Our internship is highly selective and each intern is selected based on their demonstrated academic and personal excellence, demonstrated leadership capabilities, and a commitment to serving their community.

william chao

Rising Fourth-Year, University of California, Los Angeles

Internship Placement: Office of California Senator Ben Allen

William Chao is a rising senior at UCLA majoring in political science. Originally from the East Bay, he attended Ohlone Community College where he worked as a tutor and assistant in The Lytton Center for History and Public Good. As the son of first generation immigrants from China and Taiwan, born and raised in Fremont, a predominately Asian-American community, William has advocated for AAPI issues at the state and local level. Working with the Teresa Kang campaign for state assembly, he campaigned and advocated for Asian political representation in the California state legislature. As an undergraduate, he is involved with Hunger Project at UCLA, a service and advocacy organization at UCLA that fights for students and community members who face food and housing insecurity. Additionally, he works alongside the Student Labor Advocacy Project, where they fight alongside Unions like AFSCME 3299, which politically agitate for university workers and student workers to receive higher wages in order to combat inflation. As a CLA intern, he hopes to combat the Asian model minority myth in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community community, where AAPI are often viewed as a monolith, when in reality elders, immigrants and certain Asian populations face deep educational and wealth disparities. He's planning on pursuing a masters in public policy and fighting for both material and cultural issues in the AAPI community.

Liam Chia

Rising Second-Year, University of Chicago

Internship Placement: Office of U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu

Liam is a rising second-year student at the University of Chicago after transferring from the University of California, Los Angeles. He will be majoring in public policy studies as well as data science. Liam grew up in Pasadena, California, and attended Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada where he discovered his passion for advocacy and student leadership. Thanks to his mom and older brother, who is dually diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism, Liam was exposed early on to what it means to stand up for your communities and loved ones. As a member of the USAC Office of the External Vice President at UCLA, Liam lobbied on bills and budget matters at the California state capitol, advocating for student needs across the University of California system. As the UCLA coordinator for the University of California Student Association's ACQUIRE campaign, he also worked to make UCLA a more inclusive and equitable campus by writing a resolution in support of increased funding for disability specialists at the UC and working with UCLA's Center for Accessible Education to expand digital resources for students in need of academic accommodations. He also wrote for UCLA’s Business, Law, and Investing Society’s law review, where he studied topics such as antitrust and entertainment law. Growing up amongst a strong Asian-American community in the San Gabriel Valley, Liam has always seen a need for greater representation of Asians in politics. Through CLA, he hopes to gain congressional office experience and develop the skills necessary to become a leader for his community. Throughout this summer and far beyond, Liam hopes to grow into a life-changing advocate and leave behind a legacy of equity and passion.

Olivia diaz anderson

Recent Graduate, University of California, Los Angeles

Internship Placement: Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)

Olivia Diaz Anderson is a recent graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a minor in Asian American Studies. Originally from San Francisco, California, she has always been passionate about sustainability, serving her community, and creating art and music. She is Chamoru (indigenous to Guam and the Mariana Islands) and is very interested in the cultural, environmental, and political issues in Guam as well as other U.S. Pacific territories. She is committed to learning her native language, which is endangered, and revitalizing it through her family’s Chamoru language organization I Sakman I Fino’-Ta–which she creates graphics and photos for, runs the social media account, and curates projects for. At UCLA she was the Transfer Yield Coordinator on the board for the Pacific Islands’ Student Association (PISA) where she put together the Pacific Islander Admit Weekend and organized Chamoru cultural performances and educational activities for the association as well. She hopes to continue organizing and helping her Pacific Islander community by using her skills in various mediums of art, design, and photography to be a voice for the islands. She is looking forward to the CLA program this summer to build her professional skill set, learn valuable lessons from elected officials and her fellow student organizers, and experience working with organizations that have great impact in the AAPI community.

naya dukkipati

Rising Second-Year, University of Southern California

Internship Placement: California Governor's Office of External Affairs

Naya Dukkipati, a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California, is pursuing a dual degree in Cybersecurity and Public Policy with the goal of practicing Antitrust law after working in security engineering or digital forensics. Alongside her academic pursuits, Naya is actively involved in various organizations at USC, including serving as the Director of Community Outreach for her dorm's community council and as the poetry editor for Palaver Literary Magazine. She is also a member of the CYBORG organization and intends to join the debate team in the upcoming fall.
Furthermore, Naya has established her own non-profit organization called Fade Into Hue, which aims to help female writers and address barriers in female education. Through her organization, she has partnered with Chirag School to donate $3700 towards supporting underserved elementary school girls in India. Naya's passion for writing and reading is reflected in her poetry work, which addresses APA issues and her personal experiences. She finds the process of sharing her experiences through writing challenging yet fulfilling. In addition, Naya mentors high school students who aspire to be poets to assist them in their creative journey.
Naya is thrilled to be joining CLA and collaborating with her peers in the APA community to explore and learn how to best serve the community.

Kenny Lê

Rising Third-Year, Pitzer College

Internship Placement: Office of California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon

Kenny Lê (he/him) is a rising junior from Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges consortium, hoping to major in a Political Studies & Asian American Studies. His political views are shaped by an experience raised in what is currently known as Garden Grove on unceded Gabrielino/Tongva land by two Vietnamese refugee parents. In conversation with the dark histories and unjust present conditions that shape an Asian/American identity, Kenny involves himself with affinity-based organizations at his campus. As the president of the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC), the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), and the student manager of the Center for Asian Pacific American Students, he has a critical vantage on community. Thus, he leads to cultivate reciprocal, caring, and accountable relationships, creating abolitionist spaces as his mode of organizing against White Supremacy. Currently, Kenny is excited to work with the United Farm Workers in the first re-emergent collegiate student support groups and is organizing an intercollegiate racial justice coalition at his colleges. His hobbies include cooking, running a food blog (@scootingfood on Instagram) and reading.

PO HOUA LEE

Recent Graduate, California State University, Fresno

Internship Placement: Office of California Assemblymember Mike Fong

Pa Houa Lee (she/ her) graduated from California State University, Fresno, in 2023, with a Major in Sociology, a Minor in Hmong, and Certificates in Social Justice and Social Change, Cultural Competency, and Southeast Asian Studies. She was born in the Thailand Internment Camp and immigrated to the United States at three years old. She grew up in Fresno, California, and was the first in her family to graduate from a four-year college. During her undergraduate years, she served in the Hmong Student Association (HmSA) as the Culture Chair in 2021-23 and Judiciary in 2022-23. HmSA is a non-profit, student-led organization on college campuses that aims to promote higher education, leadership, collaboration, community services, Hmong cultures, and adjusting all incoming students to the college life. Besides her leadership in HmSA, she helped gather 100-plus students and advocate for more Asian professors at Fresno State. Currently, she is an Ambassador for California Environmental Voters Education Fund, aiming to build power to solve the climate crisis, specifically in the Central Valley and Inland Empire. During her free time, she enjoys traveling to new places, self-care, and making new friends. Within this program, she hopes to connect with as many people as possible, enhance her professional and leadership skills, understand more about the issues Asian Americans face, and learn how to make changes for the better.

ANDREA MAC

Rising Fourth-Year Pomona College

Internship Placement: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California

Andrea Mac is a rising Senior at Pomona College majoring in Public Policy Analysis with a concentration in Economics. Born and raised in a low-income immigrant family from Los Angeles, California, Andrea is passionate about education, community-centered engagement, and advancing equity, justice, and opportunity for all APIDA communities. One issue that particularly holds great importance to Andrea is enhancing equitable services and access to reliable information, programs, and resources (such as CalFresh) for underserved minority communities. At Pomona College, Andrea was a part of affinity groups such as the First-Generation Low-Income (FGLI) and Asian American Mentoring Program (AAMP). Before college, Andrea was an active member of the Asian American community located in Los Angeles taking up volunteer roles and responsibilities with the Chinatown Business Improvement District, Chinatown Service Center, and Los Angeles Chinatown Youth Center. With these organizations, Andrea contributed to several projects such as: coordinating large-scale cultural events, tutoring Chinese English-learning students, and participating in phone-banking events catered to Chinatown residents. More recently, Andrea conducted research with Pomona College’s Department of Politics under Sara Sadhwani, in which she co-led several qualitative interviews discussing topics of Asian American political representation, voter outreach, and voter turnout with AAPI politicians and community leaders from California, Georgia, and Texas. As part of her research, Andrea also monitored the outcomes of California’s Congressional elections and assessed the kinds of campaign strategies candidates used to garner support from diverse APIDA communities. Andrea is always seeking opportunities that will allow her to wield her academic learnings and personal lived experience to real-world applications. With CAUSE, Andrea is looking forward to expanding her awareness of civic issues faced by the APIDA community and equipping a stronger skillset to become a better advocate for her communities.

Meghna nair

Rising Second-Year, University of California, Los Angeles

Internship Placement: Office of California Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi

Meghna Nair (she/her) is a rising second-year at the University of California, Los Angeles where she is double-majoring in Public Affairs and Economics. She was originally born in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, in India, but her family immigrated to Southern California, where she’s spent the majority of her life, when she was very young. With a life-long love of creative writing and a passion for public speaking rooted in seven years of Mock Trial experience, Meghna aspires to attend law school in the future. Due to her experiences caring for and nurturing the young children of her hometown community, Oak Park, California, as an Assistant Extended Care Mentor for Club Oak Park, a local after school club program, she absolutely adores working with children. As such, she is especially passionate about children’s experiences with the law, particularly with regard to the juvenile justice system, and hopes to advocate on their behalf in her professional career. In college, her love of story-telling and interest in law has translated into participation in several on- and off-campus organizations: she is a member of UCLA’s AAPI Pre-Law Society where she’s currently revising an article for the AAPI Undergraduate Law Journal, she’s an avid writer for the UCLA chapter of Dear Asian Youth where she’s authored research articles on Asian representation in Disney and the South Asian perspective on menstruation, and she’s a new co-host for Dear Asian Girl, a podcast dedicated to uplifting and positively representing Asian women around the world. Through the CAUSE Leadership Academy, Meghna hopes to further hone the public speaking and interpersonal skills she’s developed through her participation in these organizations in order to become the best public servant she can be.

coby nguyen

Recent Graduate, University of California, Berkeley

Internship Placement: Office of U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff

Coby graduated from UC Berkeley this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Data Science. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and he is interested in the how the arts and entertainment can be used for activism, civic engagement, and community-building. During his time at UC Berkeley, he was the producer of a $50,000+ cultural show, he choreographed dances and acted for multiple student-led productions, he organized cultural festivals on campus, and he encouraged and facilitated partnerships between dance teams and organizations across the Bay Area.

Phong Nguyen

Rising Third-Year, Stanford University

Office of Attorney General Rob Bonta, External Affairs

Phong Nguyen (he/him) is a rising junior at Stanford University majoring in Asian American Studies and minoring in Human Rights. He was born in Vietnam but has spent most of his life in Chicago. As a passionate humanitarian, Phong has extensive experience in government policy and human rights advocacy. Before college, he was a youth advocate at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago and HANA Center, a Chicago organization working to meet the critical needs of Asian American and multi-ethnic immigrant communities. Through his work of organizing and overseeing meetings with Asian American activists and members of the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives during the peak of anti-Asian hate, Phong advocated for and successfully helped pass the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act, making Illinois the first state to require the teaching of Asian American history. After the TEAACH Act’s passage, Phong was invited by the Illinois Asian American Caucus and the Association for Asian American Studies to speak on the future of Asian American Studies in PK-12 education and its potential to foster communities centered around care and understanding. Phong continues channeling his passion for social justice on campus through several avenues. He is a managing editor for the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, a performing artist for the Stanford Asian American Theater Project, and an Affirmative Action Ambassador (part of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice cohort). Post-college, Phong plans to get his master’s degree in Asian American Studies and then attend law school. He is confident that these concentrations would guide him in developing better immigration, education, and social justice policies for the Asian American community. Phong is thrilled to participate in the CLA program and looks forward to being in a space that cultivates the next generation of leaders and activists.

Olivia sieve

Rising Third-Year, University of California, Los Angeles

Internship Placement: Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California

Olivia Sieve is a rising third-year student studying Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During her time there, she has worked as internal director of the UCLA Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter, delivering presentations on sexual health, engaging potential volunteers, and organizing on-campus events such as guest speaker workshops to educate students on exercising their civic power to promote reproductive justice. As an outreach committee member of IGNITE, a women’s political advocacy organization, she plans fundraisers to garner support for better sexual assault forensic exam accessibility near her campus. Moreover, she has worked for the past year as a general intern on the Sudan team of Project Expedite Justice, an international legal nonprofit dedicated to educating survivors of human rights abuses on how to pursue prosecution against their abusers. On this team, she writes research drafts on the efficacy of Sudanese anti-corruption efforts and revises project frameworks and other documents written by non-native English speakers. Growing up with a Filipino mother and white father, Olivia witnessed the disparity between the lives of her Asian family members and those of her white family members, from education and professional development to social expectations. She looks forward to integrating her experiences as a multiracial woman with her community engagement background through the 2023 cohort of CAUSE Leadership Academy.

Angel yuan

Rising Third-Year, Pomona College

Internship Placement: Office of U.S. Congressman Jimmy Gomez

Angel Yuan is a rising junior at Pomona College majoring in International Relations and minoring in French. She was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada and is a second-generation Chinese-Canadian. Growing up, Angel acted as her mom’s personal translator, which illuminated a need for increasing language accessibility. As a result, she founded her high school’s Student Translator Initiative, which allowed students to practice their language skills outside the classroom while also providing translated materials to the greater school community. During her recent internship with the Alliance for Children’s Rights, she was one of the only Chinese-speaking staff members, which further emphasized the need to increase language accessibility to crucial resources for those in need.

At Pomona, Angel is currently the Secretary-General of the Pomona College Model United Nations team, which has helped her improve her public speaking and leadership skills. She is also a Tour Guide and an Admissions Intern at the Pomona Admissions Office, where she not only introduces the College to prospective families but also works with the Office to increase access to higher education for marginalized communities. Furthermore, she is a mentor for the International Student Mentorship Program, helping incoming international students transition to college. Outside of school, she is an Associate Member of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, which introduced her to APA advocacy and furthered her desire to become a leader within her communities. Angel is a passionate language learner and is currently learning her fifth language, Arabic.

Angel hopes to attend law school after college and eventually pursue public interest law. She is looking forward to expanding her knowledge about APA issues and taking on a greater leadership role within her communities through the CAUSE Leadership Academy. She is incredibly grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to a summer of growth and learning!