Executive Director Cayden Mak is leaving 18 Million Rising after nine years of leadership

After nine years at 18 Million Rising, Executive Director Cayden Mak is leaving our organization. Cayden, thank you for your leadership and for all your contributions in building our Asian American political power over the internet. We are grateful for the vision and drive you have brought to our work and the larger Asian American movement.

The principles Cayden instilled in 18MR – experimentation, radical thought and action, and a commitment to the work and our people – will continue to live on in the organization’s next iteration.

The coming months at 18MR will be an intentional transformation process as we move in a new leadership direction. During this time we will deepen and strengthen as a team and with our partners, in pursuit of and in alignment with our principles and values. This leadership transition comes at an already transformational and exciting time for 18MR, as we’re grounding in what it means to be an abolitionist organization.

Every week, our team reflects on our shared vision: to build a more just and creative world where our experiences are affirmed, our leadership is valued, and all of us have the opportunity to thrive.

With gratitude, we celebrate the purpose, drive, and heart with which this organization strives to become your radical Asian American political home.

The 18MR team will continue to educate, organize and mobilize our communities and run programs within the organization as we always have: through our partnerships and in deep solidarity with a vast diversity of people and organizations: online and offline; international and hyperlocal.

In solidarity,

The 18 Million Rising Team

Active Campaigns

  • Mostly green and black duotone graphic with keffiyeh patterns and a bird’s eye view photo of a mass protest. There is a photo of the Asians for a Liberated Palestine banner. Text reads: Solidarity with Palestine. End U.S. Aid to Israel. Mon 8/19 12pm, Union Park, Chicago. Sign up to join our contingent. bit.ly/18MR_MARCHDNC. Stop police crimes! Community control of the police now! Immigrant rights and legalization for all! Defend LGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights. Money for jobs, schools, healthcare, housing, and environment, not for war. Defend the right to unionize and strike. Justice, peace, and quality. Marchondnc2024.org.

    March on the DNC 2024

    This August, thousands of activists will join the National March on the DNC in Chicago to demand the Democratic Party fight for the rights and liberation of all peoples. This is the time for our movements to gather and demand more from our electeds, including demilitarization of Israel and end to weapons aid.  We know […]
  • Mostly green and black duotone graphic. Text reads Solidarity Fund for March on DNC 2024. Union Park, Chicago. Our community keeps us safe.

    March on DNC Solidarity Fund

    This August, 18 Million Rising is leading a contingent of radical Asian American organizers in Chicago to join the National March on the DNC coalition. We’re calling on our community to keep all of us safe on this journey by contributing to 18MR’s DNC Solidarity Fund. Your donation will help cover expenses such as: We […]
  • Graphic says "Asian Americans say no to Zionism and Islamophobia! - 70+ Asian American and allied organizations tell The Asian American Foundation: Drop Jonathan Greenblatt! The ADL is not an ally to Asian American communities, organizations, and movements."

    Say NO to Zionism and Islamophobia!

    Say NO to Zionism and Islamophobia! 70+ Asian American and allied organizations tell The Asian American Foundation: Drop Jonathan Greenblatt! The ADL is NOT AN ALLY to Asian American communities, organizations, and movements.

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