know, so literally sitting in my grandmother's lap or my mother's lap pretty much through the ages of kindergarten or preschool all the way up through middle school basically. I observed not only their gossip, which I, you know, love and adored to this day. But really just like the ability to help each other out and if there was something that was ever a problem, it was always what we can take care of that, you know, there was nothing that we couldn't do if we did it together as a community. And so having that being a central role of just, you know, how I became an adult and how I kind of operated the world really put me where I am today. So I really value that time with my family and my community. Love that so tell us a little bit more about that story about how you, you know, coming from that background, a large family working class in Virginia and eventually you end up in politics, you were a campaign finance manager for Joe Kenney and Massachusetts center Christian Gillibrand in New York. Tell us story. Yeah, so, you know, I starting back basically in high school, I decided to get involved with an organization called the Gay Les Meunstra education network, also known as glisten all these acronyms, those all of these nonprofit names are very long. But so glisten there was an opportunity to lobby for anti bullying laws in public schools across the country, specifically for LGBT youth and I identify as a queer and non binary person and I've been that way basically since I, as long as I could remember, but it was an opportunity that had come to my high school and I just thought that's an interesting way to use your voice. So I just grew a glisten kind of got involved with with politics and realized that literally by going into the hall of Congress and having conversations with lawmakers, I was able to give my perspective and advocate for not just myself as a queer person, but other queer people who have had similar experiences or sometimes worse experiences than myself. And that was kind of like the first tidbit of getting involved in politics and after that I kind of ran with it and decided I was going to major in political science and I came up to Boston and attended Simmons University where my education continued I interned in these kind of formal bureaucratic lawmaking offices and frankly, I realized that it lawmaking was slow and unfortunately if you don't have the right lawmakers in office, it didn't really matter. And I think that like policy wasn't going to get done without the right people doing the policy making if that makes sense and you know representation is really important in all aspects of identity, but in particular my communities and my identity. So that's to say when I graduated from college, I was like I'm going to go do a campaign Hillary Clinton was running for president again and I was really interested, but I quickly realized I had student loan debt, which is a reality for a lot of millennials, etc. But that I couldn't just drop everything and go to Pennsylvania was constant and really campaign because that's what was that's what campaigns typically demand that you get paid very little unfortunately and that you kind of give up all your time and your energy and it's a really it's a really big financial risk, which is. And this is mean jumping to conclusions here from my own experience, right, but this is why campaigns are typically more white and more privileged than not. So in those conversations I decided to basically go get a nine to five job at a law firm and I just was really devastated when Trump got elected and then decided that I needed to get back into politics that I couldn't just have it be a side passion. And actually that's where I met Emily Triniac, his founder and executive director of new politics through a mentor and Emily is fantastic, but I didn't know her at the time she sat down on the seat and I was like, how do I do this Emily, she was like, honestly, the best way to do this if you got very little room for risk is through finance and the only way to break in to kind of like higher paying finance jobs is through word of mouth, unfortunately. And he said, you know, let me see if there's something you can volunteer on and then if I see a position and you're willing to take a risk I'm happy to, you know, help you out and lo and behold Senator Jill, brand was looking for a finance assistant at the time based on a DC Emily shared the job description with me. I took the risk I took a massive pick up and I moved myself back down to DC in the Virginia area to be with my family and to work for Senator Jill brand. And I just fell in love with finance I realized that although it is one of the better paying one of the earliest higher jobs in the campaign industry it's also one of the biggest soft skills, I mean all I do is maintain relationships and build relationships for my candidates and I really, really enjoy that despite the name finance I do very little math, which is also great. So it's just something that I fell in love with and so I've been doing it for the past few cycles now and I have no interest in any other part of campaigns honestly really finances what I'm passionate about so that's how I got here that's great thank you and I'm always amazing how many people say then I'm at Emily Cherney I can I found. to get into like changing. Yes, many people have said that. That's great. So it is API heritage months. We're eager to lift up the voices and experience of API folks like yourself who have chosen to serve through politics. So I know you volunteer at the Asian American Women's Political Initiative. Tell us more about the program and how you got involved and what kind of work does it do? Yeah, happy to. Another acronym for you Asian American Women's Political Initiative is a very long word. So we're going to go with a opi or a wpi. I was wondering how you're doing. Okay. A opi or a wpi is totally fine. And that a wpi's mission is to ensure that Asian American women and Asian American community have a voice in their government. And that's a very simple, simply put mission one sentence. But it's really critical. I mean, we're the only organization that's doing the work that we do either local or nationally. And that's because the core of a wpi's programming is an inaugural program where we put seven to 10 api women or woman identified people into the state house with elected officials. And we do those placements for them. So we reach out to, you know, state senators and state representatives and try to match up these fellows interest, whether it's housing or, for instance, mental health or things like that. So that they're interning in those offices at least 10 hours a week for 16 weeks. And then on top of that, not to just ask them to do an internship, but then they get to meet with their cohort of seven to 10 people every other week for these 16 weeks to discuss basically their api identity and how they exist in the world and and much like new politics, you know, why they're called to do what they are called to do whether it's through advocacy or traditional politics. And for a lot of our fellows, it means non-traditional politics as well, which means literally through advocacy and activism within the community. And so the way that I got involved in actually through that fellowship in 2016 when I was a senior in college. And I did the fellowship I interned with Representative Kay Khan from Newton. And I got really involved after that with the Asian American Women's Political Initiative because I, you know, it gave me a stepping soul into state of local politics. But I also found just invaluable mentors and a community of people who are interested in politics, who are api, which is surprisingly or shockingly or however you want to put it rare in a lot of spaces. And we can talk about those reasons, but it was almost like finding a community here in Boston that I hadn't found before. So since then, I've been involved. I've been, you know, volunteer coordinator. I've been an executive executive director in various levels, but it's completely volunteer run. So I've done everything I can to get back to that community and make sure that there's more women kind of coming into the pipeline for Asian American. So let's talk more about why it's relatively rare and what are the barriers in obstacles for api folks involved in politics? Yeah, I mean, I think there are a few big things that, I mean, this could take the podcast a couple hours long, but one of the bigger things here is just invisibility and underrepresentation. I mean, there's not many api elected period, whether it's at the state and local level all the way up through the congressional level. There are great ones, like Kimmy Dacquist, and Macy Harano and others. But there's also a lack of that diversity at the state and local level, city councils. And so not having that representation literally means invisibility for a lot of these communities. Not to mention one of the other bigger points here is that when people think api or not api folks, there's a monolith of almost like East Asian, Chinese or Vietnamese or others that you think of a Korean, but there's such a diversity in the api community, which means the diversity of needs, right? So you've got the Cambodian community for talking about the Boston area in Lynn and Lowell, who face a very different history both in America and outside of America with genocide, etc. That means that their needs are very different. And then so you've got Southeast Asian, you've got South Asian, you've got East Asian and every single experience is different and each is informed by something different. So each community has different needs. It's almost like saying, I mean, like people of color in term umbrella is a really dangerous umbrella for various reasons, but it's the same thing here, you know, just saying Asian-American doesn't mean that you're hitting on the needs of lots of Asian-Americans. So that's one of the issues, I think, when people look at me or an identically-south East Asian, Thai-Lawation, but the issue varies for different people. And then also, you know, from an educational lens and historical lens, there's a model minority myth, which if you don't know what that is, is essentially a myth that was perpetuated by the news and the media in systematic racism to basically say that the Asian-American community are the model minority and therefore every other minority community should strive to be like Asian-Americans, which creates a false binary, right? Again, it's a very diverse community. There's also diversity and not just ethnicity, but in generational status, right? First generation immigrant, second generation, also education status, refugees who might come from various reasons, working class folks, or folks who have degrees and come as engineers or, you know, doctors or whatever they may be. But this binary makes it so that Asian-Americans unfortunately don't feel at home with any community except for themselves and kind of creates this insular cycle of like only kind of relying on your own community instead of anyone else. So those are just a few tips, Max, of, I guess, issues that API's meeting counter in political world and just in America in general. Thank you. Thank you. And so I know, you know, you're volunteering with an organization trying to help more AAPI folks get into politics. Are you willing to share any stories of kind of your own, your own experiences moving through the political world? Yeah, I mean, I wonder if we're looking for positive or negative here. Wherever you choose to go. I mean, I think one of the things that I personally struggle with in my own call to service is this idea that I am, you know, I am part of the model minority myth. So people see me in rooms. I get to exist and working and fundraising in particular. I exist in very white spaces, both with like candidates who have been white historically and with donors because political donors are typically white affluent business owners, etc. And so existing in those spaces, you know, give us me an ability to talk about issues that matter to me. Like these issues that we're talking about today, which is representation and the lack of representation, but also specific community issues like mental health awareness in the API community or domestic violence, etc. But then I also struggle with the idea that, you know, is there more that I can be doing? How do I continue to kind of pave a path for other folks who look like me, but also other minorities, you know, Black Latino, etc., Native American, so that I'm not the only, you know, API staffer in a room at a time, both on the campaign site and on the hill or in the local state houses, city council, etc. And that's a struggle that I deal with a lot because, again, because of the model minority, I think when someone looks at me as someone who's lighter skin, it's Southeast Asian, they might make assumptions about where my background is or my status or how I grew up, you know, that I'm first generation college student, first generation immigrant. And that's really difficult for me. So, you know, that I've been in a thousand rooms where I am the only person of color, sometimes the only woman, unless it was with a candidate who was a woman. And a lot of people, I think forget that I'm in the room because of that. And whether that's making assumptions about women or people of color, etc., that happens, you know, whether or not it's on the Democratic Republic inside it happens. I've also had people just tell me, well, like, you're not a person of color, you know, you know, so you, like, I don't know what you mean. Like, and I have to be like, I'm a person of color. Thank you for reminding me. And kind of doing that education myself. So, it's difficult, but it's something that I think over time I've gotten used to and I am grateful, again, for AWS API because it gives me a community to come back to that empowers me to speak my truth consistently. And with integrity and courage, I don't think I would have if I was just me, if that was. Right. Right. Love that. So, I have two related requests for advice. And the first one is, what is the advice you have for API listeners out there who have served the country in the past and are looking at what's going on in our country and wondering, should I should I get in there? Should I serve the politics? What's your advice for those folks? Yeah. I think first, I want to acknowledge that politics for different Asian American communities can be triggering in its own way. I mean, I say more about that. Yeah. Through AWS API, we have a variety of fellows and folks from different ethnicities, but you look at countries where democracy is not the formative, like political thought or ideology there, right? Like you've got dictatorships, you've got communism, you've got a bunch of other kinds of political thought here that really differ from America, right? We believe that going to the polls will not put us in jeopardy, whereas some people running for office in other countries is a death sentence or speaking what you feel from even an advocacy or activist standpoint means that you are fighting against the government in a really negative way. And so I just want to like honor that that is a really important piece for some API folks, especially more first or second generation folks who have intergenerational trauma related to that. And so sometimes even get over the hurdle of wanting to be involved in politics is a lot. It's a massive hurdle to say, this is not what is here in America, that we are safe if we use our if we know exercise our first manner rights, et cetera, is its own hurdle. And so I commend folks who have trauma in their families or themselves for even being interested in politics if that makes sense. I just want to honor that because I think it's an important thing we don't talk about. Sure. Thank you. Secondly, so if you want to get involved in politics, I think, you know, as I've said in my own story, making your voice heard and elevate voice of your community and uplift voices of those around you is one of the most incredibly fulfilling ways that you can come to service, in my opinion. And doing so in a way that leads to legislation that reflects our community is just invaluable. There are not, like I said before, there are a lot of rooms that I walk into as the only API staffer went alone, the only API elected. And so coming to service in this way through politics is a way to show up in those rooms and in those meetings and to show your voice and have people think twice about legislating in a way that doesn't reflect your community or your voice. Just sometimes being there is enough to signal to someone else to be more considerate. And to imagine what it might feel like for someone who looks like themselves, whether they're white or otherwise, right, or male, etc. And so I would just say that I'd encourage you to take that first step, whatever it may be through volunteering or running for office yourself or staffing a campaign because not only are you doing that for yourself and it's incredibly fulfilling for you, but you're paving the way for others because seeing you on that path is how if someone else gets inspired to do this too. So you can't be what you can't see. Powerful. Thank you. And then the other related piece of advice is I know it's a seringly painful time for the API community. We know Georgia happened. I know there's an incredible spike in violence. It's just a painful time. What's your advice for listeners who are not API who aspire to be allies at this moment? Yeah. That's a great question, Max. Thank you for kind of drawing attention to the painful moment. And I think being an ally to anyone who faces any kind of oppression or institutional or systematic injustice or racism in any way is just the first step is always to listen and to learn and to really absorb what listening and learning means for that community. As an API person, there are things that I don't understand about the black or Hispanic community that I have to do that listening and learning for. And that's okay and that's something that you have to lean into understanding that you might be wrong about your assumptions and taking those head on. And when I say listen and learn again, there's such a diversity in the API community. I mean, literally go to the API folks, you know, or Google these resources because Google has an expansive resource and see what's happening in the API community, right? Because a lot of people didn't even know that, you know, one of the first communities to get hit by COVID was the API community just from the notion that this was a Chinese virus, you know, a lot of API businesses had to shut down because of that race one. And so it really is, it's capital interest, but it's also very much violent now, right? Because of Georgia, et cetera. And to just stand beside those folks and stand beside them and stand with them, whether it's a shoulder to lean on or physically walking someone home because they don't feel healthy and to really think through what that support looks like for you and the people that you love. What would you say, you know, somebody who says, "I recognize there's this whole diversity within the API community." It's a complexity I don't understand. Like how do I even start? Yeah. I mean, I think you can start by educating yourself and that literally means educating yourself on the history of AIDS guy folks in America, right? We're talking specifically of America centric here. You know, look at the pay jack also known as the Oriental Exclusion Act, right? It's one of the first immigration laws that was made in the US and it targeted Chinese women. So do that research. I mean, one of the first, and I learned this recently despite being Southeast Asian, that there were a Filipina settlers here all the way back in the 1700s. You know, they were one of the earliest settlers also in America. And so like learn that history and through that history, you will see the diversity of the API community in America in particular. And also just literally, like I said, Google is a great resource and I like to say this to people because so much of this education unfortunately comes from these communities who are directly harmed by it. And so it's exhausting for these communities. It's exhausting for me sometimes too. Google Southeast Asians in America. Google South Asians in America. Google, you know, if you don't know anything about Sri Lankans or anything about Vietnamese folks or the Vietnam War, start there. And also, you know, take a look at the propaganda that's been done against Orientalism in the US. And Japanese internment still was never, you know, spoken to or about in a way that was, I guess, a polyd into Japanese people here in America despite them being citizens, you know. And so doing that education, it takes a long time, but it goes a long way if you know what you're talking about and someone else doesn't have to do that with you. Thank you. Thank you. So we're recording this during API Heritage Month. It's as we've discussed, it's a challenging year. And there's very difficult stuff going on. What do you hope Americans are thinking about and reflecting on in this month in 2021? Yeah, I mean, I think it kind of goes back to my previous answer, right? It's that I hope that they're doing some education. I think I hope that they're consuming media that has to do with the Asian American experience, just like, Menari and all these other kind of beautiful films and TV shows and books that document the Asian American experience that isn't new, right? Like, people talk about the American dream. It's an experience that goes quite and far between Italian, Irish, etc. communities, but also the Asian American community. And if consuming media like Menari and Crazy Rich Asians is your first tell-dub into this just to make it accessible for yourself, that's okay too. But also to really reach out to those around you. And again, if you don't know any API folks, think about why that is, right? If you don't know in any experience, if you don't know Black or Brown folks, think about why that isn't how you can broaden your own circles so that you are reflecting the experiences of others around you and the American experience in general. And lastly, although the history that I mentioned before can be painful at times to think about, like the Chinese Exclusion Act, among many, many other laws and policies that have harmed the Asian American community, there are so many beautiful stories of Asian American and the US that should and can be celebrated. And I would love if folks really thought deeply about those experiences and consumed that kind of news as well as all of the terrible things that are happening because it's not just one thing or the other here. I can't resist asking. So what are the stories that inspire you that are particularly uplifting for you? Yeah, do you mean mainstream or just say life? However, either way. Yeah, I mean, I think for me, honestly, it goes back to my community without my mom's guidance and my grandmother's guidance and the hearing of stories of my parents and my dad is a refugee. He came from Laos. They literally crossed the make-on-werver into Thailand on a boat and my dad has a fear of the water and how helpful it is, but knowing those stories really sits in my heart and also my blood, I just feel like that's why I feel called the service because my parents came here hoping for a better life and this is my way to honor them and honor the experiences of my community and folks who can't speak English. And I think about those people that I meet every day and the community I've met here in Boston and the wonderful women that I met through AWS PI and those are important to me. I mean, also just watch Raya and the last dragon. I thought that was beautifully done. So that's what that says with me. I watch you with my kids. It was awesome. Yes, yes, and it's wonderful, but it's also just wonderful to see those stories kind of like, you know, finally being celebrated and to see parts of things that I grew up with and that my mom told me about reflected in mainstream media in the US is life changing for me. So I would say it's a little bit of everything and it's my lived experiences, but my family and my community are the closest thing that I have to kind of inspiration and people that I hold dear to me. Oh, there. So I can't resist asking, how do your parents feel about your work in politics? What's there coming from their experience and seeing what you're doing? I mean, I think it's double as short as my parents are going to be very independent. And so I mean, I think that they would have hoped or wished for a doctor or a lawyer, but you know, I think the lovely thing about my parents is that because they have this experience as being first generation and struggling to survive and to make it year, they also understand what it means to have that freedom and independence and why they struggle to do that. So for me, I've been a very fortunate to have parents who have supported me 100% of the way. Sometimes there's a question of, are you sure you're going to make enough money? Are you sure you're going to be okay? Are you stressed out? Are you working all the time? But the answer is yes, I'm stressed out. Yes, I'm working all the time, but I love what I do and that's enough. I mean, I will say one of the most formative memories for me coming out of high school was going into college, my father, who works in a restaurant job and used to work six days a week basically. The majority of my childhood was kind of driving home with me and there's this whole thing about it. Asian American father being quiet and reserved. And my dad sometimes like that, but he's also really loving and warm. And he said to me, really seriously, just do something that allows you to spend time with your family. And to me, that was almost a reflection of the fact that he regrets that he doesn't get to spend time with us as much as he would have wanted to in response in that moment. I didn't get to say this, but I get to say it now and I've expressed the tomb sense. But I would not change anything in my childhood for anything. He did everything he could. And the reason why I'm bringing this up is just to say that like, it's, I've learned so much from my parents that any disagreements that we have, I'm respectful about their kind of opinions and wishes there, but they also respect my independence and are, I think, hopefully proud of the work that I'm doing in politics today. Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. So this was great. I always like to ask, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners with our community of servant leaders out there? Just that, you know, I'm grateful for this entire community of servant leaders and since, you know, coming to new politics, I'm so grateful to get to meet so many of them. And I feel constantly inspired by the stories I hear and the return to service for a lot of folks through politics. So thank you to this community and our extended community of folks who support us. Awesome. Tiffany, thank you. Thank you, thank you for sharing your story with us. Really appreciate you being here. (upbeat music) - This has been the new politics podcast, I'm your host, Max Clou. Thanks for listening. And I hope you can join us for our next episode when we meet another servant leader who's chosen to step up and serve through politics. If you want to learn more about new politics and the candidates that we support, please check us out online at newpolletix.org. And as always, I'll leave you with this question. How do you feel called to serve at this critical moment for our nation? Thanks for joining. See you next time. (upbeat music)