APWS/Our Story
APWS is a Southwest Florida professional and cultural organization connecting Asian women with opportunity, with each other, and with the community we call home.
Our mission is to advance Asian women through leadership, mentorship, economic opportunity, strategic alliances and community impact, cultivating a trusted professional and cultural platform rooted in Southwest Florida and connected across cultures.
A future in which Asian women are fully seen, connected and influential in shaping the economic, civic and cultural life of Southwest Florida, with relationships that extend across Florida, the United States and the global Asian diaspora.
Our promise
Founders Avi Mendieta, Ivy Seo and Jamie Rogers set out to connect Asian professional women across Southwest Florida.
Our first potluck: every member brought a dish from home, and the tradition stuck.
Boat Day and a potluck at Lyn's turned new acquaintances into friends.
Board directors, a treasurer and committees for membership, programs and communications are seated.
A membership mixer, a new-member welcome and our first public social.
A holiday celebration marking our first anniversary and everything built so far.
Setting high standards in our work and in how we conduct ourselves.
Building meaningful ties that give back beyond our circle.
Leading with honesty, transparency and responsibility.
Honoring heritage while embracing inclusion.
Growing together through shared guidance and support.
A guiding idea
Kapwa is a Filipino idea: recognizing yourself in others. It guides how we gather, mentor and serve, and it reminds us that leadership goes deeper when progress is shared.
APWS began with a simple belief: when Asian women have a trusted place to connect their experience, heritage and ambition, everyone around them grows stronger. We created this Society to make those connections more intentional, and to make sure the leadership already shaping Southwest Florida is seen, supported and advanced.
We invite you to bring your story, your expertise and your generosity to this circle. Together we can turn individual achievement into opportunity for others, and build a legacy that reaches well beyond any one of us.