Deadline: January 5, 2026
Applications are open for the OCA Summer Internship Program 2026. The internship program seeks to cultivate future leadership in the next generation of youths by providing opportunities to work in the public sector and learn about issues affecting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. 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.
Program Details
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. They 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.
Benefits
- $5,250 stipend for the ten-week internship program (pre-tax)
- The stipend is pre-tax, meaning interns will be required to file taxes on this income the next tax filing season.
- On rare occasions, a placement site may choose to pay the OCA intern themselves, instead of relying on OCA’s stipend. In such cases, the placement site must at minimum match the amount of OCA’s stipend.
- Interns who do no complete ten (10) full weeks of the internship program will have their stipend reduced.
- Professional work experience
- Networking and leadership development
- Access to OCA alumni network
- One (1) year free OCA membership upon completion of the internship
Eligibility
- 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
The summer internship dates will be Monday, June 1, 2026 to Friday, August 7, 2026 (ten weeks).
For more information, visit OCA Summer Internship.
