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Oakland resident honored with statewide award for domestic violence advocacy
Beckie Masaki, Team Lead at Building Relevant Infrastructure to Develop Global Equity, awarded for Three Decades of building Beloved Community in the movement to end domestic violence

Press release
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oakland resident honored with statewide award for domestic violence advocacy

Beckie Masaki, Team Lead at Building Relevant Infrastructure to Develop Global Equity, awarded for Three Decades of building Beloved Community in the movement to end domestic violence

October 29, 2018 – Anaheim, Calif.: The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership), a coalition representing over 1,000 survivors, advocates, organizations, and allied individuals, honored Oakland resident Beckie Masaki with the Karen Cooper Beloved Community Award at its Annual Membership Meeting Awards Reception. Beginning her work as co-founder of Asian Women’s Shelter, one of the first organizations geared toward the needs of Asian survivors, Masaki has contributed a lifetime of leadership and deep care for advocates in the movement to end domestic violence. 

“Over the past three decades, Beckie has inspired countless Californians as a leader in the movement to end gender-based violence,” said Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco). “She was a pioneer in providing culturally competent resources to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in our API communities. She continues to build movements and develop programs that will benefit generations to come.”

Masaki was honored with the Karen Cooper Beloved Community Award, based on Cooper’s work as the Partnership’s founding Board President. A fierce advocate and respected leader in Tulare County until her death in 2011, Cooper—like Masaki—understood that the power to affect change was greatest when advocates embraced their differences and united together in coalition.

“I’ve been working with activists and organizers on domestic violence issues ever since I graduated from law school, and I have seen and admired a number of leaders in the DV movement who have been innovative and courageous. Beckie Masaki has spent many years as an outstanding movement builder, capacity builder and organization builder,” said Los Angeles County Third District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “We’ve made a lot of progress over the decades and much of it wouldn’t have happened without her unwavering commitment to ending domestic violence.”

In her decades in the field, Masaki is credited with mentoring multiple generations of leaders. As a Movement Maker with Move to End Violence, faculty on Blue Shield of California Foundation’s Strong Field Project, and an initiative called Building the Power of the Margins, Masaki continues her life’s work of building community at the margins—thereby influencing meaningful change for survivors of domestic violence, their families and communities.

“It’s been my honor and privilege to nominate Beckie for the Karen Cooper lifetime award because she walks the walk and talks the talk,” said Sarah Khan, Senior Project Specialist at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. “She is gracious, strategic and mindful about building relationships and mentoring people from marginalized communities. She is a visionary who continues to build a movement to end violence against women and girls.”

Most recently, Masaki created Gathering Strength, which was brought to life after her Millennium Conference speech. It is now an initiative of Building Relevant Infrastructure to Develop Global Equity (BRIDGE), where she continues to weave together her international, national, statewide and local work that ranges from movement building, capacity building and program and organizational development.

About the Partnership

The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership) is California’s recognized domestic violence coalition, representing over 1,000 survivors, advocates, organizations and allied individuals across the state. Working at the state and local levels for nearly 40 years, the Partnership has a long track record of successfully advocating for over 200 pieces of legislation on behalf of domestic violence victims and their children. The Partnership believes that by sharing expertise, advocates and legislators can help end domestic violence. Through our public policy, communications and capacity-building programs, we create system-wide change that supports survivors and invests in prevention. Every day we inspire, inform and connect all those concerned with this issue, because together we’re stronger. With offices in Sacramento, the Partnership’s member programs span the entire state. For more information, visit www.cpedv.org.

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