AAJA Announces 2022 Community Awards Recipients

The Asian American Journalists Association is proud to announce the winners of our 2022 Community Awards, after restructuring over the past year in the spirit of innovation and boldly moving forward. These new Community Awards honor a wider variety of our membership and give kudos to those who have contributed to the AAJA community. Our new categories continue to honor members of the AAJA community as well as community leadership. 

At #AAJA22’s opening reception, our Excellence in Journalism categories winners were on display in a slideshow, saluting the incredible work of our membership across just about every medium and subject. At our reunion luncheon, we celebrated AAJA’s founders with the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

We are proud to honor these individuals who have made AAJA better and made significant contributions towards our mission of empowering AAPIs in journalism. Visit our updated awards website to learn more details about each individual award recipient and their impactful work. 

Our 2022 Community Awards recipients: 

Member Awards:
  • Member of the Year: Teresa Watanabe
  • Chapter of the Year: AAJA New York 
  • Chapter Leadership of the Year: AAJA Atlanta
  • Affinity Group or Task Force of the Year: Yung AAJA
  • Affinity Group or Task Force Leadership of the Year: Pacific Islander Task Force
  • Executive Leadership Program Award: Sewell Chan and Sara Goo
  • Mentor of the Year: Ruth Liao

Civic Engagement & Leadership Awards:

  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Simon Li
  • Changemaker of the Year: Bo Hee Kim
  • Emerging Journalist of the Year: Salgu Wissmath
  • Community Impact Award to a Local Newsroom: Atlanta K, Korea Times Atlanta, Korea Daily
  • Suzanne Anh Civic Engagement & Social Justice Award: Sarah Kim
  • AAPI Community Impact Award: Chenue Her
  • Leadership In Diversity & Solidarity: The 19th News
  • President’s Award: Marcus Yam

We’d like to acknowledge our awards committee members who have worked tirelessly to bring these awards to reality. These members include: Jessica Xiao, Julia M. Chan, Ben Pu, Sinduja Rangarajan, Nirvi Shah, Jin Ding, Nicole Dungca, Alex Wong, Shirley Qiu, Vivian Toy, Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Sofia Koyama, Esther Gim and Parul Hinzen. Thanks, in addition, to AAJA-HQ staff Daniella Ignacio, April Siruno, Angela Tang, Joseph Malasa, Anissa Deol, and Hayden Park, who have worked tirelessly to implement and carry out the final stages of the new awards process.

About AAJA Awards: 

The Asian American Journalists Association has honored excellence in journalism since 1987. The AAJA Journalism Excellence Awards are bestowed to members for thoughtful reporting, thorough coverage and strong storytelling. AAJA also honors members and organizations who champion the spirit of community through their chapter and affinity group leadership; their diversity, equity, and inclusion work; and through their life’s work. To learn more about awards, visit our awards website.

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