APIASF Engages Wong Fu Productions to Produce Financial Literacy Video for Asian American College Students

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), the nation's largest non-profit organization devoted to providing college scholarships for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), has engaged Wong Fu Productions, primarily known for their YouTube channel to produce a financial literacy video for Asian American college students. Sponsored by Wells Fargo, the social media video “Save the Date” was shown as part of the Wells Fargo’s session on money management and financial literacy at the Jump Start College Tour at Georgia State University on September 14. Following the event, the video will be widely distributed through Wong Fu’s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGkdUEHa7sI) and social media platform, which has over 1.8 million subscribers and 200 million viewers.

“We’ve had a long standing partnership with APIASF that spans nearly 10 years,” said Nancy Wong, head of Wells Fargo Asian Segment Strategy. “Partnering with APIASF and Wong Fu on this fun and humorous social media video is one of the many ways we look to effectively reach AAPI millennials to underscore the importance of responsible money management and encourage them to leverage the free financial tools and resources available to them.”

"The Jump Start College Tour will help local high school and college students boost their leadership and professional skills and learn how to leverage resources such as APIASF to achieve their personal goals," said Neil Horikoshi, APIASF president and executive director. “Wells Fargo’s program allows APIASF to provide direct service to high school and college students in some of America's fastest growing AAPI communities.”

The Jump Start College Tour series targets the nation’s Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), such as Georgia State University, that enroll more than 40 percent of all AAPI undergraduates nationally. Through this series, APIASF will be able to reach the largest AAPI student populations at the institutions they attend. Participants will learn how to identify the resources that can help support their pursuit of higher education, to anticipate career trends, strengthen their money management skills, leverage their personal networks, improve their professional communications skills and build their personal brand.

“With the Asian-American population in Georgia growing by 83 percent from 2000 to 2010, Georgia State University was the perfect place for us to launch our new programmatic initiative. This event will help raise awareness of the needs of the students in the local community and provide APIASF with the opportunity to strengthen our ongoing partnerships with the nation’s AANAPISIs to increase the impact we have on student success,” Horikoshi said.

For details about APIASF's work to strengthen communities and its scholarship programs, visit APIASF's website at apiasf.org. For free money management resources visit handsonbanking.org and wellsfargo.com/financial-education. Also, follow APIASF on Facebook (www.facebook.com/apiasf) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/apiasf).

About APIASF

Based in Washington, D.C., the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) is the nation's largest non-profit organization devoted to providing college scholarships for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). APIASF works to create opportunities for students to access, complete, and succeed after post-secondary education; thereby developing future leaders who will excel in their career, serve as role models in their communities, and will ultimately contribute to a vibrant America. Since 2003, APIASF has distributed more than $70 million in scholarships to deserving AAPI students. APIASF manages two scholarship programs: APIASF's general scholarship and the Gates Millennium Scholars/Asian Pacific Islander Americans funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at blog.wellsfargo.com.