Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the only ethnic group in Ohio without a state-level commission. Ohio's AAPI leaders have been trying to change that for more than a decade. But with this year's Atlanta shooting and a rise in anti-Asian hate incidents stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates have renewed their push to create the Ohio AAPI Commission. "I think sadly, the result of what happened in Atlanta is that people have been willing to listen more. Legislators were more willing to meet with us," said Jona Hilario, the co-director of OPAWL, a statewide feminist AAPI group. "The conditions that led to Atlanta exist everywhere else. We shouldn't be waiting for another Atlanta to happen to do something."