OCA Intern Alum: Andrew Peng
Interview by Kent Tong / Written by Kent Tong
IN JUST FOUR YEARS, Andrew Peng managed to work for a legacy nonprofit, the federal government, and a historic presidential campaign—all in his early 20s. But anyone who knows him personally wouldn’t be surprised. When it comes to communications, he’s the jack of all trades: a writer, a graphic designer, a photographer, a videographer. You'd know he’s the type who’d rather spend countless late nights making sure projects are perfect rather than "just good enough.” It’s no wonder he's the one people go to when they need help.
In 2018, amidst all the attention surrounding the release of the film Crazy Rich Asians, heralded as an achievement in Asian representation in media, Peng noticed something missing—coverage around Asian Americans in government, advocacy, and political campaigns. “I was like, Why is it so hard for people to cover Asian American communities and how politics and policies relate to us?” So, Peng founded The Yappie, a “must-read briefing on AAPI power, politics, and influence," with his childhood best friend, Andrew Huang. It started as a newsletter akin to POLITICO Playbook, with a name derived from the decades-old slang for “young Asian professional” that had been recently popularized by a Wong Fu Productions miniseries called Yappie. The following year, Peng cold-DMed Shawna Chen, a POLITICO intern, asking her to join the team. With her expertise, they shifted their coverage to in-depth reporting and analyses of issues impacting AAPIs, and their readership took off. Since then, The Yappie has been fiscally sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association before becoming its own independent, nonprofit newsroom, with a readership base that includes thousands of Hill and campaign staffers, lawmakers, advocates, journalists, and students.
Suggested by his friend and former OCA intern Cheyenne Cheng, Peng applied and became an OCA summer intern in 2020. Unfortunately, this was during the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant the program was entirely remote. Facilitated by OCA’s senior programs associate, Kent Tong, the internship was filled with nonstop chatter in group chats, hours-long Zoom calls, and unhealthy amounts of Among Us sessions—on top of the weekly programming called “Sama Sama” that focused not only on leadership and professional development, but also personal enrichment—allowing the cohort to form tight bonds, despite the virtual experience. To this day, he considers one of his cohort members, David Nguyễn, a best friend; they’ve gone to Universal Studios Hollywood, roamed through burger restaurants across Austin, Texas, and even went to a Ratatouille-themed dining experience together. “Out of every internship program I’ve ever participated in, OCA’s is the one where I really felt the benefits of our programming, the people, and the intentionality of how we were brought together,” Peng says.
After graduating from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 2021, Peng joined OCA as a communications associate. He introduced a complete brand overhaul, reimagining OCA’s key publications like the annual report and in-house magazine IMAGE, giving them a closer resemblance to national current affairs magazines like TIME or Newsweek; redesigning the organization’s website and newsletter; and expanding its presence on a variety of social media platforms to become a digital-first advocacy organization.
In 2022, at OCA's recommendation, Peng became the communications advisor at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), thanks to a law that allows federal agencies to recruit talent from external organizations like OCA. He worked to drive public awareness of the federal government’s initiatives supporting AANHPI communities, and created visual identities for the White House and WHIAANHPI’s annual Heritage Month celebrations. He also coordinated their internship program and was inspired by OCA’s. “Kent put so much care into the philosophy and process for internship applications, from the essay questions to the interview to selection criteria,” he says. “With that and programming like Sama Sama, I couldn’t help but borrow some elements to inspire and shape WHIAANHPI’s own program.” It’s safe to say he’s successfully replicated the spirit of OCA’s internship, as many of his former interns came back to volunteer at WHIAANHPI’s events. He says this chapter wouldn’t have been possible without the “unwavering” support of OCA’s executive director, Thu Nguyen, and director of administration, Kelly Tian, who helped him navigate the complex approval process and paperwork required.
Andrew Peng with his former intern Linh Truong, who came back to volunteer at The White House Forum on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, hosted by WHIAANHPI. (2023, Photo Credit: Les Talusan, Albert Ting, Leslie Nicole Jean, and Paul Chang)
From July through November 2024, Peng served as the national AANHPI spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign—the first Asian American and first Black woman presidential nominee from a major party. He strengthened the campaign’s engagement with ethnic media and helped journalists share stories about the importance of the Asian American vote. His largest project was crafting and placing historic op-eds by the Vice President speaking to Filipino, Chinese, South Asian, Vietnamese, and Korean American voters.
After the election, Peng joined The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) as their deputy director of communications. He helped shape the rollout of TAAF's 2025 STAATUS Index, the leading national study of Americans’ perceptions of Asian American communities, and supported the launch of their “Asian+American” PSA campaign to encourage Asian Americans everywhere to celebrate the complexity and beauty of their dual identities.
With such an exciting career path for someone still in his 20s, Peng encourages everyone to take any opportunity of interest that comes their way, lest they regret it. “Do the thing, talk to that person, start that project you’ve always wanted to,” he says. “Don’t let indecision, nervousness, or even shyness stop you from acting.” None of his successes would have been possible without a supportive network, from the friends who took risks with him to the supervisors who believed in him. “The more you invest in building a great community that you can turn to,” he says, “the more you’ll get back: fulfillment, knowledge, love—everything, really.”