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This is a full-time, paid, in-person internship program based in Washington, D.C. from June 2-August 8, 2025. Interns will be placed to work at one of various external offices: a federal agency, congressional office, for-profit corporation, nonprofit, or OCA National Center. The job title and responsibilities will vary with each intern depending on where they are placed, which could include policy research, advocacy and lobbying, event planning, workshop or program facilitation, and more.

 

About the OCA Summer Internship Program

Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2024, the internship program seeks to cultivate future leadership for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community by providing opportunities to work in the public sector and learn about issues affecting AANHPIs. Based in the nation's capital, interns will learn to build relationships, meet with legislative officials, and engage in leadership development workshops.


The program has successfully led past interns to become more active on their college campus and increased the presence of the AANHPI community in local, state, and federal governments. OCA intern alumni have become executive directors, legislative staffers, OCA National Executive Council members, and are leaders in the private and public sector.
 

Selected applicants relocate to Washington, D.C. for the duration of their internship, where they are placed to work full-time at nonprofits, federal agencies, congressional offices, for-profit corporations, and other organizations. Each Friday, interns gather at the OCA National office to discuss issues and engage in workshops dedicated to AANHPI issues. We call these convenings “Sama Sama” which is Tagalog for “together.” Interns also must attend and staff OCA’s National Convention, an APIA-U: Leadership training, and participate in  Advocacy Day, in which they’ll be split into groups to meet with their respective members of Congress to advocate for causes important to the AANHPI community. In addition to these events, OCA interns are provided opportunities to build their professional, personal, and advocacy skills to create compassionate leaders in the AANHPI community.

 

Program Details

  • What are the 2025 Summer Internship Program Dates?
    • Monday, June 2, 2025 to Friday, August 8, 2025 (ten weeks).
  • What will OCA summer interns receive?
    • $5,250 stipend (pre-tax)
    • Professional work experience
    • Networking and leadership development
    • Access to OCA alumni network
    • One (1) year free OCA membership upon completion of the internship
  • What are the program requirements?
    • Attend an in-person internship program orientation on Monday, June 2, 2025.
    • Work up to 35 hours a week for ten weeks at placement site.
    • In addition to their work at their respective placement sites, all interns are required to participate in the following mandatory OCA internship programming:
      • Sama Sama (five hours every Friday)
        • Interns are required to attend weekly Friday “Sama Sama” sessions to discuss AANHPI issues, hear from guest speakers, participate in workshops related to leadership, professional, and personal development, and more.
        • Interns may be required to do short presentations on a topic of their choice to educate their fellow cohort members, to be presented during Sama Sama.
      • APIA-U: Leadership training (date TBD)
        • Interns will participate in an APIA-U: Leadership training. APIA-U is a full-day leadership and advocacy training we provide for all college students in the DC area that consists of a series of workshops.
      • OCA National Convention (July 24-26, 2025)
        • Interns will work in a variety of roles, many that include manual labor and social networking, alongside OCA National Staff at the annual OCA National Convention.
      • Advocacy Day (date TBD)
        • Interns will be split into groups and given training to meet with congressional offices for Advocacy Day. Each group will meet with their respective congressional representatives to advocate for AANHPI issues OCA is promoting.
  • Interns will attend tentative programming that OCA co-hosts with partner organizations, including intern networking events.
  • Complete time sheets documenting hours worked, per placement requirements.
  • Complete mid-term and final evaluations with OCA’s internship program coordinator.
  • Complete an exit memo at the end of the internship, detailing your work over the summer.
  • Comply with OCA policies regarding work performance and personal conduct.

FAILURE TO FULFILL ANY OF THE ABOVE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS MAY RESULT IN YOUR REMOVAL FROM THE PROGRAM AND/OR REDUCTION OF YOUR STIPEND.

Eligibility Requirements

  • Applicants must be full-time undergraduate students currently enrolled in an accredited educational institution. Recent graduates who have graduated within one year of the internship are also eligible.
  • Applicants must be at least an incoming second-year college student by the start of the internship (i.e. must have completed their first year of college).
  • Applicants must be interested in AANHPI issues.
  • Applicants do not need to be a U.S. citizen. DACA students or undocumented students must have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to be eligible for this internship. Non-U.S. citizens must be eligible to work by the first day of this internship program in order to be eligible. Some of our placements may require their assigned intern to be a citizen, so certain placement sites may be unavailable to non-citizens.
  • Applicants must not be a former OCA National Summer Intern (OCA Chapter Interns can still apply).
  • Applicants must not be a child or dependent of:
    • an OCA National staff member,
    • an OCA Executive Council member,
    • or an OCA Business Advisory Council member.

Application Requirements

  • Professional Headshot
    • This should be a high-quality photo that clearly shows your face.
  • Short Bio (in PDF format, 300 words max)
    • This should include your background, identity, school, major/minor, work/experience, interests, etc. This info will be used on our website if you are selected to be an intern. If you’d like to see examples of what this short bio should look like, please refer to our previous interns page.
  • Resume (in PDF format, 2 pages max)
    • This should include your leadership, community service/volunteer, and/or work experience
  • Experiences (in PDF format)
    • Please upload a PDF that includes information about your Leadership, Community Service, and/or Employment experience. You may list up to three experiences each. (i.e. Three leadership experiences, three community service experiences, and three employment experiences.) If you don't have any experience in any of the three types, you can skip that type.
    • For each experience you list, you should describe your role/responsibilities, the start/end dates for the experience, your challenges and accomplishments, and what you learned/gained from the experience. Use this space to expand/provide more details on your resume and/or to include any leadership experiences you didn't include on your resume. The more detailed, the better.
    • Click here to view an example of what this document should look like.
  • College Academic Transcript (in PDF format)
    • Unofficial transcripts are also accepted
    • The transcript must show your Grade Point Average (GPA)
    • If you are a first-year student and do not currently have a transcript or GPA, then, for the time being, in the application form when you're asked to upload your transcript, please upload a PDF document stating your current situation and that you will email kent.tong@ocanational.org your transcript after your first semester is completed.
  • One (1) Short Answer Response (in PDF format, 300 words max)
    • Short answer prompt: How would this internship program benefit you? What do you hope to learn and gain? What do you have to offer to the cohort?
  • Two (2) Essay Responses (in PDF format, 500 words max each)
    • Essay Prompt 1: Choose one issue affecting the AANHPI community that you are passionate about. What sparked your interest in this issue? What vision do you have for the future when it comes to this issue?
    • Essay Prompt 2: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
  • Two (2) References
    • Include their name, job title/position, name of company/organization they work, email, phone number, and their relationship to you
    • References can be anyone who can speak about you and your experiences on a personal and professional level. References must not be a family member. We may contact one or both of your references if we determine the need to ask them about you and your application.
    • Please note we are NOT asking for letters of recommendations.