FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         CONTACT: Naomi Tacuyan / naomi@apiavote.org
MAY 6, 2008                                                                          Mike Matsuda / matsudax@yahoo.com

APIAVOTE-GLEO Partnership Launches Online Town Hall at WWW.APIATOWNHALL Today
Unprecedented Partnership between APIAVote and GLEO intended to increase discussion and debate among Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate

NATIONWIDE—Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) and the Global Leadership Experiences Online (GLEO) proudly announce the launch of the APIA0te-GLEO Electronic Town Hall, an online forum at which participants can join forums to discuss and debate the most pressing issues facing the presidential candidates.

The APIAVote-GLEO Electronic Town Hall allows APIAs from across America to participate in discussion forums on major issues impacting APIA communities such as health care, the economy, education, the war in Iraq, and immigration. The goal of this project is not only to educate our younger voters about particular issues, but most importantly, to show America that APIA issues America's issues as well.

The APIAVote-GLEO Electronic Town Hall supports the APIAVote Presidential Town Hall at UCIrvine, California, on Saturday, May 17th at which the presidential candidates are invited to speak directly to APIAs about our issues. Vida Benavides, executive director of APIAVote, states "I am thrilled that GLEO has created such a valuable resource for our communities, and that we can have informed discussions about the various issues that are so important to our communities. APIAVote encourages participation in the Electronic Town Hall, and encourages other projects like this that serve to increase the numbers of an informed APIA electorate."

WWW.APIATOWNHALL.com was developed by a group of educators who founded Global Leadership Experiences Online (www.gleo.us), a leadership and civic engagement program to develop young leaders. Michael Matsuda, co-founder of GLEO, states "we wanted to build an electronic town hall forum which would allow thousands of participants nationally to dissect and discuss the major issues: economy, Iraq war, education, human/civil rights, health care, climate change."

Matsuda adds, "The town hall forum is simple to use. Just register and enroll in any issue you want more information about. Once in, we encourage you to make comments in the discussion forum sections. And best of all, it's absolutely free."

Pairing professional filmmakers with high school students and partnering with nonprofits, GLEO facilitated the production of short videos around each issue, which essentially are the "entry points" to the discussion forums. Presidential candidates will be given the opportunity to respond to questions posed in these discussion forums, and forum participants would be able to compare the candidates' answers.

For more information about GLEO, go to www.gleo.us, or contact us at gleo@gleo.us. For more information about APIAVote & the Presidential Town Hall, please visit www.apiavote.org, or email townhall@apiavote.org.

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