OCA Intern Alum: Caroline Buaron
Interview by Iris Liu / Written by Cassie Micah and Kent Tong
RAISED IN NORTH CAROLINE TO FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS, Caroline Buaron recognized the importance of cultivating and preserving community. While studying political science (with a concentration in public policy) and economics at North Carolina State University, she was active as a community changemaker in her roles as philanthropy chair of the Filipino American Student Association, logistics chair of the Triangle Area Asian American Student Conference (TAASCON), and by establishing the first Liberty in North Korea chapter at the university, which aimed to enhance refugee awareness.
While attending the 2018 TAASCON held at Duke University that year, Buaron heard from OCA’s then-chapter and membership associate, Stephanie Wong, about OCA’s work and ways to get involved, and realized in that moment that a full-time career in advocacy was possible. Luckily, she had a friend, Olivia Zalecki, who previously participated in the OCA summer internship program and vouched for it. Zalecki encouraged her to apply, and she was accepted into the summer 2020 cohort—the program’s first virtual cohort due to the COVID-19 pandemic—where she was placed as a census intern at OCA National Center.
With 2020 being both an election year and census year, Buaron supported OCA in a wide array of civic engagement work, including: creating election guides for each state, participating in census calls, hosting educational webinars with coalition partners, as well as providing logistical support for OCA’s first-ever virtual leadership summit. The OCA internship provided her with her first experience lobbying members of Congress, an eye-opening experience because she got to speak with her representatives directly.
Carolina Buaron (center) with her fellow 2020 interns during the OCA National Convention in Philadelphia, PA in 2024.
Despite the virtual nature of the internship program, Buaron was still able to form strong relationships with her cohort thanks to many cohort-bonding Zoom calls, where the interns took quizzes to find out which Hogwarts houses they were assigned to or which Harry Potter patronus they got, and countless hours of the viral online video game Among Us. “I made a lot of new friends during the pandemic, which I feel like not a lot of people can say,” she remembers fondly.
After graduating in 2021, Buaron returned to OCA as its policy and development associate, where she was responsible for meeting fundraising goals, managing stewardship programs, and collaborating with educators, students, and community members to implement AANHPI curriculum in K-12 classrooms. Thanks to her work at OCA, it’s given her many opportunities to meet her intern cohort members in person for the first time, whether at OCA’s annual conventions, national board meetings, or other community events. “I feel like I have a good relationship with people in my cohort,” she says. “I’m really grateful for that.”
The community aspect was what attracted her to OCA, but Buaron continues to stay with the organization due to the growth opportunities it provides. Today, she serves as OCA’s associate development manager, continuing to work on fundraising and stewardship initiatives. “I love working with [executive director] Thu [Nguyen], and growing when it comes to leadership and professional development,” she says. “OCA National is a really good environment where I can really improve on a lot of those skills, and staff is really encouraging of that.”