FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11 January 2010

CONTACT

Iimay Ho | Program Manager

202 223 5500 | This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  

Washington, DC--OCA, a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is now accepting applications for its 2010 Summer Internship Program.

Celebrating its 21th year, the OCA Internship Program seeks to cultivate future leadership by providing students from all over the country an opportunity to be involved in the political process through a national organization. The program has successfully led past interns to become more active on their college campus and increased the presence of the APA community in local, state and federal governments. 

“The OCA summer internship is one of our signature programs, and we are proud to have helped generations of APA college students to become leaders who stay engaged with the APA community,” said OCA Executive Director George Wu.

Summer interns will be placed at a paid full-time position in a federal agency, nonprofit, or congressional office that matches their interest. Interns can also be placed at the OCA National Center. In addition to their placement, summer interns will be highly involved in many OCA activities and gain experience with grassroots organizing.

“Because of my OCA Internship, when I returned to UC San Diego I decided to stay another year to take more classes on domestic politics and in UCSD’s fledgling Asian American Studies program. I am still involved in OCA and civil rights work today,” said Vicki Shu Smolin, Immediate Past President of the OCA-New York chapter and 1990 OCA National Center Intern.

“My OCA internship experience was singularly responsible for introducing me to the world of AAPI activism. From serving as an officer for the Chinese American Students Association in college to founding and running Asian Americans for Obama to my infamous experience testifying before the Texas legislature and Representative Betty Brown, these steps of my journey began with OCA,” said Ramey Ko, Attorney at the Texas Advocacy Project and 1999 OCA National Center intern.

In addition to connecting interns with the APA community and developing their leadership, OCA also brings summer interns to the OCA National Convention, the largest APA conference in the country. The 2010 National Convention will be in Houston from June 17-20. The convention will feature speakers, entertainment, workshops, and our signature gala. Applicants are strongly encouraged to make sure they are able to attend.

For the summer session, interns are expected to commit to working full-time for ten weeks between the dates of May 24 – Aug 13, 2010. Applications will be reviewed by the Internship Committee and a telephone interview may be scheduled.

For more information on the OCA Summer Internship and to apply, go to OCA’s website at www.ocanational.org and click “Internship” under “Programs.” We highly encourage applicants to apply online. Applications for internships need to be postmarked or submitted online by March 1, 2010 for the summer session.

Please contact the OCA National Center at 202-223-5500 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it if you have any questions.