The 1990s saw significant growth in the number and size of Asian-Pacific American (APA) organizations. Nevertheless, many of these organizations spoke for only a segment of the broader community. The push to create an organization gained additional impetus after the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, in which Asian-Pacific Americans played a significant role. At the July 1996 Organization of Chinese Americans convention in Chicago, Illinois, the leaders of several APA organizations agreed that there was a need for an advocacy coalition which would bring together APA organizations on the local, state, regional and national levels. Former U.S. Representative Norman Mineta assisted the group in convening a series of meetings to discuss the new organization's mission and functions.