2018 Scholars and Interns
CAPAL Public Service Interns
CAPAL Public Service Interns are typically placed in internships within the organizations in Washington, DC. Interns may also be placed in regional offices throughout the country. These internship positions provide students with real-world public service experience in a range of topics and areas. CAPAL has partnerships with Federal Agencies including Forest Service, Rural Housing Service, and the National Credit Union Administration.
CAPAL Public Service Scholars
CAPAL Public Service Scholars are undergraduate and graduate students who serve in unpaid public service internships (non-profit or government) in the Washington DC area for the summer. The scholarships are intended to enable outstanding Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students with leadership potential to work full-time and learn about ways to influence public policy in their local communities.
CAPAL Public Service Interns




Michelle Chung
Michelle Chung is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BS in Sustainable Community Development. She has studied abroad in France, Brazil and the Netherlands and is a Boren Scholar for Portuguese. She has interned previously at the NYC Department of Education’s Pre-K For All Initiative, the NYC Department of Sanitation and the NYC Parks Department building green roofs. She is delighted to be working at the USDA Forest Service this summer and to partake in CAPAL’s leadership development activities. She will be returning to Brazil in 2019 on a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English. She is passionate about urban climate change resilience and environmental justice. She is a proud UMass Women into Leadership Fellow and wants to empower more women and people of color to go into public service.


Xiong Her
Xiong Her is recent graduate of Marquette University with a double major in International Affairs and Political Science. He has studied abroad in China three times —Nanjing, Beijing, and Xi’an—through the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), Loyola University of Chicago – The Beijing Center, and the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS). He loves traveling and adventuring across different cultures. Previously, he has interned at the Milwaukee Mayor’s Office, providing constituents with local resources, and at the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) in D.C., advocating Congress to increase educational funding to serve first-generation and low-income students. In the fall of 2018, he will attend the University of Pennsylvania for his Master of Education in International Education Development Program. This summer he will be interning with the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS).

Sara Kang
An incoming first-year at Johns Hopkins SAIS, Sara is pursuing an MA in International Relations with a specialization in Korean Studies. After graduation, she is eager to begin her career in the field of diplomacy and foreign service. Sara recently finished her AmeriCorps VISTA year at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Prior to her VISTA year, she interned at the Washington State Senate and was a Fellow at the Slade Gorton International Policy Center. Sara will be working at USDA Foreign Agricultural Services, and particularly looks forward to participating in the CAPAL Washington Leadership Program. Outside of work and academia, Sara is heavily involved at her church and enjoys jazz (ragtime), comedy, and traveling solo.

Nghi (Sharon) Le
Sharon Le is a rising third-year student at the University of Virginia, double majoring in Psychology and Spanish, on the Pre-Law track. Sharon served as the External Vice President for the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) for UVA the past year, and is also involved in Phi Alpha Delta – the International Pre-Law Fraternity, and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team at the University. She was greatly exposed to the Asian Pacific American representation not only through her involvement with the Vietnamese community in Northern Virginia with VSA but also through her background – having grown up in Vietnam and moving to America in high school. Sharon hopes to promote Asian Pacific American leadership with her commitments and to give the community a bigger voice in the country. Outside of school and work, Sharon likes to spend time trying out new food and working out.

Jessica Lee
Jessica Lee is a rising senior at The Ohio State University pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering with hopes of attending law school. She is a proud sister of Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority Inc., serving on their executive board for the 2nd year in a row for this upcoming academic year. She was the Executive Director for the 2018 Midwest Asian American Students Union (MAASU) Spring Conference Planning Committee, and will be serving as the Chair (President) of the Executive Coordinating Committee of MAASU nationally for the 2018-2019 academic year. Jessica has worked previously in company compliance with federal regulations for FDA applications and patent certification case law. She is passionate about APIDA representation and coalition building, as well as addressing community apathy.
This summer, Jessica is excited to work with the USDA Forest Service, University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the University of California – Los Angeles in Hawaii to re-census and monitor native forests dynamics. She is extremely excited to immerse herself in the local culture and hopes to gain cross-cultural leadership experience.

Angela Li
Angela Li is a rising second year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), pursing a double major in Political Science and Asian American Studies. She was first introduced to social issues during her internship with OCA-NY’s Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project. There, she worked with several other student interns to develop and facilitate a citywide art competition/exhibit that encouraged students to use art to raise awareness of hate crimes. At UCLA, she works for the Student Retention Center (SRC) as a writing counselor for nontraditional students. She is also currently working on a proposal for an Asian American Diversity Conference to unify the Asian American cultural clubs on campus and engage students in discussions about Asian American issues. In the future, she hopes to explore the intersectionality of both her majors as a possible immigration lawyer. When she’s not writing papers or sleeping, she enjoys kayaking, shopping online, eating good food, and wishing that the public transportation in Los Angles was as good as the one in New York City.

Tingyao Li
Tingyao Li is a rising sophomore studying Environmental Science at the University of California, Irvine. On campus, he is involved in many sustainability-related organizations as EarthReps where first-year students act as ambassadors of sustainability to teach student housing residents ways to save energy and adopt a zero waste lifestyle. He is also the Coalition Intern for CALPIRG, an student advocacy group on campus working on implementing renewable energy sources across the UC Campuses, along with pushing for college affordability, greater civic engagement among the student body, and saving the bees. Lastly, Tingyao will be a Public Relations Intern for his volunteering group Anteaters Tzu Ching, which focuses on charity work such as senior home visits and peer tutoring for low-income elementary school students. As an intern with the Office of the Administrator for the USDA Rural Housing Service, he hopes to gain more experience with public service and public policy. Overall, Tingyao is passionate about researching policies that can be implemented to promote sustainability, environmental justice, and advocating for APA communities. Besides academics, Tingyao loves to take naps and play basketball.

Anita Mathias
Anita Mathias is an undergraduate and rising senior at Pomona College with a major in Public Policy Analysis (Psychology concentration). She is interested in public education policy, cultural and educational psychology, and womxn/adolescent health services. She loves to teach, sing (in her choir, at church, with friends, and in the shower), read, travel, try new foods, and listen to people’s stories. This summer, she will be supporting coordination and implementation of the US Forest Service’s Emergency Medical Training Program.









CAPAL Public Service Scholars




