According to the White House Blog, last week the Office of Public Engagement (OPE) "brought over eighty interns to the White House for a briefing on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in public service. The interns got to hear from a variety of professionals from the White House and other agencies as they shared their experiences and discussed what led them to a career in public service." The represented organizations included the Organization of Chinese Americans, Japanese American Citizens League, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Indian American Leadership Council, DC Mayor’s Office on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, and the White House, and the briefing featured leaders from the White House, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Department of Commerce and the Department of Interior.

In his new capacity as Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement, Kalpen Modi (the former Kal Penn :) introduced Tina Tchen, Director of the Office of Public Engagement, who welcomed the attendees and the speakers, including Candace Chin, the Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel; Arun Chaudhary, the White House Videographer; Ben Chang, the Deputy Spokesman for the National Security Council; Rachel Haltom-Irwin, Director of the White House Internship Program; Ray Rivera from the Department of Interior; Vicki Tung from the Department of Commerce; Gautam Raghavan from the Department of Defense; Charmaine Manansala from the Department of Labor and Office of Public Engagement Deputy Director Buffy Wicks.

Kalpen and Tina discussed the role of the OPE, and they and the other speakers also addressed the importance of engagement and empowerment. For more details about the briefing, please see the OPE blog.