Who Is OCA-Greater Houston
Established in 1979, the OCA-Greater Houston Chapter (OCA-GH) is one of OCA’s 100+ chapters and college affiliates, with a long track record of programs/initiatives that work to advance the 4 main goals of the OCA mission statement:
to advocate for social justice, equal opportunity and fair treatment;
to promote civic participation, education, and leadership;
to advance coalitions and community building; and
to foster cultural heritage.
OCA-Greater Houston Chapter is a volunteer driven organization of community advocates that strives to meet the current and evolving needs of a diverse population through a comprehensive continuum of programs targeting different life stages of AAPIs with a focus on developing advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement participation of AAPIs. The OCA-Greater Houston Chapter board members along with key community volunteer members work to implement our programs to empower the AAPI community utilizing arts and culture to advocate for social justice and provide leadership training; education workshops; arts, cultural, and advocacy awareness; legal clinics; internships; scholarships; mentoring and civic engagement; and monitoring our national and local advocacy, policy positions, and initiatives.
OCA-Greater Houston programs impact the next generation to seek leadership roles and a “Seat at the Table”. We want the AAPI community to have representation at all levels of Business, Corporate, Government and Community leadership. Our overarching goal is to increase the long-term leadership, civic participation, education and engagement of AAPIs in the Greater Houston metropolitan area. OCA-GH seeks to accomplish this in a holistic manner that will include people who may have limited English proficiency and/or are low-income. Asian Americans in Greater Houston face language, cultural, and economic barriers that can limit the AAPI community from attaining its hopes and aspirations. We believe the next generation of AAPI leaders need to understand the needs of the community in order to represent AAPIs well.