Internship
To date, there are now over 450 OCA intern alumni,
many of whom continue to exemplify a commitment to
their community.
Notable OCA intern alumni include: 1993 intern alumni
Kathay Feng, executive director of Common Cause; 1994
intern alumni the Honorable Franklin Kang, Merit Systems
Protection Board administrative judge; 1999 intern alumni
the Honorable Ramey Ko, Austin Municipal Court; 1999 intern
alumni Giles Li, executive director at Boston Chinatown
Neighborhood Center; 2001 intern alumni Clifford Yee,
director of youth programs at Coro Northern California and
OCA vice president of chapter development; and many more
who make their community a better place every day.
“This experience of navigating as an APA in [Washington,
DC] is invaluable as they become the new contributors to
our socio-political world for our community,” says Stan Lou,
OCA national vice president of education and culture. “After
25 years, the fruits of this program are clear, and we need to
do all we can to sustain this program for newer generations
of students.”
And while the program has benefitted hundreds of former
intern alumni, the program has also paid back OCA in many
different ways.
“OCA has benefitted tremendously from their energy and
commitment. They exemplify the fulfillment of OCA’s goal
to develop our next generation of leaders,” says Gong. “As I
consider the growth of OCA’s signature Internship Program
over the last two-plus decades and witness the return of some
of the interns to OCA in other leadership roles, I am filled with
a deep sense of pride in the organization and its mission.” ■
The OCA Internship Program continues to run because of the support
of the organization’s chapters, members, and corporate partners. To
give a gift or learn more about the program, please visit
www.ocanational.org.
Where Are They Now?
Mary Dynne Montante | Associate Director Programs and Constituent Development
O
CA is proud to celebrate 25 years of empowering the
community, one leader at a time, through the OCA
Internship Program. Read from the alumni how the
OCA Internship Program contributed to their life.
I can trace back my current professional career and
personal life to the 10 weeks spent in the OCA’s internship
program in 1994. The internship program gave me
the unique opportunity to get involved with issues at
the national level that were affecting the community
locally. Currently, I do website/social media issues and
campaigns for a similar non-profit. The skills I picked up
from the summer internship—communications, project
management, and organizing—have certainly helped me
tackle my current workload. I think the lasting part of the
internship is the friendships, personal and professional,
that developed and stay to this day.
Keith McAllister – 1994
I still tell people that the OCA internship changed my
life. Why? Because I had not previously considered
tying together my interests in Asian American advocacy
and in medicine. OCA helped open my eyes to those
possibilities, and after my internship, I decided to work
12 • IMAGE • Spring/Summer 2014
towards becoming a primary care physician who works in
underserved Asian American communities. I am now an
assistant professor of family medicine at Baylor College of
Medicine in my hometown of Houston, providing healthcare
to low-income APA patients in Chinatown. I am still active
with our OCA-Greater Houston chapter and encourage
more APA pre-meds and medical students to come back to
our community and “serve the people.”
Stephen Chao, M.D. – 2001
My OCA internship placement at Department of Housing
and Urban Development was my first stepping stone into
the field of urban planning and development. I later earned
my master’s degree in planning and have been working in
the affordable housing industry. Through this internship,
I learned how policy making affects local community
development and connected with APA organizations in this
field. After the internship, I stayed connected with OCA and
participated in programs such as B3 and MAAP, which
helped me learn about personal branding, networking, and
mentoring. In 2013, I had the chance to give back and mentor
high school youth through the recent program AMPD.
Elaine Kam – 2004