The Story of OCA-Greater Seattle

Formerly known as the Organization of Chinese Americans, OCA was founded in 1973 with a vision of uniting Chinese Americans across the United States into one representative voice.  Today, OCA has transformed into a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.

The Greater Seattle Chapter was formed in 1995. Since that time it has been serving the Greater Seattle Chinese and Asian Pacific American community as well as other communities in the Pacific Northwest. It is recognized in the local community for its tough stands on civil and voting rights as well as its sponsorship of community activities and events.

OCA’s legal status is: not-for-profit, non-partisan. Nationally, it represents over 10,000 people (including affiliates, college affiliates, Young OCA, OCA Young Professionals, and general membership.)

In both 2003 and 2004, OCA National named our chapter its Chapter of the Year.

Meet our 2011 Board Members

Kim Nguyen
President

Ms Nguyen joined the OCA-GS Board in March 2010. She has been an OCA supporter since 2003, when she served as the District 7 Commissioner on the King County Civil Rights Commission. She is also an Advisory member to the CARE project (Community Action Research and Empowerment) at the Vietnamese Friendship Association. Kim is a community organizer with interests in health disparities, civil rights, and social justice with a focus on the Asian Pacific Islander community. Since 2006, she has worked as the Program Manager for the Hepatitis B Coalition of Washington at WithinReach. She has also worked in public policy on oral health and HIV/AIDS issues, and previously directed the adult employment programs at the YWCA.

Ms Nguyen obtained her B.A. in Sociology from Whitman College in 1995, and Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington in 2000. Although she was born in Vietnam and has lived in Washington since 1997, she still calls Hawaii home.

Vanessa Diego
Vice President/ Treasurer

Vanessa Diego started serving on the board of OCA-Greater Seattle since 2008. Since joining OCA, she became involved in the organization’s efforts in advocating for social justice, equal rights and fair treatment. Prior to joining OCA-Greater Seattle, Ms. Diego was active in the Washington Joint Resource Group Council at Qwest and was appointed secretary of the Pacific Asian American Network (PAAN), one of the eight corporation-sponsored employee resource groups. She also served as the vice president for TelecomPioneers, the largest industry-related organizations in the world with chapters located throughout the United States and Canada. Majority of Ms. Diego’s volunteer work is dedicated to promoting equal rights and cultural awareness. Currently, she volunteers on the board of VFA (Vietnamese Friendship Association) as board Treasurer, and Filipino Chamber of Commerce, as Civic Involvement Chair.

Ms Diego earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. She currently works for New York Life.

Michael Chin
Secretary

Mr. Chin is an attorney and employment mediator working for the City of Seattle Office for Civil Rights. Mr. Chin’s expertise is in the area of employment and housing discrimination. Since 2006, Mr. Chin has successfully mediated employment, housing and family cases for government agencies and nonprofit organizations including the Washington State Human Rights Commission, Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Seattle Federal Executive Board, Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution, and the City of Seattle. He has presented several trainings and workshops across Washington state in the area of employment and housing discrimination and is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, Washington Mediation Association, and Society of Human Resource Management.

Mr. Chin is actively involved in the King County Bar Association Community Legal Clinic and serves on the board of directors for the Friends of the Children of Cambodia. He received his Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law and his Masters in Business Administration from Gonzaga University.

Ron Chew
Board Member

Ron Chew served as executive director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum from 1991-2007.  Known as an innovator using cutting-edge presentations with a locally oriented emphasis, Ron helped redefine museums by melding cultural identity, civic participation, and museum programs into a new tool in the fight for social justice.

Prior to his career at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, he worked for over 13 years as editor of the International Examiner, an acclaimed newspaper in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. There, he was instrumental in a larger movement to recognize the role of ethnic and neighborhood newspapers in anchoring healthy communities.

From 2008-2010 Ron served as community-scholar-in-residence at the University of Washington, teaching in the graduate program in museology.  In 2010 Ron became director of the ICHS Foundation.  He is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader at museum and cultural conferences in the U.S. and Canada.

Doug Chin
Board Member 

Doug Chin is a second generation Seattle native who was raised in the Central Area and attended Garfield High School. He retired from state government some years ago. He was a Senior Facilities Planner with the Department of General Administration, where he managed the master plans for the state campuses in Tumwater and Lacey, and developed facilities for the state. In addition, he worked and did consulting work for state Department of Social and Health Services in the areas of civil rights, affirmative action, and services to Asian Americans. He also worked for the City of Seattle as a policy planner in the Office of Policy Planning and as the program coordinator for the Chinatown/International District. Moreover, Doug Chin has been a community activist since his college days in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and has written extensively on local Chinese and Asian American history. Him and his brother Art, were co-authors of Uphill: The Settlement and Diffusion of Chinese in Seattle, Washington (1973). Doug authored Seattle’s International District: The Making of a pan-Asian American community (2001). Doug has served on the board of many Asian American, minority, and city-wide organizations. He served on the board of the Greater Seattle OCA chapter in the early 2000s, including a stint as its 2005 president. He has a BA and MA in Sociology from San Francisco State, and a MA in Public Administration from the UW.