“Horizontal Networking” was what really stood out to me the first week. When I first came to CAUSE, I thought leadership meant a reliance on vertical relationships, the mentor and mentee. In the political world, a traditional way of fighting for change means listening and learning from your superiors, and fighting for attention from authority, but this week I also learned just how valuable our fellow peers can be in pushing change.
CLA Interns sharing personal stories during Life Maps activity at California State University, Long Beach.
Throughout my college career, I had already recognized the importance of building relationships with mentors/professors, of networking with experienced leaders in their fields, but a surprising wealth of knowledge and wisdom came from my peers. Thanks to a life-mapping exercise at our Long Beach retreat, my cohort, and soon-to-be friends shared our personal stories of growing up Asian American/ Pacific Islander. Our stories covered our inspirations and how we developed a passion for politics, and how fighting for others gave us confidence and drive. My cohort was all distinctly qualified and well versed in their on-campus organizations– whether it be pushing for abortion rights, fighting for Guam’s sovereignty, lobbying for disabled students, or promoting cultural appreciation for API holidays and events. If I had a question, about lobbying for disabled rights at the Capitol, I could ask Liam. If I wanted to know how to organize and work with my community to host a Lunar New Year celebration, I could ask Andrea. As I connected with my new friends, and learned more from the guest speakers, the importance of community and horizontal relationships became clearer.
California State University, Long Beach Professor May Lin lecturing to cohort members on the history of APA Youth activism.
One part of the CLA retreat was learning about youth activism with Dr. May Lin, a professor at Cal State Long Beach who worked with Khmer Girls in Action. Long Beach has an issue with gangs, because there is a lack of spaces and investment for youth. Students recognized the shortcomings in their city budget, and they took action. This meant teenagers canvassing in their neighborhoods, educating family members about the importance of voting, and incorporating political education with their annual “Haunted Houses”. We saw a video of a fellow student courageously speaking at a public comment session in City Hall, fighting for bettering the lives of their community. Khmer Girls in Action organized their community by leveraging their existing relationships with community members and successfully lobbied and fought for the change they envisioned in their city.
Guest speaker and former State Assembly Candidate Godfrey Plata on the basics of running a campaign.
The importance of horizontal relationships further resonated with me when former State Assembly Candidate Godfrey Plata showed us how he relied on his personal relationships, and how they played an integral role in his resounding success as a queer first time Asian-American candidate. With a 44% vote share percentage, he successfully challenged the incumbent and the Democrat institution. His campaign was built on connections with his community which he painstakingly built with two way communication tools like canvassing, text/ phone banking, and being involved in his community. For him, funding the campaign wasn’t about asking big donors and career politicians. He needed to ask his personal circle, longtime childhood friends, and people he hadn’t talked to for years for donations. This meant spending time after work to sit at his dinner table with his campaign manager and calling friends for three hours a night. His campaign wasn’t about networking upwards and relying on institutions or previous generations, as his campaign was built on fellow youth, his role as an educator in his community, and his relatability when fighting and struggling as a renter in Los Angeles. The lesson for me was how the future of change and leadership isn’t going to be the usual game of moving up the party or corporate ladder, but rather a grassroots movement. It is going to be built on horizontal relationships with friends, peers, and community.
In our networking event with the Board of Directors, Victor King, one of the long standing members of CAUSE, balked at a question when I asked him “What are we to do?”. He reminded us it’s not going to be his generation that would lead change, but rather future generations– the youth. Throughout orientation, I learned how skilled, capable, and–most importantly–passionate we were. We are hungry for change, tired of the status quo, and striving for a better life for our community. It gave me confidence that my peers and I are going to be the ones to fight for better Asian-American representation, for renter’s rights, for more education funding, for stopping Asian Hate, and for the issues that we deeply care about.
2023 CAUSE Leadership Academy Interns with Dr. May Lin.
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 William Chao, 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.