🚨 Don’t miss the EARLY BIRD deal! Register for #OCACON now to secure discounted prices. Gain exclusive access to convention events, including luncheons, dinner receptions, and a seat at the Awards Gala!
We are still accepting applications for the 2025 OCA-UPS Gold Mountain Scholarships, sponsored by UPS!
👉 $2,000 scholarships will be awarded to 12 high school students who will be graduating high school in 2025 and starting college in the fall.
👉 $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to 4 undergraduate students who will be starting their final year of college/university or community college in the fall of 2025.
👉 Apply before Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT.
Want to fund your community project and make an impact? The President’s Circle Initiative is your chance! Submit a proposal to receive funding for community-building and advocacy projects—and pitch your vision to donors at the 2025 OCA National Convention in Seattle! 🌟
🔹 Chapters must have a $1,000+ funder in the Circle to qualify
🔹 Submit your proposal now: bit.ly/2025pciproposal
🔹 Learn more: bit.ly/joinocapci
Don’t miss this opportunity to amplify your chapter’s voice! 💪🏽✨
This past weekend OCA National staff presented workshops at three conferences: the IMPACT National Conference at Virginia Commonwealth University; the MAUVSA Advance Conference in Williamsburg, VA; and the UVSA Midwest VIA-1 Conference at the University of Michigan! Thank you to our long-time supporters State Farm for giving us the opportunity to provide leadership and advocacy trainings to high school and college students.
February Donors
Thank you to our February donors, West End Strategy and Paul & Louann Igasaki, for your generous contributions towards the President's Circle Initiative! Your contributions directly support local OCA chapter programs and projects that impact AANHPI communities around the country.
PRESS RELEASES & STATEMENTS
OCA Condemns Executive Order Rescinding Language Access Protections
President Trump’s executive order declaring English the official U.S. language and rescinding language access protections is a harmful policy that marginalizes immigrant communities, restricts access to essential services, and undermines civil rights.Click here to read more.
AAJC and WLC File Lawsuit on Behalf of OCA Over Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, along with other civil rights organizations, has filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump's executive order to revoke birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents on temporary visas or who are undocumented, arguing it violates the Fourteenth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.Click here to read more.
Birthright Citizenship: Asian Americans' Historical Influence on this Important Constitutional Right (By: Chris Chan, OCA-Greater Phoenix)
OCA - Greater Phoenix Chapter emphasizes the historical importance of birthright citizenship, a 2025 Executive Order challenging it, and ongoing legal and advocacy efforts to protect this right. Click here to read more.
EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
2025 Paid Summer Internship by OCA - New York Chapter
OCA-NY is looking for a college student or recent college graduate for a full-time summer
internship position to coordinate OCA-NY's 19th Annual Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project. Statistics from the FBI, New York Police Department, and community organizations all show that xenophobic hatred against marginalized groups are on the rise. This spike in hate crimes, locally and nationally, is against a backdrop of a resurgence of anti-Asian hate spurred by Covid-19, an anti-immigrant climate, and fear fueled by elected politicians and organized hate groups/individuals toward marginalized communities. More than ever, this Project is needed. This Project involves coordinating training of diverse teenagers on hate crimes and using art as a tool to prevent hate crimes. These youth then devise the rules of a city-wide hate crimes art contest, advertise the contest, judge the submissions, and plan the opening of the Art Exhibit. The Project is an in-person training and an in-person exhibit.
Dates of Internship: May 15, 2025 (flexible) - August 15, 2025
Stipend: $5,400 (includes local travel expenses)
Application Deadline: Monday, March 24, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
For more info, go to www.oca-ny.org. Coordinator would also be updating the Project’s past records.
Help us update our OCA Intern Alumni Directory
We are requesting all OCA National internship program alumni to fill out the OCA Intern Alumni Directory Form to help us update our internal database so we can stay in touch with our intern alumni from the last 35 years. Fill out the form.
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
OCA - Greater Los Angeles Chapter
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to support Qiao Li, her husband Josh, and their daughters Molly (6) and Leila (3), after their home in Altadena, California, was destroyed by the Eaton Canyon brush fire on January 7, 2025. The fire, driven by winds up to 100 mph, devastated their community. The family evacuated safely but lost their home and belongings. Currently, they are seeking temporary housing and are not able to accept physical donations. Monetary contributions are requested to help them replace lost items and support their daughters during this challenging time.
Qiao has been an active member of the OCA community, serving as a board member of OCA - Greater Los Angeles. If you're able, please consider donating to help them recover from this devastating loss:
On February 16th, 2025, OCA-NY celebrated Lunar New Year by marching in Manhattan Chinatown's Lunar New Year Parade with our sister chapters (OCA-NJ, OCA-WHV, OCA-Long Island), Chinese Adoptee Alliance (CAA), and the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA). As always, we organized a pre-parade breakfast for our members and the community. Despite the heavy rain, members still came out to celebrate and ring in the new year!
OCA - Greater Tucson Chapter
OCA - Greater Tucson Chapter was in the house at the Lunar New Year Celebration at Tucson Chinese Cultural Center. The booth featured the Chapter brochure, voter registration forms, books by Curtis Chin, Richard Lui, and Jackie Wu, antique silk kimono eyeglass cases, whistles, and chocolate fortune cookies from eHotPot.
The chapter president, Leslie Moe-Kaiser, talked with visitors to the table about the Chapter mission and programs in a soft recruitment effort. Many old friends from the community stopped by, and she enjoyed visiting the other booths. Food, performances, children’s activities, and good fun for hundreds of diverse celebrants highlighted the celebration.
