NAKASEC VA develops holistic programs and campaigns that are guided by community members, meets immediate needs while building Asian American community power to make long-term systemic changes that address the root causes of these needs, and centers human connections. We believe that Asian Americans, low-income folks, working class people, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and other targeted people must work together in order to have a more just and equitable Virginia for all.
NAKASEC Virginia
”NAKASEC VA developed into something more than just a community organization for me... it was the first place where I found a sense of community since college. Not only did it allow me to fulfill my desire to give back to the community, I received something better in return.
It is the fact that NAKASEC VA listens to its constituents and supports its members that has me coming back.
Jeanna L.NAKASEC VA member & longtime volunteer
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NAKASEC VA Programs
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NAKASEC VA organizes for local, state, & national policies that will make a just Virginia for all communities. We work with our communities to identify issues and solutions, design campaigns, raise our voices as a collective, and hold decision-makers accountable.
Current organizing campaigns include:
- Immigrant Justice
- #CitizenshipForAll
- COVID-19 Mutual Aid Fund & COVID-19 Resource Guide
- Implementation of in-state tuition for undocumented students
- Comprehensive sanctuary policy to limit Fairfax County from collaborating with ICE
- Providing Know Your Rights trainings
- Health Care
For more information or to get involved with immigrant justice organizing, contact Clara Kim (ckim@nakasec.org).
For more information or to get involved with health care organizing, contact Zowee Aquino (zaquino@nakasec.org).
NAKASEC VA works to increase electoral participation of Asian Americans and other communities of color in Northern VA, because each voter we educate and turn out helps amplify Asian American voices, bring us closer to a true representative democracy, and advance social, economic, and racial justice in Virginia’s Asian American communities. Our grassroots organizing work aims to educate, mobilize, and protect voters through canvassing, phone banking, texting, mailers, and poll monitoring.
For more information or to get involved with our civic engagement work, contact Jasmine Wung (jwung@nakasec.org).
NAKASEC VA provides the following (now-virtual) services for low-income Asian Americans, in Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and English:
- Naturalization application (N-400) assistance, including screenings for fee waivers
- DACA renewals
- Health care service referrals (in Fairfax County & Prince William County)
For more information or to make a naturalization appointment, contact Soyoung Yoon (syoon@nakasec.org or 703-256-2208).
For more information or to make an appointment about DACA renewals, contact Clara Kim (ckim@nakasec.org or 703-256-2208).
For more information or to make an appointment about health care service referrals, contact Ha Tang (htang@nakasec.org or 703-256-2208).
New Leaders Collective (NLC) is a leadership development program for youth between 18-24 years old. Through our organizing campaigns & community outreach, NLC equips young Asian American with the tools to organize with and for their communities. Participants will examine their own identities, learn community organizing theory, and plan their own community-based projects.
Check out what our Summer 2020 cohort is up to!
For more information about NLC, contact Zowee Aquino (zaquino@nakasec.org) or Jasmine Wung (jwung@nakasec.org).
Meet Our Team!
Sookyung Oh returned to NAKASEC as Virginia Director to lead organizing and advocacy work. Previously, she coordinated NAKASEC’s national immigrant rights campaigns. Currently, Sookyung is on the board of the Virginia Civic Engagement Table (VCET), Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR), and the Alliance for Human Services.
Miae Bok joins NAKASEC VA as Operations & Growth Manager to assist with development and community engagement. They are a 2nd generation Korean American interested in intersectional justice and creating safer spaces for under-served communities.
Soyoung Yoon is a first-generation Korean American and was born in Seoul, Korea and earned a degree in Visual Design. She also holds a Masters in Business and a Masters in Professional Counseling.
Jasmine Wung is NAKASEC VA’s Civic Engagement Manager, focused on educating and mobilizing the Asian American community to vote. She is a second-generation Taiwanese American born and raised in the DMV area, with educational background in Computer Science, Sociology, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Zowee (pronounced like “Zoe”) Aquino joins NAKASEC VA to recruit, engage, and mobilize Asian American and all communities in addressing health inequity. She is a 2nd generation Filipino American social worker with a background in public health interested in intersectional health equity.
Clara Kim joins NAKASEC VA as their Immigrant Justice Organizer. She joined her first NAKASEC campaign, the Dream Riders, in 2015 and ever since has been an avid leader for immigrant justice. She has participated in the Citizenship4All bike tour in 2018 as a communications team support and most recently marched from New York to Washington, D.C. to fight for DACA and TPS. She believes through continuous organizing and community building, all 11 million undocumented immigrants will receive the justice they deserve and a pathway to citizenship. Alongside her involvement in social justice, she was in a nursing program for two years, allowing her to see the importance of health care. Her long-term goal is to become a registered nurse and provide direct medical assistance to low-income communities around the world.
Quynh is a 2nd generation queer Vietnamese American rooted in Northern Virginia. They’re excited to join NAKASEC VA and pursue their passion for exploring and flourishing the potential for a progressive Asian American collective.
Tăng Hoàng Hà is a first-generation Vietnamese American with a Bachelor of Social Work. Ha joins NAKASEC VA as a Community Organizer focusing on outreach to the community (particularly Vietnamese Americans) who are impacted by challenges such as lack of access to health care, language barriers, racism, and/or immigration status.
Sarah San Sung Choi (최산성) is NAKASEC VA’s Community Organizer focused on building relationships with Asian Americans providing health referrals, naturalization, and other social services and organizing Asian Americans who are facing injustice to win social, racial, and economic equity policy changes.
In her current role as the Field & Membership Coordinator with NAKASEC VA, Ha hopes to educate and turn out as many voters as possible in order to amplify the Asian American voices in Northern Virginia in the upcoming election.
Contact Us
Both of our physical locations are temporarily closed due to COVID-19. However, you can reach all staff at 703-256-2208.
Annandale location
4304 Evergreen Ln. Suite 104
Annandale, VA 22003
Centreville location
13890 Braddock Rd. Suite 309
Centreville, VA 20121
