In 2007, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the slaying of Vincent Chin, the Organization of Chinese Americans-New York Chapter (OCA-NY) collaborated with Chinatown Youth Initiatives and South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) to organize an art contest and exhibition addressing the issues of hate crimes in the community. With the support of The Allstate Foundation and OCA National, the Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project (HCPAP) was founded to promote cross cultural awareness, engage high school students in hate crimes prevention, and use art as an activism tool by recruiting student interns to coordinate, develop, and host an annual art competition for their peers across the city.

 

After 19 years, CYI continues to collaborate with the OCA-NY and several youth organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters NYC and Global Kids, for the annual HCPAP. From June to August, four interns representing each organization will come together to discuss issues pertaining to hate crimes and hate crime prevention through weekly workshops. With the supervision and guidance from HCPAP coordinators, the interns collaborate to plan and host the citywide Hate Crimes Prevention Art Contest and the culminating Hate Crimes Prevention Art Exhibit, during which all the art contest's submissions are displayed and the winners are announced.​​​

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HCPAP is led by OCA-NY Board Representative, Elizabeth R. OuYang. Liz has been a civil rights attorney for 16 years and was appointed as a special assistant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2000. She worked as a staff attorney at the Disability Law Center in Boston, as well as at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) for eight years, where she served as the Voting Rights Program lead for the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium. Liz currently teaches at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and represents post 9/11 detainees in immigration court.​