January 5th is the final deadline to apply

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Last Chance to Apply!

The final deadline to apply to the 2025 OCA Summer Internship Program is Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 11:59 PT. Undergraduate students (and recent grads) who identify as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander (AANHPI) are encouraged to apply.

What to know:
* This internship program is in-person in Washington, D.C. from June 2-August 8, 2025.
* This is a full-time, paid internship. Interns will receive a $5,250 stipend for the 10-week program.
* Interns will gain valuable professional work experience at congressional offices, federal or local government agencies, for-profit corporations, and nonprofits (including OCA National Center).
* Interns will attend leadership development, professional development, and personal enrichment programming, learn more about issues affecting AANHPIs, meet with legislative officials to advocate for AANHPI causes, and more.

Learn More & Apply ([link removed])


** For 35 years, OCA National Center has hosted the longest-running program for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander college students in the nation’s capital.
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The internship program seeks to cultivate future leadership for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community by providing opportunities to work in the public sector and learn about issues affecting AANHPIs. Based in the nation's capital, interns will learn to build relationships, meet with legislative officials, and engage in leadership development workshops.

The program has successfully led past interns to become more active on their college campus and increased the presence of the AANHPI community in local, state, and federal governments. OCA intern alumni have become executive directors, legislative staffers, OCA National Executive Council members, and are leaders in the private and public sector.

Selected applicants relocate to Washington, D.C. for the duration of their internship, where they are placed to work full-time at nonprofits, federal agencies, congressional offices, for-profit corporations, and other organizations. Each Friday, interns gather at the OCA National Center office to discuss issues and engage in workshops dedicated to AANHPI issues. We call these convenings “Sama Sama” which is Tagalog for “together.” Interns also must attend and staff OCA’s National Convention, an APIA-U: Leadership training, and participate in Advocacy Day, in which they’ll be split into groups to meet with their respective members of Congress to advocate for causes important to the AANHPI community. In addition to these events, OCA interns are provided opportunities to build their professional, personal, and advocacy skills to create compassionate leaders in the AANHPI community.

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Ignite the Future:
35 Years of AANHPI Advocacy

In celebration of the remarkable milestone of 35 years of the OCA Summer Internship Program, we are hosting a giving campaign to raise funds to continue offering this impactful program for the next generation of AANHPI leaders. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation or participate in our peer-to-peer fundraising competition with a chance to win a grand prize valued at over $2,500!

With the generous support of donors like you, the internship program continues to improve. Over the last five years alone, OCA has...
* Increased the summer internship stipend from $2,500 to $5,250 to ensure fair compensation for full-time work.
* Provided housing scholarships to assist low-income interns with living expenses in Washington, D.C. during the 10-week program.
* Purchased bedding and business professional clothing for interns who were unable to afford it themselves.
* Provided paid internships to immigrants, non-citizens, and undocumented students who faced challenges in securing paid internship opportunities elsewhere.

** Learn More & Donate ([link removed])

In their own words

Pajouablai Monica Lee, 2014 Intern: “OCA’s internship is life changing. It informed my lens into Asian America and it gave me the tools to interrogate the intersections of my identities and how I could be a better advocate for my community. I fully believe that OCA’s internship is one of the best programs around and is producing the world leaders of today and our future. I and other colleagues have gone onto work in some of the highest levels of our government (like Acting Secretary Julie Su), others have gone onto earn PhDs, work at mainstream news outlets like Politico/USA Today and MSNBC, and many continue to be advocates and experts in both nonprofit and for profit organizations. OCA’s internship program is the premier program that every AAPI student wants to be part of it. It will be OCA’s enduring legacy if only there is a way to sustain and expand it.”

Kirit Minhas, 2023 Intern: “This internship program was the spark I needed to understand the value of my Asian American identity, and the breadth of life experiences contained within the umbrella of that oversimplifying term. Via the support of OCA, I was able to understand the deeper impact of the work I was doing at my placement site, while also receiving many opportunities for vital professional development with other AANHPI leaders in the policy and advocacy community in our nation's capital.”

Dr. Stephen Chao, 2001 Intern: “The OCA internship program changed my future direction and dedicated my professional career to minority health and addressing health disparities.”

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Watch the 2022 OCA Summer Internship Recap Video

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OCA National Center
Embracing the hopes and aspirations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

900 19th St. NW, 6th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006

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