Newsroom Archive

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today the establishment of the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations and has named Victor Kaiwi Pang as a member of the committee.

The National Advisory Committee will advise the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census. The committee, which is comprised of 32 members from multiple disciplines, will advise the Census Bureau on topics such as housing, children, youth, poverty, privacy, race and ethnicity, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations.

“We expect that the expertise of this committee will help us meet emerging challenges the Census Bureau faces in producing statistics about our diverse nation,” said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director. “By helping us better understand a variety of issues that affect statistical measurement, this committee will help ensure that the Census Bureau continues to provide relevant and timely statistics used by federal, state and local governments as well as business and industry in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The National Advisory Committee members, who serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director, are chosen to serve based on expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and/or statistical needs of hard-to-count populations.

Victor Kaiwi Pang, who was born in Maui, is a community organizer and Pacific Island advocate for more than 30 years. He is a charter member of ’Āinahau o Kaleponi Hawaiian Civic Club OC (1982), the founding past president of the Mainland Council of Hawaiian Civic Club (1990), the Pacific Islander Community Council (1991), the Asian Pacific Islanders Elder Coalition of OC (2002), the Pacific Islander Health Partnership (2003) and the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Alliance (2007). A former appointee to the Census Bureau’s Racial Ethnic Advisory Committee for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, he serves as a board member of the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum headquartered in San Francisco. He is a recipient of the Intercultural Cancer Council’s HOPE Award (2006), the NHPI Carson Town Hall Ali’i Award (2007), the OCAPICA Pioneer Award (2008), the Sen. Lou Correa Senior Seniors Making a Difference (2010), and the American Cancer Society: Dr. Harold Freeman Award (2012).