By Alana Bleimann
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco’s District Attorney’s Office this week welcomed a new Director of Community Affairs, Francis Chan, during a pivotal moment in which the call for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community safety is loud and clear.
By working under the role of Director of Community Affairs, Chan will provide an array of victim services with a focused lens on members of the AAPI community.
Recently, the AAPI community has been targeted in harmful crimes throughout San Francisco.
Victims, family members, and the broader community have spoken out and encouraged SF DA Chesa Boudin to continue prosecuting and calling out the offenders while at the same time providing support and a helping hand to the victims’ families.
Boudin maintains he has taken this call seriously over the past few months.
“Stand up, speak out, act up, and be allies,” Boudin stated in a recent virtual summit, titled San Francisco District Attorney Summit – Prevention and Protection: Keeping our AAPI 
Community Safe.
In order to continue the support for the city’s AAPI community, Chan’s hiring will “expand on our office’s work to promote language access and cultural competency….be able to better service the needs of our Chinese language community members and promote public safety for all San Franciscans”, Boudin stated in his press release.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chan is dedicated to supporting those most vulnerable in the city and beyond with his experience in the nonprofit, government, and business sectors.
Recently, he was employed as the Senior Program Manager for the City and County of San Francisco’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development where he “oversaw Chinatown’s budget and programming, the Disaster Relief Program, and the Construction Mitigation Program.”
His public service experience expands beyond Chinatown as he has facilitated many programs and meetings centered around violence prevention for the AAPI community, particularly for youth.
Working in the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, Chan oversaw the Youth Services Department in order to lead school-based conflict mediation and violence de-escalating programming.
“Francis Chan’s extensive experience working with some of the most vulnerable members of the AAPI community will be an invaluable contribution to our Victim Service Division,” said Interim Chief of Victim Services Kasie Lee.
“Underreporting of crimes is a serious issue in the AAPI community due to both language and cultural barriers. Francis will play a critical role in ensuring that AAPI victims of crime are informed and empowered throughout the legal process while receiving linguistically appropriate and culturally competent services,” Lee added.
“I’m honored to join the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office under District Attorney Boudin’s bold leadership,” Chain said. “I believe that we must promote healing in our communities, which includes developing long-term solutions to empowering crime victims and our communities more broadly.”
