Intern Update
Being from the South, I never could have envisioned a
year ago that I would be living in New York City with a
great company dedicated to diversity. Today I work with
Nielsen, and the OCA Summer Internship Program and
my experience at the White House Office of Management
and Budget was invaluable. The OCA Internship Program
has been, and its legacy continues to be, an integral part
of my life. Working in OMB provided critical real-world
experience and formed a cornerstone in my search for my
first post-college job. Above all, the friendships that were
made that summer with both my fellow OCA classmates
and the mentorship of the National Center staff are
relationships which I continue to cherish.
Michael Satyapor – 2012
Class of 2004
Following my 2009 OCA internship with the Asian & Pacific
Islander American Health Forum, I have continued my
interest in addressing health disparities by focusing my
education and volunteering opportunities on how to elevate
immigrant groups in both the political and health spheres.
Learning about language access and its importance in
helping people navigate their daily lives prompted me
to study language access in our healthcare system and
work on bilingual voter outreach to the Asian American
community in Houston.
Cindy Dinh – 2009
Being an OCA intern has greatly influenced and impacted
my life. During the program, I was a congressional intern
at Congresswoman Judy Chu’s office. On my first day of
work, I was already researching policy issues dealing
with immigration and education. I attended committee
and caucus meetings and drafted response letters to
constituents. The wide range of duties I was assigned to
has tremendously helped me in my current position as a
legislative session assistant at Senator Bill Perkin’s office.
I am honored to be a past OCA intern and will continue to
help and make an impact on my community.
Linda Ren – 2013
I wrote my first press release as an OCA intern the summer
after my freshman year. Now, as a communications
consultant, my job focuses on helping nonprofits connect
with policymakers and the media. I help organizations
working on important issues in education, public health,
and poverty to craft compelling messages, get media
coverage, strengthen fundraising, achieve policy goals and
much more. My internship experience with OCA inspired a
passion for advocacy and social justice. It offered an early
glimpse into the power of strategic communications to
advance important causes and to promote change. It also
allowed me to connect with amazing people I continue to
stay in touch with, more than a decade later.
Olivia Doherty – 2000
OCA allowed me to explore my identity and make an
impact on my AAPI community. As the Associate Student
Life Intern at the MSC, I oversee interns and promote social
justice to ensure a diverse campus. I also serve as the copresident of (Asian American Student Union) AASU and
work with a dedicated executive board to bring together an
Asian American community on such a white-dominated
campus. Currently, I am creating a Hmong American
Women’s group on campus so that they may share in
dialogue about issues concerning Hmong American women.
My OCA experience helped me to create a voice for myself. I
feel grateful that the people I have met and this experience
has set me on many news paths and more to come.,
Bao Nhia Moua – 2011
Class of 2010
Class of 2011
IMAGE • Spring/Summer 2014 • 13