JACL/OCA Leadership Summit Application Form

Established by the Japanese American Citizens League in 1984, and co-hosted with OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates since 1994, the JACL/OCA Leadership Summit is a four-day annual program that introduces community leaders from across the nation to the national policy-making arena. The summit is structured to provide a broad overview of the decision-making process at the federal level, including meetings and briefings by public officials, key policymakers who serve in Congress, the White House, federal agencies, advocacy organizations, and the media. This will culminate in an Advocacy Day on the last day of the program, in which participants will be split into groups to meet with their respective members of Congress to advocate for AANHPI causes.

*This form is exclusively for OCA members. If you are a JACL member, please visit their website to access the appropriate application form.

Program Dates:

Saturday, March 15 to Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Participation Fee:

If accepted into the program, you or your chapter will be responsible for paying the $150 participation fee.

Eligibility:

You must be an OCA member to participate in this program. Typically, only one representative per chapter is accepted into the program, but in rare instances when spots open up, we may accept two from the same chapter. If you are younger than 18-years-old, you are required to bring an adult chaperone with you or have your parent/guardian sign a waiver to allow you to participate without adult supervision.

Covid-19 Protocol:

In order to ensure a safe event, all participants must be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, must take a rapid COVID-19 test (and test negative) prior to arriving to DC, take a rapid COVID-19 test upon arrival to DC, and will be required to wear face masks when indoors for all official leadership summit programming. Both JACL and OCA will be closely monitoring the COVID-19 numbers in the coming weeks, and if necessary may alter the program including the possibility of shifting to a virtual event, postponement, or cancellation.

Travel Information:

The program will begin in the evening of Saturday, March 15th and end early afternoon Tuesday, March 18th. So, participants coming from out of town should try to plan to arrive and depart around this schedule.

Lodging:

Each participant will be sharing a double hotel room with another leadership summit participant with the same gender identity. If you would like to have your own individual room you may indicate so in the application form, with the understanding that you will cover this cost.

Applications are due no later than Friday, January 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT. All applicants will be notified by January 13th if they have been accepted or not. Please contact eric.kim@ocanational.org with any questions.

Identifying Information

First Name *

Last Name *

Gender *

Female

Male

Non-Binary

Other Other

Pronouns (Select all that apply) *

He/Him/His

She/Her/Hers

They/Them/Theirs

Other Other

Age *

Are you a current OCA member? *

Yes

No

If yes, what Chapter are you a member of? *

If you hold a position, what is your board position of your chapter? *

Please list the name and email of someone from your OCA chapter who can serve as a reference for you. *

Contact Information

Phone Number *

Primary Email Address *

Re-enter your email *

Alternate Email Address *

Re-enter your email *

City * 🛈

State *

Zip Code *

Application Materials

Please upload your headshot *

Short Bio: Please upload a short biography of yourself in PDF format which will be printed as part of in the leadership summit participant materials. Your short bio should include where you're from, where you went to school/graduated from, leadership/advocacy experience, involvement with OCA, hobbies, etc. *

Please upload your resume *

Do you have any dietary restrictions? If so please state your accommodations below: *

What policy areas interest you? (Select all that apply) *

Why do you want to participate in the JACL/OCA Leadership Summit? How will this program help your personal and/or professional growth? What do you hope to gain from the leadership summit? (500 word max) (PDF) *

What is your past experience in advocacy at the national and/or local level? With OCA? (No previous experience is required or expected to participate.) *

How will you use your experience at the Leadership Summit to support your OCA chapter? OCA National?

Which issues are you passionate about? What change do you want to see? *

Your Members of Congress

JACL/OCA Leadership Summit participants will be split into groups to meet with their respective congressional representatives to advocate for specific AAPI issues JACL and OCA are advocating at the time. We will try our best so that each participant will be able to meet with at least one of their members of Congress. Please provide the names of your representatives in the next prompts. You can use this link to find your members of congress: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

Name of Your U.S. House Representative *

Name of Your Senior U.S. Senator *

Name of Your Junior U.S. Senator *

Hotel Accommodations

Program participants will have lodging fully covered by JACL and OCA at a local hotel for the duration of the program, from Saturday, March 15th to Tuesday, March 18th (three nights). Any additional nights will be at the cost of the program participant or OCA chapter. Participants will be sharing a double room with another program participant. If you would like your own individual room, you can state so below but you will be invoiced for the cost of the room.

What is your hotel accommodation preference? *

I will share a hotel room, provided by JACL and OCA, with another program participant

I want to pay for my own individual hotel room

I do not need any hotel accommodations (I found my own lodging)

Do you need hotel accommodations beyond the three nights of the program? *

Yes

No

If you need additional hotel nights please provide your preferred check-in and check-out dates: *

Emergency Contact

What is the first and last name of your emergency contact? *

What is your emergency contact's relationship to you? *

What is your emergency contact's phone number? *

What is your emergency contact's email address? *

*

Certification

Please review this liability waiver regarding our COVID-19 policies. *

I have reviewed and accepted the terms of the waiver.

By applying to participate in the JACL/OCA Leadership Summit and checking the box below you agree to adhere to all Covid-19 protocols set up by the event's organizers. *

Yes, I agree to adhere to all Covid-19 protocols set up by the event organizers

By checking the box below you agree to adhere to OCA's code of conduct and any violation of this code of conduct may result in the participant's immediate dismissal from the program. *

Yes, I agree to adhere to OCA's code of conduct and understand any violation of this may result in my dismissal from the program

By submitting this application, my chapter and I acknowledge that there will be a $150 participation fee due to OCA National. The chapter, individual, or other party may send a check to the office or pay online at www.ocanational.org/donate upon acceptance into the program. *

Yes, I understand