YAPPIE EXCLUSIVE—Tina Wei Smith will serve as the next executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) as it completes its transition from the U.S. Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Commerce, a Commerce Department spokesperson tells The Yappie.
Smith, a former U.S. Department of Labor appointee who once served as an aide to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao at the conservative Heritage Foundation, will once again report to Chao—along with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross—as part of the structure laid out in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May. President Trump announced his intent to designated Chao as WHIAAPI co-chair back in January.
The position of WHIAAPI executive director was formerly held by Holly Ham at the U.S. Department of Education. Ham is now a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Established during the Clinton administration in 1999 and moved to the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration, WHIAAPI is a federal inter-agency working group charged with improving “the quality of life for AAPIs through increased access to and participation in federal programs,” according to a 2018 factsheet.
President Trump’s 2019 executive order suggests that the initiative will have a renewed focus on business and economic issues. The order directs the Department of Commerce to provide funding and administrative support, with WHIAAPI given the broader responsibility of expanding “AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] access to economic resources and opportunities.”
A spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Education directed The Yappie to the U.S. Department of Commerce for updates on the status of the initiative, citing the recent transition. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House initiative is separate from the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs, which was extended through Sept. 30, 2021 and is also being moved from Education to Commerce, POLITICO reports. The commission is currently led by Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel (R) and Florida’s Paul Hsu.
