2/1/2010 - The Saffron Circle has officially announced the release of applications for its 2010 grant year!
Grants will range in size from $1,000 to $5,000 and will target both emerging and established organizations serving Asians in the greater Boston area. Applications are due on March 15, 2010, and grants will be made in May 2010 during Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
For more information and to apply, please visit the Grant Applications section of our website.
12/2/2009 - Saffron Circle/AAPIP Holiday Party
Saffron Circle and AAPIP jointly hosted a year-end holiday party at Mantra on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. The party featured a holiday gift drive to benefit families supported by Ricesticks and Tea.
October 28 , 2009 - Kick Off Event for 2009-2010 Saffron Circle
The 2009-2010 grant year kick-off event took place on Wednesday, October 28, at The Boston Foundation. At the event, members discussed what Saffron Circle accomplished in its first three years and activities for the coming year. Afterwards, several attendees joined for a group dinner at Montien Thai Restaurant.
August 18 , 2009 - Saffron Circle Planning Meeting for 2009-2010
A planning meeting to discuss activities of the Saffron Circle in 2009-2010. The meeting took place at 75 Kneeland Street, Suite 950 in Chinatown.
June 8, 2009 - Saffron Circle Awards Announcements and Event with State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz
Thank you all who joined us on June 8 to honor the four organizations receiving support from the Saffron Circle in 2009, our third year of partnership with community nonprofits serving Asians in the greater Boston area. For a list of the organizations and descriptions of their work, see http://saffroncircle.org/news/press/2009-07-14.html.
State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz provided her thoughts about what she is seeing in the communities she serves and represents during this economic crisis. She noted that all communities are being impacted, but communities of color are particularly vulnerable. She also pointed out that the state is doing everything in its power to preserve funding for local services, but that in order to do so additional revenues must be generated, which means - inevitably - additional taxes. She had supported a bill to raise the income tax in Massachusetts as a measure that she thought was fairer and less regressive than a sales tax increase. At the time, the sales tax increase was still under consideration (it has since passed and been enacted). Because of the decrease in state and federal revenues (even given the stimulus spending), it is critical that there continue to be private and community philanthropy. During these times, we hope you will continue to join us to help meet the needs of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters in the community.
3/6/2009 - The Saffron Circle has officially announced the release of applications for its 2008-2009 grant year!
Grants will range in size from $1,000 to $5,000 and will target both emerging and established organizations serving Asians in the greater Boston area. Applications are due on March 30, 2009, and grants will be made in May 2009 during Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
For more information and to apply, please visit the Grant Applications section of our website.
12/17/2008 - Saffron Circle/AAPIP Holiday Party
Saffron Circle and AAPIP jointly hosted a year-end holiday party at Mantra on Wednesday, December 17, 2008.
11/18/2008 - “Asians After the Election: The Impact on Asians in Politics and Public Policy.”
Dear Saffron Circle Members and Friends,
We would like to thank everyone who was able to make the November 18 event, “Asians After the Election: The Impact on Asians in Politics and Public Policy.”
The event brought together over 40 participants for an open discussion with Newton Alderwoman Amy Mah Sangiolo and Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon.
Both Amy and Sam emphasized the need to build on the momentum that was begun during this past election system to continue to mobilize our community to address the challenges that Asians face. In these hard economic times, when we know that our community will be among the hardest hit, we must come together to provide even more support to organizations that work tirelessly to meet the needs of our community. Amy and Sam also shared personal insights and lessons learned from their respective experiences on the campaign and in office. The event was capped by an opportunity for the participants to mix and mingle with the featured guests and with each other over refreshments.
Thank you again for making this event a success, and please look for information about our upcoming holiday reception in mid-December!
Sincerely,
Saffron Circle
9/4/2008
- Saffron Circle and AAPIP Networking Event
Saffron
Circle and AAPIP jointly hosted a back-to-school/beginning
of Fall social at Mantra on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008.
3/26/2008
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting took place on Wednesday, 3/26 from 6pm-7:30pm at Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.
The meeting featured presentation updates by our 2007 grant recipients Angkor Dance Troupe and Odaiko New England. In addition, the grantmaking committee provided an update on the current 2008 grant cycle, including potential site visit opportunities for interested members.
2/12/2008 - General Meeting
A general membership meeting took on Tuesday, February 12, 6pm at the offices of BCNC. Two Saffron Circle grant recipients were present to provide updates:
- Jacob Smith Yang and Melinda Sharma of MAP for Health presented their research to better understand the health needs of the Asian community, barriers, and opportunities for action.
- Michael Chen of the Asian Community Development Corporation, spoke about the Speakeasy Project, a pilot program that provides on-demand Asian language translation service that is now being integrated into the city of Boston's 24-hour services hot-line.
In addition, Yasmin Shah, Chair of the Grantmaking Committee, presented and led a discussion on the 2008-2009 Grantmaking Process. Yasmin shared with the group that about twenty submissions were received in response to our request-for-proposals.
11/28/2007 - General Meeting
A general membership meeting took on Wednesday, November 28 at 6pm. It was held at the offices of Philanthropic Advisors. Present at the meeting were representatives from two Saffron Circle grant recipients to provide updates:
- Sophia Kim from Asian American Resource Workshop
- Hema Sarangapani from Matahari: Eye of the Day
5/10/2007
- AAPIP Annual Funders Briefing and Saffron Circle Awards
The
Massachusetts chapter of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
in Philanthropy (AAPIP) and the Saffron Circle held a joint
event to learn about immigration in the Asian community and
to celebrate the first Saffron Circle grantees.
The
topic of the AAPIP Annual Funders Briefing this year was immigration
– patterns of immigration for Asian communities in Massachusetts,
as well as an overview of immigration policy at local and
federal levels and its impact on our state.
Guest speakers included:
Following
the briefing, Saffron Circle held a reception with light refreshments
and the announcement of the first set of grant awards. The
award recipients were:
More
information about each of the grant award recipients may be found
here.
4/23/2007
- General Meeting
A Saffron Circle general meeting was held on Monday, April
23 from 5:30pm at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)
at 38 Ash St. Boston, off Oak Street.
This was an important meeting as it will was
our last meeting before the May 10 announcement of the first
set of grant awards from the Circle.
3/12/07
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting of Saffron Circle took place
on March 12 at 5:30pm at The Boston Foundation on 75 Arlington
Street, 10th Floor.
The
meeting agenda included:
-
Report outs from committees
- Discussion
of recent site visit and schedule of future site visits
- Discussion
of May announcement/cultivation event
1/18/07
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting of Saffron Circle took place
on January 18 at 5:30pm at the offices of Asian Community Development
Corporation (ACDC) on 38 Oak Street, Chinatown. The Grantmaking
Committee provided an excellent overview of giving circles, the
grantmaking process, and presented its recommended slate of applicants
for full proposal invitations.
Members
may access minutes from the January 18th meeting via the Members
Access section.
12/15/06
- SAMPAN Newspaper highlights Saffron Circle
SAMPAN
Newspaper, New England's only bilingual Chinese-English publication
since 1972, interviewed steering committee members Yasmin Shah
and Miki Akimoto. Read the article here: "New
Group Aims to Give"
11/15/06
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting of Saffron Circle took place
on November 15 at 5:30pm at the offices of Associated Grant Makers
on 55 Court Street, Suite 520, Boston MA.
Members
may access minutes from the November 15th meeting via the Members
Access section.
10/17/06
- By-Laws Approved
The
finalized governance document was presented to the membership
for approval as the Saffron Circle
By-Laws. Unanimous approval of a quorum of the membership
was obtained on October 17, 2006.
9/12/06
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting of Saffron Circle took place
on September 12 at 5:30pm at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood
Center at 38 Ash Street, Boston MA. Part of the meeting was devoted
to learning about and discussing the demographics of Asian Americans
in Massachusetts. We wish to once again thank Professor Michael
Liu of the Asian American Institute at UMass Boston for leading
this engaging discussion.
During
the meeting, members also reviewed the working governance document,
and reviewed plans and timelines for making grants.
7/20/06
- General Meeting
A general membership meeting of Saffron Circle took place
on July 20 at 5:30pm at the Boston Foundation. The majority of
the meeting was devoted to working committee progress reports
and membership feedback. One of the recommendations from attendees
was to establish a standard meeting schedule, with monthly general
meetings beginning in September. There will be no general membership
meeting in August in order to give the committees more time to
work.
Members
may access minutes from the July 20th meeting via the Members
Access section.
6/15/06
- First General Meeting
The
first "official" Saffron Circle meeting was held on
June 15 at 5:30pm at the Boston Foundation. A key outcome of the
meeting was the establishment of five
working committees to coordinate discussion and consensus
decision making with regard to major formative issues.
Members
may access minutes from the June 15th meeting via the Members
Access section.
5/24/06
- Inaugural Launch Event
THANK
YOU to everyone who came to the Saffron Circle launch event and
helped to make it a tremendous success! We hope you enjoyed getting
to know us a little better.
Some
of you have already made the wonderful decision to become members,
and many more of you have expressed interest in joining. Please
do not hesitate to contact
us if you have any questions or comments. For those who have
already decided to make a commitment to bring positive social
change in the greater Boston Asian community, instructions for
making your contribution may be found here. |
