Logo
Our logo features lotus flower petals and the infinity symbol, each carrying deep meaning. The petals represent the diverse people of the AAPI community, symbolizing resilience, just as lotus flowers bloom beautifully even in the muddiest waters. The infinity symbol reflects our approach to storytelling and learning, where AAPI histories and cultures are presented in a continuous, evolving dialogue. Through this, we naturally foster an inclusive environment, welcoming all who seek to learn and engage—while always centering AAPI voices and experiences.
Identity
Full: Cultural Society for Entrepreneurship, Bilingualism, Resources and Inspirations
Short: Cultural Society; The Cultural Society
Stylized as: Cultural Society – Pioneer in Creativity and Exchange
Chinese: 先鋒文化交流協會
If you are interested in collaborating with us at the Cultural Society or have communication inquires or special projects, please send your proposal or email to [email protected]
We welcome new ideas and are always looking for volunteers.
Beginning in February 2024, we have taken down our Blog section to make room for more interesting projects that CSEBRI has. You can still access the past articles from the Blog section here. We are no longer taking any guest articles. We hope you like our new projects.
If you want to help with our cause, please feel free to donate using the following button.
CSEBRI – Pioneer in Creativity and Exchange (Cultural Society) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of those in our community. We envision a learning environment without borders.
Our mission is to inspire curiosity for learning and to nurture the next generation of world citizens embracing diversity with health-conscious lifestyles.
Founded in 2011, we began with our Mandarin Chinese language program. We work closely with parents, stakeholders, and team members to foster a love of language and culture in each student. Our teaching skillfully weaves theory and the practical into language lessons. Students learn to connect the culture with the language and put it in practical communication use. Students are encouraged to think creatively, and to work both independently and cooperatively with others.
At Cultural Society, we celebrate diversity and strive to instill integrity, compassion, and confidence in each child and young professional. Our Culture & Heritage programs give each learner support and encouragement to become his or her own unique self.
As of the new school year of 2019-2020, we added a Health & Wellness Program as part of our mission. We hope:
1) To raise the awareness of our community about health. Our approach to improve health is to balance exercise and nutrition.
2) To provide classes to teach about exercise and nutrition. Our primary vehicle for this exercise program is yoga.
At the nearing the end of the pandemic, we updated our Health & Wellness initiative to reflect the following five tiers of focus. 1) Nutrition 2) Movement 3) Breathing (or Pranayama in Sanskrit) 4) Mental health 5) Graceful aging.
As of April 2023, we have to put the Health & Wellness Program on hold for a time being until we can find more resources and staff to run it.
In the spring of 2020, the World was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. When a crisis hits, that’s the moment that draws out the most from Cultural Society. We put our creativity to work and moved all of our classes online via the Zoom platform. We made the transition to online delivery while serving our existing clients and adhering to the new protocols imposed by the state’s enforced CDC guidelines. Cultural Society remains steadfast in serving our existing clients while going through a steep learning curve in the digital transformation process, and will always value safety first. Thus, we have begun to establish a community of learners without borders. We will continue to create and develop a lasting virtual community of learners everywhere.
Asian American Connection Initiative - Our New Initiative
As the pandemic wore on and unemployment continued to rise, we saw a dire need for helping people get back to work. Cultural Society again rose to the occasion and added a new initiative called Asian American Connection. Although we’re focusing on Asian Americans first, membership is open to all Americans and all people who want to be part of it. Our goal is all-encompassing and we aim to include all Americans who have been affected by the pandemic. We’re focusing on Asian Americans first because that’s where our expertise lies. Through the connection aspect of this initiative with Asian Americans and Americans at-large, we can bring out the best from both sides. When we put ourselves in the position of helping others and becoming selfless, that’s when we see the better version of ourselves.
The AAC initiative has evolved
The AAC initiative has evolved over the months and years since its inception. It is best to read the AAC Initiative summary to understand how it has evolved. In March of 2023, Cultural Society is a recipient of a major grant from the RI Council for the Humanities to do the preliminary research for a museum of Asian American & Pacific Islanders’ history and culture. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the presence of AAPI people in Rhode Island, we have formed an Asian Pacific American Alliance of Rhode Island (or APAARI) to address their concerns and empower them to know their rights and equal opportunity as American residents in the area of education, housing, health, economic and business development, as well as encouraging them to take part in the legislative process of Rhode Island and of the United States. The APAARI has different levels of membership for everyone. It has replaced the original AACI mentorship based membership.
Cultural Society has received a three-year grant from the Art Expansion Program, which is sponsored by the Rhode Island State for the Arts (RISCA), Rhode Island Foundation(RIF), and RI Council for the Humanities. We will focus on our cultural programs, such as Chinese calligraphy, Chinese culinary arts, and the Museum of AAPI History and Culture, and have to put the Health & Wellness Program and Chinese language classes on hold for a time being. Should you need assistance or a referral in those programs, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to serving you and seeing you at our community events, perhaps in the AAPI Heritage Month celebration!
If you like our programming and value our organization, please feel free to use the donate button below to make a donation to our organization.
We are happy to take up donations from individuals. We appreciate any size donations which will help with our programming. Please use our “Donate” button here to donate.
Your comments and feedback are always welcome. Please feel free to email [email protected] to share your thoughts with us.
Cultural Society does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. Cultural Society is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.J52831