by Kayli Rego (OCA Greater Cleveland Intern)
Kayli Rego and Nathan Schiffler (Co-Presidents of A4 at Ohio State) attending the 2024 APIA Presidential Town Hall
This past July, I attended APIAVote’s Youth Leadership Summit where my co-president, Nathan, and I networked with collegiate Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) advocates across the nation. Together, Nathan and I are APIAVote Youth Ambassadors who are fortunate to receive mentorship and grants from the nonprofit for collective advocacy affairs at OSU. As well as ambassadors, Nathan and I represented the founders and co-presidents of a newly formed club: Asian American Advocacy Alliance (A4). Through A4, we strive to create a politically-aware community of AANHPI OSU students who are invested and excited about the political future of our community. The summit was focused on voter registration where we learned tactics and strategies to engage with a wide variety of opinions and perspectives on the voting and election process. Nathan and I, as well as our leadership board, are currently implementing these strategies to conduct a voter registration event for the Fall 2024 semester at The Ohio State University.
We were flown out to the summit courtesy of APIAVote. Our destination was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: the city of brotherly love. Upon arriving, we met our cohort of youth ambassadors representing college students from the east to the west coast. Over the course of four days, we spoke with student leaders, non-profits, and government officials on issues ranging from voter mobilization to grassroots movements. In doing so, we gained invaluable experience, training, and networking to advance A4’s mission.
Kayli and Nathan with U.S. Representative Judy Chu
Highlights of the trip included meeting the famous LGBTQ+ advocate, Helen Zia. Through our conversation, we learned about the fiery passion Zia has possessed throughout the entirety of her advocacy career. Connecting with Representative Judy Chu of California’s 28th district was eye-opening as we learned what daily life entailed for a political representative.
The CEO of APIAVote was also in attendance for our summit. Christine Chen, the catalyst of the summit and the non-profit that is APIAVote, took time aside to connect with Nathan and I as we discussed our plans for Ohio. As an OSU alumni, Chen is invested in the political needs of Ohio’s AANHPI community. The non-profit, TARGETOHIO, also has invested interest in the political needs of Ohio’s AANHPI community. Based out of Cincinnati, their mission is to engage and mobilize Asian voters within the election cycle. Nathan and I learned about valuable resources such as language-accessible voting materials as well as the support TARGETOHIO provides to voters from diverse backgrounds.
Each day presented a different schedule and Nathan and I attended workshops specifically tailored towards our needs as a club. We attended a student mobilization event where we learned about the history and collective strength that young generations have within the realm of political advocacy. We also were able to listen to Sue Van, one of the AANHPIs greatest philanthropists. Through the altruism of her character, we learned how she was able to fund almost all currently op
erating AANHPI nonprofits in the US. Seeing the passion and deep love of her community was a moving experience that we were able to experience in person.
The connections Nathan and I made through the summit have strengthened our club at OSU. As student ambassadors, we are continuously in contact with our mentors throughout the voter registration drive as well as other initiatives our club plans to implement throughout the 2024-2025 school year. With the guidance of APIAVote, we have planted the seeds towards a community of politically involved AANHPI students at the Ohio State campus.
Kayli and Nathan with Christine Chen (APIAVote)
Kayli and Nathan with Helen Zia
APIAVote's Youth Ambassadors joined by activist and actress Tamlyn Tomita at the 2024 APIA Presidential Town Hall