Monterey Park, CA – On Saturday, February 1st, CAUSE held the second session of the 2020 Leadership Institute at the SoCalGas Learning Center.
The CAUSE Leadership Institute (CLI) is a community leadership and advocacy training certificate program for high-potential professionals with seasoned leadership experience and a passion for serving the needs of the APA community in California. Participants complete the program armed with the skills and connections vital to advocate for the APA community. Graduates of this program have gone on to change the civic landscape in the region through elected office and leadership roles in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
Our program is highly selective and each member of our cohort is selected based on their leadership abilities, public service, and community involvement. Program fellows are identified by leading elected officials, select nonprofit partner organizations, CAUSE Board Members, and CAUSE Alumni.
Read more about this year’s Leadership Institute cohort here.
The day started off with an “Introduction to Organizing” workshop led by John Yi, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks and Alumni of the CAUSE Political Institute (now Leadership Institute). He presented ways to approach organizing in different sectors, and encouraged the fellows to clearly identify their resources and their goals. He shared, “I am introducing to you a new framework - a way in which you enter a space and organize your thoughts.” Fellows had the opportunity to apply what they learned by working in groups to design and present their own organizing strategies.
Next, CAUSE Board Chair Charlie Woo spoke on his experience on “Working Across Communities”. He spoke on the importance of learning from the successes of other ethnic communities, and emphasized the need for infrastructure. Charlie implored the fellows to become leaders of their communities, stating , “You have the experience, knowledge, and access to help pass on what you learned to the next generation.”
Lastly, Richard Leong, CAUSE Director of Programs & Innovation, challenged the fellows to further apply what they learned in the first session on Organizing through case studies and identifying strategies that worked, questioning strategies that didn’t, and discussing unique aspects that stood out.