Voices + Evidence: What’s Moving the Needle (Vol. 2, No. 2)

By Crissy Chung

The Shift | Vol. 2, No. 2 — Transforming Black Futures Together: Driving Change from Within

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the door for millions of families from Asia to build lives in this country. It did not emerge on its own. It was a direct product of the moral and political pressure that Black leaders and communities sustained over decades, at extraordinary personal cost. The sit-ins, the marches, the legal battles, the legislation. These were not fought for one community alone. They restructured the terms of belonging in America for all of us. As an Asian American, that history is not something I observe from a distance. It is part of my own story, and it is part of the story of every community that has benefited from the expansion of civil rights in this country.

This is why Black Futures Month carries real weight alongside Black History Month. Honoring the past without investing in what comes next leaves something incomplete. The young adult leaders we work alongside at LeadersUp are not simply advocating for their own advancement. They are designing solutions that make pathways more flexible, more grounded, and more honest for all communities. Co-designed systems, where the people closest to the problem hold real power in shaping the solution, reflect a principle that strengthens outcomes across every sector and every community. That design logic, building with people rather than for them, is one of the most important contributions shaping the future of workforce and economic development today.

It is also worth being honest about where solidarity has fallen short. Asian American communities have at times been positioned, and have allowed ourselves to be positioned, in ways that undermine Black progress. The narrative that the system works well enough if you simply work hard enough erases the structural barriers Black communities navigate and obscures the fact that many within our own communities face those same barriers. These stories of exceptionalism do not protect anyone. They isolate. Any system designed to fail Black youth will, over time, fail to serve all of us. The connection between our futures is not symbolic. It is structural.

At LeadersUp, systems change is collective by nature. No single community can construct a future-ready economy in isolation. But when we follow the lead of those who have understood this longest, Black communities who have organized across every generation for the dignity of all people, we begin to close the distance between the systems we have and the systems we need. Honoring Black futures means more than reflection. It means partnership, shared design, and the ongoing work of showing up.

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Crissy Chung is the Head of Insights, Research and Evaluation at LeadersUp, driving our research initiatives and insights collection strategies.