CAPAL Summer 2013 Internship & Scholarship and OCA's Civil Rights Fellowship

[VAYLA of New Orleans]

OCA Seeking Applications for Civil Rights Fellowship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 February 2013

CONTACT

Tom Hayashi | Executive Director

202 223 5500 | thay...@ocanational.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership driven organization dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being APAs, is seeking qualified candidates for the OCA Civil Rights Fellowship. Through its 80 chapters and affiliates across the country, OCA touches over 10,000 APA advocates by embracing the hopes and aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans. Applicants may apply online HERE.
 
The OCA Civil Rights Fellowship is a national advocacy fellowship based at the OCA National Center in Washington, D.C. which seeks to organize and mobilize the chapter networks across the country to support the building of individual and community capacity for greater civic engagement among Asian Pacific Americans.

The key components of this program include but not limited to:

• Naturalization Assistance
• Voter Registration
• Hate Crimes Education and Monitoring
• Public Policy

The Fellow will work directly and collaborate with the OCA Chapters through series of turn-key projects. The ultimate objective of this program is to create a movement of APAs that embrace the vision of robust civic engagement that fosters a strong democratic society for generations to come.

The methodologies used to promote civic engagement include:

• Issue specific public education programming
• Volunteer mobilization activities
  
• Community leadership summits and town hall meetings
  

Candidate Requisites

• Strong cross-sectional analysis around civil rights issues related to civic engagement activities (including naturalization process and voter mobilization), race relations, immigration, economic development, access to institutional and non-institutional resources and hate crimes within the framework of these issues impacting Asian Pacific American (APA) communities.
• History of demonstrated experience in leading community based advocacy efforts within culturally diverse communities.
  
• Ability to work collaboratively and independently to provide hands-on project management through all phases of project development process:  Research, planning (development of time-lines, work plans, and budget), implementation, tracking, and evaluation.
  
• Experience with presentation, facilitation and training to small as well as large groups.
  
• Demonstrated ability to write in an accurate, concise, and audience appropriate manner on complex public policy issues.
  
• When appropriate, be prepared to interact with the public including the media—able to direct inquiries to the appropriate organizational spokespersons.
  
• Supervise staff and interns as assigned by the Executive Director according to existing organizational policies and procedures as well as human resource best-practices.
  
• Serve as the primary staff liaison and support to the advisory groups for each of the projects/programs assigned.
  
• Applicant eligibility includes U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with a valid work visa or work permit, including those issued under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
  

Additional Qualifications:

• At minimum, undergraduate degree in political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, law, public administration, or a related field. Advanced degree preferred (i.e. MA/MS/MPA, MBA, JD, PhD)
• Proven history of developing and maintaining positive organizational relationships with community based organizations, government agencies, and corporations through the use of communication media.
  
• Experience in event planning and programming which requires management of logistics—especially for such project as training, town halls, press conferences, panel discussions, etc.
  
• Ability to manage constituent database and website content software.
  
• Strong public speaking and presentation skills.
  
• Proficiency in the use of informational technology to fulfill the work requirements including common work productivity software and hardware, i.e. MS Office suites, Adobe Acrobat, etc.
  
• Strong organization and time management skills.
  

Additional Qualifications (Continued):

• Proven ability to manage, motivate and coach staff, interns and volunteers with diverse backgrounds and abilities.
  
• Ability to exercise creativity with consistency with utmost integrity.
  
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
  
• Capacity to maintain professional demeanor while working under significant pressure.
  
• Capacity to work in a fast paced and flexible environment.
  
• High level of personal energy.
  
• Interest and commitment to Asian Pacific American advocacy issues.
  
• Willingness to work nights/weekends and to travel periodically as required.
  

Location and Duration:

To be based in Washington, DC at the OCA National Center for 12 Months, starting July 1, 2013.  The fellow must be able to relocate for this opportunity after acceptance—no relocation costs are included in the fellowship.

Compensation:

$35,000 to $40,000 per year depending on experience, plus health benefits (the Fellow may elect to enroll in dental benefits at her/his expense) and two weeks of vacation.

Application:

Interested individuals should apply by submitting the following:

1. Copy of the official transcript from a degree issuing institution.
2. Application
   
3. CV or Resume
   
4. Two (2) Professional References and two (2) Personal References
   
5. Two (2) essays (prompts provided in the application)
   
6. Two (2) Work Product Samples:
   
   1. Work Plan with time-lines indicating assigned leads or person responsible for fulfilling documented activity.
      
   2. Budget for activities, projects, or programs managed.
      

Deadline for applications is March 25, 2013 online at: http://www.formsite.com/leadership/form126/index.html or postmarked to: OCA 1322 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Applications and questions regarding this posting can be submitted to Kendall Kosai, OCA Civil Rights Fellow at kko...@ocanational.org or (202) 223-5500 ext. 121.