Asia Catalyst

What Asia Catalyst does

Asia Catalyst is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2006 that builds organizational and advocacy capacity for community-based organizations (CBOs) serving marginalized communities across Asia. Headquartered in New York (co-located with Human Rights Watch) with regional offices in Bangkok and Beijing, the organization runs a portfolio of training and advocacy programs including the year-long CBO Catalyst cohort, the Regional Rights Training Program (an annual cross-country cohort spanning China, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam), Tailored Coaching engagements (typically two three-day workshops over 3-6 months), and the Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy Project that guides CBOs through a rights framework to document abuses and build evidence-based policy advocacy. The COVID-19 Vaccine Information and Advocacy Project (2020-2021) extended its thematic scope to pandemic response for LGBT people, sex workers, and drug users.

Its core intellectual asset is the proprietary "Know It, Prove It, Change It" rights curriculum, developed in partnership with activists across Asia and adapted into an open-access online interactive course in collaboration with Drexel University's School of Public Health. Free downloadable manuals, research reports (e.g., the Condom Quandary report based on surveys of 517 sex workers across three Chinese cities, and reports on healthcare discrimination, hemophilia, and Myanmar opium farmer forced eradication), the "Catalyst" blog, and a quarterly newsletter round out the publication and dissemination infrastructure. Multilingual delivery (English, Chinese, Thai) and Vimeo video content extend reach beyond direct workshops.

The organization operates on a grant-and-donation revenue model. Foundation and corporate grants from ViiV Healthcare, Foundation for a Just Society, and Ford Foundation underwrite country-specific programming (Myanmar, China), supplemented by individual donations collected via direct mail and the Amazon Smile charitable shopping program. All programs and resources are provided free of charge to qualifying CBOs, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The organization is led by Executive Director Karyn Kaplan (since 2016), with a staff of approximately 7 employees across advocacy, programs, and administration functions.

Name

Asia Catalyst

Legal name

Asia Catalyst

Website

https://asiacatalyst.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Asia Catalyst is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2006 that trains and supports community-based organizations serving marginalized groups — including people living with HIV, LGBT individuals, sex workers, and drug users — across China and Southeast Asia through capacity-building programs and rights documentation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Society Capacity Building

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building & Policy Advisory Programs (BPADABAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution & Stabilization (BPAGABAJ), Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

Keywords

• Civil society capacity building
• Human rights advocacy
• Community health rights
• Nonprofit training programs
• Marginalized community advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Charitable Grants: Asia Catalyst receives partial funding from pharmaceutical companies (ViiV Healthcare) and foundations (Foundation for a Just Society, Ford Foundation) to support CBO capacity building programs, regional rights training, and country-specific initiatives.
2. Individual Donations: The organization accepts charitable donations through Amazon Smile and direct mail contributions. Donations support front-line activists and community-based organizations working on health and human rights.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Asia Catalyst is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides capacity-building programs, leadership training, human rights research, and advocacy support to community-based organizations (CBOs) across Asia. Its work is focused on building civil society and advancing the right to health for marginalized groups, transferring skills, documentation tools, and advocacy know-how to grassroots groups that serve excluded populations.

Product overview

Asia Catalyst offers a portfolio of capacity building and advocacy programs for community-based organizations in Asia. The core offerings include the CBO Catalyst year-long training program, the Regional Rights Training Program for cross-country coalition building, and Tailored Coaching for specific skill development. These programs are supported by the Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy Project, the Know It, Prove It, Change It educational curriculum, and a COVID-19 Vaccine Information and Advocacy Project. The organization also provides resources including Full Manuals, Organizational Management guides, and publishes the Catalyst blog and quarterly newsletters. The programs focus on advancing the right to health for marginalized groups including people living with HIV, LGBT communities, sex workers, and people who use drugs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Capacity Building Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• CBOs demonstrated improvement in six skill areas including strategic planning, advocacy, fundraising, program management, and volunteer and risk management
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Drexel University School of Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop an online interactive course based on Asia Catalyst's Know It, Prove It, Change It rights curriculum. The open-access course and video library will be freely available to advocates worldwide battling injustice, including in COVID-19 response efforts.
• Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights (APA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsia Catalyst is a proud member of APA, which works to hold governments in the Asia Pacific to their obligations on sexual health and reproductive rights. Organizations collaborate on capacity building and knowledge exchange initiatives.
• Community Network Consortium (CNC) - MyanmarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNC is a Myanmar national consortium of nine community-based networks representing people living with HIV and key populations. CNC members have been involved in HIV law reform consultations and co-authored the new HIV bill.
• International Labour OrganizationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with ILO on the 'HIV and Occupational Safety and Health' conference in 2013, bringing together healthcare workers and people living with HIV to discuss medical discrimination.
• Amazon SmileminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAmazon Smile charitable shopping program allows supporters to designate Asia Catalyst as their charity of choice when shopping on Amazon, generating donations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pact: Pact is a global capacity-building nonprofit that strengthens the organizational management and advocacy skills of civil society organizations in the developing world, including in Asia. Its portfolio mirrors Asia Catalyst's CBO Catalyst model of intensive, long-duration training partnerships with grassroots organizations.
• Front Line Defenders: Front Line Defenders provides capacity building, security support, and advocacy tools to human rights defenders at risk worldwide, with significant programming in Asia. Its work protecting and training grassroots defenders closely parallels Asia Catalyst's mandate to build the documentation and advocacy capacity of marginalized-community CBOs.
• APCASO (Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations): APCASO is a regional network that strengthens community-based HIV/AIDS organizations across Asia-Pacific through capacity building and advocacy coordination. It shares Asia Catalyst's primary segment of CBOs serving people living with HIV and key populations in Asia, and both are members of the Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
• ARTICLE 19: ARTICLE 19 is a global human rights organization that works in Asia to defend freedom of expression and supports local civil society through documentation, advocacy training, and strategic litigation. Its emphasis on building the documentation and advocacy skills of grassroots partners is directly comparable to Asia Catalyst's rights-curriculum methodology.
• Outright International: Outright International works globally to advance LGBTI human rights, including capacity building of grassroots LGBTI organizations in Asia. It shares Asia Catalyst's specific focus on supporting community-led organizations serving LGBT populations to document abuses and advocate for their own rights.
• APN+ (Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS): APN+ is a regional network that organizes and advocates for the rights of people living with HIV across Asia-Pacific, including capacity building for national PLHIV networks. It serves a substantially overlapping constituency in the same geographies as Asia Catalyst.
• International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW): ICW is a global network run by and for women living with HIV that builds advocacy capacity among grassroots women's networks across Asia. It shares Asia Catalyst's constituency focus (women living with HIV, key populations) and emphasis on community-led documentation and rights advocacy.
• Hivos: Hivos is an international NGO that supports civil society, LGBTI rights, and right-to-health programming across Asia and globally through capacity building of local organizations. Its approach to funding and coaching grassroots CSOs in restrictive environments closely mirrors Asia Catalyst's training and advocacy model.

Broad incumbents

• The Asia Foundation: The Asia Foundation is a large, established international development organization working across the Asia-Pacific region on governance, civil society, and rights. While much broader than Asia Catalyst in scope, it is a comparable institution investing in civil society strengthening and human rights in many of the same countries.
• Open Society Foundations: Open Society Foundations is a large philanthropic institution that funds civil society capacity building, health rights, and marginalized-population advocacy globally, including in Asia. While a grantmaker rather than a direct implementer, it operates in overlapping geographies and supports many of the same CBO constituencies Asia Catalyst serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AsiaCatalyst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asia-catalyst

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Asia Catalyst