Posted on January 27, 2013

Nonprofit Launched in Support of Asian-American Artists Announces Second Program

The A3 Foundation, which was established by three early employees of Facebook, has announced a second program in its ongoing efforts to foster and support emerging Asian-American artists in the media.

At the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival, the foundation announced that it will sponsor, in partnership with the Sundance Institute, an Asian-American fellow for the festival's Screenwriters and Directors labs. Launched last year, the foundation's A3 Fellowship program provides emerging Asian American artists in the media with opportunities to learn from more established artists.

According to TechCrunch, the founders of the A3 Foundation are Philip Fung, an engineering manager on the Facebook for Android team; Julia Lam, who left Facebook to help develop a new startup; and Franklyn Chien, who helped launch LearnSprout after leaving Facebook. Philip Fung said on the A3 Foundation blog that the organization was formed to both increase representation of Asian Americans on media screens and to help create a more accurate portrayal of Asian Americans in the media.

"When Phil was growing up, he didn't see a lot of role models on television. He wanted to help fix that," Julia Lam told TechCrunch. "Our feeling is that there is a lot talent out there. They just need a longer runway to help develop their skills. It's something that we felt like we could help with."