During Week 6 of CLA, being open-minded was the primary theme. The cohort traveled to spaces and met with individuals that we thought we would never encounter on our own time. That's the beauty of CLA and CAUSE. The opportunities to understand positionalities and viewpoints different from our own will help us become better leaders. By allowing us to think beyond implicit bias and granting us the autonomy to challenge our beliefs, CLA has increased the curiosity and self-reflection of an already critical group.
On Monday, we met at Arcadia City Hall and started our day with a tour of the Arcadia Police Department. While most of us tend to be critical of police brutality and the prison industrial complex, it was refreshing to see the efforts of the Arcadia Police Department’s expansion of resources and approaches to newer, more modern practices. We looked at how intricate the department was, which was like a web of systems and people all working under one building, The dispatch operators' room was especially interesting, because of the constant communication and awareness needed across multiple computers and people. Police Captain Crowther was receptive to our more critical questions about police reform, which reinforced faith in our ability to think collaboratively and critically at the same time. We ended the tour with a visit to the city jail. It was not my first time going to jail, as I have visited the county jail in high school twice for different programs. The interesting aspect of visiting the city jail was to compare and contrast the difference between the county and the city’s layout and resources. A larger theme in CLA is forging comparisons between different levels of government and which levels we want to make changes in as leaders. The city jail was extremely different from the county, not only because the county jail was in Ohio, but also because of its scale and operation
Police Captain Crowther of the Arcadia Police Department taking CLA Interns on a tour.
Next, we met with Arcadia Mayor Paul Cheng, who engaged in a thoughtful, lively, and candid conversation with us. Mayor Cheng was dynamic, passionate, and again, receptive in responding to our questions. As someone who is socially liberal and fiscally conservative, Mayor Cheng attracted a lot of questions from the cohort about balancing principles and creating change across both aisles. Our session with Mayor Cheng was by far the most humorous and engaging talk we had.
Mayor Paul Cheng of Arcadia during a CLA session.
Finally, we went to SoCalGas and learned about the private sphere, one we had not spent much time on since the program began. The Vice President of Customer Support, Don Widjaja, was also from Malaysia and it was very fun to talk about home and then also hear about his journey to SoCalGas. We also networked with CAPE (Community of Asians and Pacific Islanders in Energy), an Employee Resource Group dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the company. While not rooted in advocacy and creating change in the company, CAPE offers a space for AAPIs to network and find affinity. This was a reminder that not all spaces exist solely for reform or immediate change and that some are receptive and safe environments to explore identity and belonging.
All in all, this week was refreshing in the way we were pushed outside our comfort zones. On both ends, in the speakers and the cohort, receptiveness and open-mindedness were championed as we exchanged ideas and opinions in our collective effort to serve the public better.
Interns Erika Au and Emma Chen on a boba run during an Alhambra canvassing session.
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 Erika Au, 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.