OCA Intern Alum: Michelle Sugihara
Written by Amelia Lagna and Kent Tong
REPRESENTATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT of Michelle Sugihara’s work—whether in the form of law, media, or nonprofit advocacy. A fourth-generation Japanese American born and raised in Honolulu, she embarked on her advocacy journey while she was a college student interning in Washington, D.C. at the Department of Justice. During that time in D.C., she learned about OCA and saw that they had just opened applications for their internship program.
Soon after, Sugihara became an OCA intern, where she worked on various issues, such as affirmative action, hate crimes, and campaign finance; wrote and disseminated press releases; represented OCA at press conferences and coalition meetings; wrote white papers; attended hearings on Capitol Hill; and assisted OCA National staff with the National Convention in Chicago. Years later, she would find herself co-chairing the 2014 OCA National Convention when it was held in Los Angeles, despite not yet being an OCA – Greater Los Angeles chapter board member. (She would eventually serve as the chapter’s vice president.) “We had an incredible team, it was a really fun experience,” she recalls. “We got to showcase LA to the rest of the OCA community.” At the following convention, she would be recognized with the Unsung Hero Award for her hard work volunteering with OCA - GLA and for establishing strong relationships between the chapter and longstanding community partners like the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles, Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theatre, and Japanese American National Museum—all community organizations she was already involved with and held leadership positions in.
After receiving her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, Sugihara worked as an entertainment attorney, film producer, and adjunct professor for the Claremont Colleges’ Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies. In these roles, she fought for representation on the bench and in academia, and taught a course called “Asian Americans and the Law” with former OCA – GLA President, Judge Bryant Yang.
Sugihara is currently based in LA, serving as the executive director and CEO of CAPE, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, the world’s longest-running nonprofit dedicated to advancing representation for Asian American and Pacific Islander creators and executives in Hollywood. At CAPE, she champions inclusive storytelling in entertainment, working to ensure Asian and Pasifika voices are represented both on screen and behind the camera. Her time at OCA proved to be formative by offering her a glimpse into the nonprofit world and introducing her to mentors who would continue to shape her path. “My OCA internship was my first professional experience in the nonprofit world,” she says. “When I transitioned from the corporate world to running a nonprofit, [former OCA National executive director] Christine Chen was the first person I called.”
Michelle Sugihara moderating an “Art as Activism” panel at the 2023 OCA National Convention in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Peng)
Sugihara is passionate about representation in media because she believes it’s a social justice issue that impacts how communities are treated in real life. “Media is the fastest and most pervasive way to change hearts and minds, which must be done before we can even hope to change policy,” she says. “It affects how we see others, as well as how we see ourselves. Not seeing yourself in the media you consume is like growing up in a house where there are no pictures of you on the wall.”
In 2023, Sugihara returned to OCA for the organization’s 50th anniversary National Convention in Washington, D.C., speaking at multiple sessions about careers in the arts and media, using art in advocacy, and the importance of storytelling—continuing her work in ensuring there’s representation in creative and executive ranks, and reshaping how stories are told and who gets to tell them.