Beyond Food and Festivals: How to Make Asian Heritage Month Meaningful

Cultural CompetencyRace and EthnicityAsian Heritage Month

May 2

Moving Beyond Surface-Level Celebrations

Every May, Asian Heritage Month offers an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the diverse histories, cultures, and contributions of Asian communities in Canada.
Across workplaces, it’s common to see events highlighting traditional foods, cultural festivals, and historical milestones.

Celebrating culture is important.

But when Asian Heritage Month is reduced to food fairs, performances, or one-time acknowledgments, it risks reinforcing stereotypes rather than challenging them.

Real inclusion demands more than celebration.

It requires education, action, and systemic change — not just a temporary spotlight, but a sustained commitment to addressing barriers, honoring complexity, and building equitable workplaces year-round.

To truly honor Asian Heritage Month — and the communities it represents — organizations must move beyond performative gestures and engage in work that creates lasting impact.

Why Representation Without Education Falls Short

Representation is powerful.

Seeing Asian cultures celebrated can foster pride, visibility, and a sense of belonging.

But without deeper education about the histories of exclusion, discrimination, and systemic barriers faced by Asian Canadians, celebrations risk becoming superficial.

They can unintentionally reinforce the idea that diversity is about culture alone — without grappling with power, equity, and justice.

Asian Heritage Month is not just about highlighting cultural traditions.

It’s about honoring stories of resilience, recognizing ongoing challenges, and creating workplaces where Asian employees are seen, valued, and empowered — in all their complexity.

When we fail to engage with the deeper history and lived realities of Asian communities, we miss the opportunity to build truly inclusive cultures.

What Meaningful Action Looks Like

Meaningful engagement with Asian Heritage Month means:

Centering education alongside celebration — exploring histories of exclusion, activism, and resistance, not just cultural achievements.
Recognizing the diversity within Asian communities — across East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander identities — and avoiding flattening experiences into a single narrative.
Addressing current systemic barriers, from leadership representation gaps to mental health stigmas, wage inequities, and racialized experiences in the workplace.
Building platforms for Asian voices to be heard year-round — not only during May.
Connecting celebration to action — embedding inclusion into systems, policies, and decision-making beyond heritage months.

Practical Steps for Organizations

✅ Invest in Education, Not Just Celebration

Host learning sessions or panels exploring Asian Canadian histories, contemporary realities, and workplace experiences.
Bring in guest speakers who can share lived experiences and expertise.
Create reading lists, podcast recommendations, or film screenings that go beyond "feel-good" narratives and explore systemic realities.

✅ Highlight Contemporary Issues Alongside Cultural Pride

Acknowledge the rise of anti-Asian hate in Canada, especially during the pandemic.
Discuss workplace barriers such as the "model minority" myth, leadership gaps, and mental health stigmas.
Create safe spaces for Asian employees to share stories if they choose — and ensure psychological safety when doing so.

✅ Recognize Diversity Within Asian Communities

Highlight different regions, histories, and experiences across East, South, and Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander identities.
Avoid treating Asian Heritage Month as a monolith or defaulting to East Asian narratives alone.

✅ Amplify Asian Leadership

Spotlight Asian leaders at all levels of your organization — not just for storytelling, but for recognition, mentorship, and advancement.
Support leadership development programs that center racialized employees, including Asian-identifying professionals.

✅ Commit to Year-Round Action

Use Asian Heritage Month as a catalyst for longer-term initiatives: policy reviews, leadership pathway audits, anti-racism training, or mental health resource enhancements.

Celebration and education are not mutually exclusive.

When paired thoughtfully, they create workplaces where belonging is built on visibility, equity, and empowerment.

Conclusion: Honoring Stories, Driving Change

Asian Heritage Month is an invitation — not just to celebrate culture, but to reflect, learn, and act.

It’s a reminder that inclusion is not a checklist for May.

It is a commitment to honoring the stories of Asian communities — past, present, and future — through meaningful action.

When organizations move beyond food and festivals, they don’t just create better workplaces for Asian employees.

They create cultures where everyone’s stories are seen as vital to who we are, and who we are still becoming.

📩 Ready to move beyond performative celebration toward real inclusion?

At Erin Davis Co., we partner with organizations to embed equity into leadership, workplace culture, and strategy year-round.

Connect with us at erin@erindavisco.ca to start building deeper, more meaningful inclusion.

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Erin Davis