Dear Friends,

Our second Roots & Wings Youth Symposium was held on Saturday, September 19, 2026, and we are proud to share that it was a resounding success, offering a transformative experience for youth, educators, and parents alike. In my opening remarks to the audience, I addressed the extraordinary modern challenges facing today's youth, the architects of our future. I emphasized the importance of resilience and encouraged youth to choose perseverance over the temptation to disengage as a coping mechanism. It’s imperative that we inspire our young people to embrace new experiences, learn to navigate setbacks, and actively chart their own paths to shape the world. We extend our deepest gratitude to our incredible community, volunteers, and supporters whose dedication made this day possible. Together, we are creating meaningful spaces for the next generation to thrive.

This commitment to empowering the next generation through education and engagement is just as critical on the world stage as it is in our local communities. To prepare young leaders for the future, we must look closely at the evolving relationship between the world's leading superpowers. A vital starting point for this cooperation is revitalizing educational exchanges and cultural diplomacy. 

A rrecent report by the U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) highlights that fewer than 2,000 Americans are studying in China today, down from a peak of nearly 15,000 in 2015. Federal funding cuts, national security fears, and the closure of many university exchange programs have all contributed to this decline. This means that the U.S. is rapidly losing its ability to train the next generation of “China‑literate” leaders at the very moment when a deep, nuanced understanding of China is critical. 

While major immediate breakthroughs were not expected at the recent Trump-Xi Jinping summit in Washington, DC, we did note that President Xi’s announcement inviting 100,000 American students to study in China continues to underscore how central educational exchange remains to the future of U.S.-China understanding. 

For more than 35 years, the 1990 Institute has worked to equip educators and youth with accurate, balanced perspectives on U.S.-China relations. Without continuing to build pathways — through educational exchange, language learning, and people‑to‑people engagement — the U.S. will struggle to develop the diplomats, business leaders, technologists, and other community voices needed to navigate an increasingly complex bilateral relationship.

This is why our mission matters now more than ever. Thank you for supporting our programs as we inspire, educate, and empower the leaders of tomorrow. Stay connected with us by subscribing to our mailing lists and exploring past newsletter issues.
 

Victor Young
1990 Institute Board Chair

The 1990 Institute held a successful Roots & Wings Youth Symposium on September 19 at the College of San Mateo. This year’s event offered panels and breakout sessions focused on building resilience and confidence in Asian American youth. See Spotlight below for more information.

ROOTS & WINGS YOUTH SYMPOSIUM — By bridging generations, this inspiring event gave Asian American youth the courage to claim their roots and the wings to soar.

On Saturday, September 19, the 1990 Institute hosted its second Roots & Wings Youth Symposium at the College of San Mateo. We brought together youth, parents, educators, and leaders for a high-energy day centered on a powerful theme: "Empowerment Through Community Collaboration."

• A Launchpad for Asian American Youth:. Community champions showed up to help Asian American youth build the confidence and resilience to shatter boundaries and chart their own paths:
• Youth: Participated in revealing Career Pathfinder Conversations and practical Life Skills Workshops. Mentors shared actionable advice on wealth building, calculated risk-taking, and turning setbacks into fuel for an authentic career.
• Parents: Learned strategies for stronger intergenerational communication, unlocking mental health advocacy and ways to support their teens and young adults.
• Educators: Equipped with tools to bring rich AAPI history directly into inclusive K-12 classrooms.
• Shattering the Model Minority Myth: Over 30 speakers across tech, business, government, and the arts joined us. Our keynote speakers — Yul Kwon, Dion Lim, Deb Liu, Evan Low, and Dave Lu — shared their non-linear career journeys, illustrating how heritage and identity shape meaningful work and dismantling the model minority stereotype.
• Real Connections: During our moving, intergenerational “dinner-table” conversation, parents and teens shared vulnerable, honest exchanges that bridged generational divides and gained profound insight into each other's emotional pressures and motivations.
• Film Premieres: We shared two original documentaries honoring unsung Asian American pioneers in journalism and healthcare — now available on our YouTube channel.
• A huge thank you to our sponsors and community partners!  
• 👉 Head to our website for a full recap of the event and sign up for our mailing list at 1990institute.org/join. Look for more detailed recaps of the more than dozen symposium sessions in upcoming newsletters.

NEW DOCUMENTARY — “Invisible Lifelines: The Asian American Legacy of Courage, Care and Contribution”

• Every heartbeat means someone is here — and behind those heartbeats are the hands that protect them. From Filipino nurses on the front lines of American healthcare to Asian American physicians, scientists, and innovators whose breakthroughs changed medicine, “Invisible Lifelines” reveals the often-unseen contributions by Asian American pioneers that have helped sustain and shape American healthcare, including Dr. Peter Tsai, who helped create the technology behind the N95 respirator. Now available to watch on YouTube.
• This short documentary follows a century-long arc starting in the Philippines in 1903 all the way to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s. We explore how U.S.-trained Filipino nurses became the backbone of high-stress hospital emergency rooms and ICUs. We are proud to highlight the immeasurable impact of Filipino and Filipino American nurses during Filipino American History Month. 
• This video production is a collaboration between the 1990 Institute and The Asian American Education Project.
   

SILICON VALLEY ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL (SVAPFF) — “In Joseph Ileto’s Eyes” on October 24

• Our short documentary “In Joseph Ileto’s Eyes,” executive produced by the 1990 Institute, has been chosen for SVAPFF’s Shorts Collection: From Hate to Hope and will be screened in-person on October 24. Get your tickets here.
   

BOOK BY 1990 INSTITUTE FOUNDER — “Wisdom Learned That Should Be Shared: From Architecture to Friendshipology; From Shanghai to Menlo Park” by Billy Ming Sung Lee

• Billy Lee, one of the 1990 Institute’s four founders, has published a book where he tells all in a rendering of his remarkable career in architecture to the founding of Friendshipology, the “study and practice of friendship.” Billy immigrated to America from China as a child in 1947 and over the years, learned, through a multicultural lens, how to help others and discover friendship.
• “Wisdom Learned That Should Be Shared” includes a chapter on the 1990 Institute and is available on Amazon. 

We bookended our symposium with two powerful conversations: an opening “Trailblazers” panel discussion and a closing one-on-one fireside chat.

Curated News

U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS & CHINA NEWS

Takeaways from the Trump-Xi White House Summit | Center for Strategic and International Studies

• Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met at the White House for the Chinese leader’s first state visit to the United States in more than a decade. Talks covered trade, Taiwan, Iran, AI, fentanyl, and more.
• Scholars provide analysis on the outcomes of the summit, reactions around the world, and what it means for the state of U.S.-China relations.

Opinion: America Is Losing the Ability to Train Tomorrow's China Experts. The Trump-Xi Summit Can Help | Council on Foreign Relations

• Long-standing educational programs such as the Fulbright, Boren, and Critical Language Scholarship are all suspended. A leader-level deal could bring them back and protect the students who take part. By Rosie Levine, Executive Director of the U.S.-China Education Trust.

President Trump says he raised wrongfully detained Americans with Xi | Voice of America

• The State Department confirmed that Washington has directly raised with Beijing the cases of Min Zin, a Burmese American scholar, and Youlin Chen, a Chinese American seismologist. Both have been designated by the State Department as wrongfully detained in China. 

Americans’ views of China have warmed in recent years | Pew Research Center 

• The Pew Research survey, conducted last month, asked people to rate China on a “feeling thermometer” ranging from 0 (“cold and negative”) to 100 (“warm and positive”). Today, Americans give China an average rating of 37 on the feeling thermometer, up from 28 in 2021.
• More: As Fears of China Wane, Americans Favor Greater Engagement with Beijing | Chicago Council on Global Affairs: American public opinion of China turned sharply negative in the late 2010s and early 2020s — and is now shifting according to this 2026 public opinion survey. Americans today feel more warmly about China, with the public less likely to view China as a threat and more likely to favor cooperation over containment.

Opinion: Who’ll win AI race? U.S.? China? Maybe no one. | Harvard Gazette

• Harvard economist Jason Furman says being first in AI will likely matter only in some areas, but risks of systems going rogue will be a shared problem. The best path forward is for the U.S. and China to work together as it will be almost impossible for information not to spill over between the countries.
   

ASIAN AMERICAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, & PACIFIC ISLANDER (AANHPI) NEWS

Bay Area leaders push back against Trump's plans to close National Archives facility | ABC7 Bay Area

• A growing coalition of lawmakers, historians, and community advocates is opposing plans by the Trump administration to close the National Archives facility in San Bruno, CA. The archive houses hundreds of thousands of records documenting major chapters of Western U.S. history, including Angel Island immigration records, Chinese Exclusion Act documents, and materials related to Native American communities.

What's behind the rise of South Asian hate online? | NPR 

• A significant surge in hatred directed towards South Asians is due to a mix of hostile immigration rhetoric, long-standing racism, a growing visibility of South Asians, economic anxiety around immigration, great replacement narratives, and social media amplification, according to Raqib Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, co-author of a new report.

Marking History: Filipino American History Mural to be Unveiled at SJSU on October 30 | SJSU NewsCenter 

• A Filipino American History Mural, to be unveiled at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA, on October 30, is the culmination of years of advocacy. It depicts the economic, social, and cultural contributions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans throughout U.S. history, especially in the labor movement.
• October is Filipino American History Month — learn about Filipino Americans Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, key leaders in the U.S. farm labor movement, on New Asian American Voices.

Asian Americans swung to Trump in 2024. Andy Kim wants to focus on winning them back | Politico

• Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, is embarking on a 2026 campaign tour focused on engaging Asian Americans, an often-overlooked part of the electorate.

Newsom signs law to support Asian American college students amid federal cuts | Sacramento Bee

• California colleges and universities that excel at providing academic resources to AANHPI students will soon be able to apply to get designated as AANHPI-serving institutions under AB 2374, which Gov. Newsom signed on September 29. 
• This comes about a year after the U.S. Department of Education ended several grant programs for federally designated minority-serving institutions.

1990 Institute
P.O. Box 383  | San Francisco, California 94104
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www.1990institute.org

Copyright 2026 The 1990 Institute. All rights reserved. 

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