Asian American executives at DoorDash, YouTube, Facebook donated $10 million to support the AAPI community

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Asian American executives at DoorDash, YouTube, Facebook donated $10 million to support the AAPI community
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan joined hundreds of other Asian business executives to condemn AAPI violence.Kena Betancur/Getty Images
  • Nearly 1,000 Asian-American business executives donated $10 million to ending anti-Asian hate.
  • DoorDash founder Tony Xu, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan signed the letter.
  • "We are tired of being treated as less than American," the business leaders wrote.
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Chief executives and other powerful Asian American Pacific Islander business executives have donated $10 million to groups reporting on hate crimes and supporting the AAPI community.

DoorDash founder Tony Xu, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan joined nearly 1,000 other business executives in signing a letter calling to end violence against Asian Americans, including the March 16 Atlanta shooting that killed six Asian women.

"We are tired of being treated as less than American, subject to harassment and now, every day, we read about another member of our community being physically attacked - simply for being Asian," the letter, signed by the group Stand with Asian Americans, read.

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The $10 million donation will go in part toward the Bay Area nonprofit Asian Pacific Fund, the StopAAPIHate research group, and the legal advocacy group for hate crime victims Asian-Americans Advancing Justice. The group said they will complete the $10 million pledge over the next year.

Read more: We identified the 194 most powerful people at Google under CEO Sundar Pichai. Check out our exclusive org chart.

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella - perhaps the two most prominent Asian-American tech CEOs - did not sign the commitment.

Other high-profile signatories include Facebook vice president of product George Lee, Boxed CEO Chieh Huang, Peloton Interactive co-founders Yony Feng and Hisao Kushi, and Alfred Lin, partner at Sequoia Capital.

Asian Americans hold significantly higher jobs in tech and business than Latino, Black, and Native-Americans, but are the least likely racial group to be promoted into Silicon Valley's management and executive levels, according to Harvard Business Review.

Asian-American hate crimes in 16 US cities increased 149% in 2020, according to an analysis of police data by researchers at California State University in San Bernardino. The United Nations found Trump and other Republicans' use of "Chinese virus" and "Kung flu" to discuss COVID-19 might have prompted the uptick in xenophobia.

The Associated Press reported corporate support to AAPI groups surged after the March 16 shooting. Verizon donated $15 million to AAPI groups, and PlayStation, Tarte Cosmetics, and Sephora pledged additional support.

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President Joe Biden condemned the attacks on Asian-Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month.

"It's wrong, it's un-American, and it must stop," Biden said in a national address.

Stand with Asian Americans was not immediately available for additional comment.

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