ABOUT OUR POLICY & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
Policy is a key component to making change and improving opportunities for all communities. OCAPICA’s goal is to increase under served and underrepresented communities’ voices and participation in civic engagement and public policy. The Policy & Civic Engagement program focuses on various issues, such as:
- Addressing disparities in health, education and community and economic development
- Improving collection of data and diverse populations
- Census outreach and education
- Participation in redistricting
- Non-partisan voter mobilization
- Immigrant rights
- Worker safety
- Social justice and equity issues
Stop the Hate and Transforming Communities
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In response to the rise in hate crimes targeting AAPI communities during the pandemic, the California legislature passed the historic Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Equity Budget. As a result, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Civil Rights, Accessibility and Racial Equity (CARE) Office, in consultation with the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA), launched the Stop the Hate initiative and the Transformative Grant program. Since 2021, OCAPICA has been honored to serve as the Stop The Hate Regional Lead for Orange County & Inland Empire, administering funds to 20 partners, and as a Transformative Grantee to deliver direct, preventative, and intervention-based services to stop hate and harm.
For support with hate crimes or hate incidents, please visit ocapica.org/stopthehate. |
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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Our civic engagement work includes nonpartisan voter mobilization through door-to-door conversations, phone conversations, and voter education advertisements in multiple languages.
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FROM ADVERSITY TO ADVOCACY REPORTStop AAPI Hate and OCAPICA co-sponsored “From Adversity to Advocacy: A Stop AAPI Hate Conversation in Orange County” with members of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). The event convened community members with lived experiences of anti-Asian hate together with elected officials to discuss solutions to interpersonal and structural violence.
During the dialogue, community members shared their personal stories of resilience amidst hate with local leaders and elected officials, and proposed both community-based and systems-level solutions to address the hate and harm occurring within our communities. Elected officials across all levels of government listened to their stories and shared their successes, challenges, and responses to address hate and violence. |
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