Last Monday, our cohort put on a mock fundraiser event. Complete with charcuterie boards, name tags, and a mock contribution form. Meghna pitched her stump speech, Phong hosted trivia, and we raised thousands of dollars for our mock campaign. Participating in the planning of this event felt full circle for me. I spent the months leading up to last year’s midterm elections staffing these fundraisers for the now-Mayor of Los Angeles. Getting to apply the experience I had gained to our mock fundraiser was exciting as I got to put my experiences to the test. A practice I was not used to, however: pushing attendees to contribute to the campaign. At our mock fundraiser, each of us rotated speaking with guests and convincing them to support our candidate, Meghna. In the end, getting Charlie to donate called for pushy banter. Having to not only discuss money but actively and honestly ask people for it, a practice I found felt a little uncomfortable at times but interesting and offers room to grow. I most appreciated the opportunity to bounce ideas off of other members of my cohort. Things that I overlooked or had forgotten to consider were raised by other interns, and our work together allowed for a successful and fun fundraiser.
On Thursday, I made a public comment to the Los Angeles City Council. Having created CAUSE’s public comment toolkit last summer, I had long been eager but nervous for the opportunity to practice the guidelines I laid out in my toolkit. Since being involved in the mayoral campaign last year, I have kept up with Los Angeles city councilmembers, reading the news and watching the live streams of council meetings, so to be in council chambers and speak to the council members felt like a bigger moment for me than it probably actually was. We spoke on expanding the number of city council seats and independent redistricting, an important issue that I have been keeping up with since writing my final paper for Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s class on independent redistricting. In the end, it was a quick but memorable moment to give a public comment, and I’m glad to say I have actually given a public comment as the creator of the toolkit.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Emma Chen, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.