Organization Profile
Purpose: SIPA enriches and empowers generations of Pilipino Americans and others by providing health and human services, community economic development, cultural enrichment, and a place where all people of all backgrounds can come together to strengthen community.
Core Values: SIPA was co-founded by a coalition of progressive and passionate individuals within the Filipino, Asian American & Pacific Islander, and progressive communities in the late 1960’s. Founded in 1972. SIPA’s core values, which define us as an organization, are based on the following Indigenous Filipino values:
Kawanggawa: From "awa" (compassion) and "gawa" (action), refers to charity, "a kind act" or "deed of mercy". Based on notion of pakikipagkapwa, or shared humanity.
Damayan: From "damay" (to involve, implicate, draw in), refers to the involvement/engagement aspect of service and community development.
Pagtutulongan: From "tulong" (help), refers to peer to peer assistance and in an egalitarian spirit of mutual self-help.
These Filipino values can also be identified through the concepts of :
1. Cultural Identity,
2. Community;
3. Empowerment;
4. Youth and Family &
5. Service/Involvement