2018 JACL/OCA Leadership Summit Recap

2018 JACL/OCA Leadership Summit

Another year, another successful JACL/OCA Leadership Summit! We brought together 30 participants from different chapters of our organizations, to expose them to policy and advocacy efforts in D.C. within the AAPI community. We had a variety of guest speakers attend and share their expertise on issues such as Census, Education, and Immigration. In addition to learning about the issues, it was important for participants to learn about the value of sharing their stories with Members of Congress. Many times we forget that they serve us, and that it is crucial we inform them who we are and voice our concerns as constituents. We conducted Hill visits and had the opportunity to meet with Congressman Mark Takano he spoke about his experience as an elected API leader. The participants enjoyed themselves and got a taste of what advocacy and policy looks like for us on a national level. The summit is necessary for API leaders so that we make the connection between local and national efforts in order to continue advocating for our communities. It was a great experience to see this year’s cohort end the summit as a closer group on the last day from the first day.

Originally published at https://www.ocanational.org in April 2018.