Obama’s Sister Wishes Happy 10th Anniversary to APCOM’s Executive Director

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Congratulations, dear Midnight on your 10^th anniversary with APCOM!

What an achievement: In the wake of the pandemic, and as we continue to navigate the many uncertainties of this time, you remind us of our shared humanity and the commitments we must all make, every day, to take action from a place of inclusivity.

In my roles as an educator, facilitator, advisor, and advocate, working across Asia and the Pacific, I strive to ensure that diverse frontline voices, ideas, and insights are heard, celebrated and promoted. As a co-founder of three non-profits, working to advance peace, I recognise the importance of collective contributions to building a more peaceful, inclusive and just vision of a community, one that values and embraces layered and complex identities and community-sourced solutions from every corner. And, I am sure that in your work, you recognise and build structures for community-sourced solutions.

I know you must work hard to protect and advance everyone’s freedom to self-express. From the powerful stories, struggles and gifts of the LGBTQI+ community, we can learn a lot about the deep transformative power of multifaceted love and persistent courage. As you and APCOM continue to plant and water the seeds of understanding, my hope is that each of us seeks out ways in which we can become conduits of compassion, and will engage thoughtfully and lead by example through daily action.

We must all work together to build communities filled with light, so that there is no room left for darkness of oppression. As we resist, support, and joyfully heal, let us draw on the still moments of reflection forced upon us in the last year, to find the steady grace that is needed, to move through sorrows and arrive at a powerful clearing of true expansive wellness.

Thank you for your leadership.

Maya Soetoro-Ng

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