OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates

Our Mission  

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national organization dedicated to empower and promote Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) at the national, state, and local levels by advancing equities and opportunities in society. To fulfill its mission, OCA has established the following goals:

• to advocate for social justice, equal opportunity and fair treatment;
• to promote civic participation, education, and leadership;
• to advance coalitions and community building; and
• to foster cultural heritage.

Founded in 1973, OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates is the second oldest civil rights organization dedicated to advocating for social, economic, and political well-being of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. A national, membership-based organization, OCA was founded by the St. Louis, Detroit, and Washington, DC chapters with a mission to conduct policy and advocacy work in the nation’s capitol as well as programming and community development in chapters across the country. From advocating on behalf of Vincent Chin’s family, to establishing the federally recognized Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, to fighting voter suppression laws in various states, OCA has an extensive legacy of legislative and cultural wins for the AAPI community. However, there is continued need to fight for language access, immigration reform, digital literacy and broadband access, and diversity and inclusion within all kinds of spaces, which OCA tackles at both national and grassroots levels.

Situational Awareness Workshop (SAW)

In response to the increased rise of Anti-Asian/American, xenophobic harassment, and anti-hate towards marginalized communities of color, OCA is providing educational and awareness tools to combat these types of systemic oppression.

This workshop is a free, 1.5-hour, interactive training to teach people how to be a confident and effective bystander against racism and discrimination. At the end of the training, each participant will have the tools to be able to intervene as a bystander whenever they see or experience harassment.

What you will experience: 

1. Clear understanding of the training’s goals and community agreements
2. Learn and identify your own power, privilege, bias, and race in order to become an effective bystander
3. Learn bystander intervention strategies, such as our RESPECT technique
4. Meet and network with other participants from diverse backgrounds and organizations

Who can attend the training?: 

1. College students
2. Educators
3. Community organizers and activists
4. Non-profit organizations
5. For-Profit/Corporations and employees
6. People in leadership positions
7. Adults who want to make a difference in the community

OCA K-12 AANHPI Curriculum Project

Goal: To create a national database of AANHPI curriculum that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive in its treatment of AANHPI history. Once the database is formalized, work with OCA’s local chapters, along with leading student and educator organizations, to get resources into K-12 classrooms nationwide. 

Our hope is that education as a tool promotes understanding, builds mutual understanding of shared struggles, and fosters empathy towards those not part of the dominant group. We aim to center the voices and experiences of those most likely to be impacted by an AANHPI K-12 curriculum: students and educators, both in curricula development as well as in advocacy and outreach efforts. 

Task Force 

The K-12 AANHPI Curriculum Project Task Force consists of members with expertise in education, policy & advocacy, and ethnic studies research & pedagogy, along with students, parents, educators, and advocates from the broader AANHPI community, to work together on vetting and developing AAPI curriculum and pushing for inclusion in schools. The core group meets monthly to strategize and share resources and information around the broader mission and goals and to hear updates from each of the subcommittees on progress and momentum in their designated area of focus. 

Subcommittees

Each of the three subcommittees will have its own lead(s) and convene once a month, separate from the general Task Force meetings, to discuss their project area's goals, including challenges, successes, and plans of action. Subcommittee leads will report relevant updates to the general Task Force via email or at the monthly Task Force meetings. 

You can view our project's landing page here!

The AAPI Digital Access Survey

OCA is committed to promoting equal digital access for all. Internet access has become a civil rights issue - people not only use the internet to connect with family and friends, seek entertainment, or find information, but also register to vote, find jobs, and pursue further education. 

We want to advocate for digital equity by listening to our AAPI communities. Specifically, we want to understand where and how AAPIs have internet access so that we can identify the diverse needs and challenges they face.