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 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
Click on the tabs to learn more!
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
Check out our 2021 General Assembly Policy Agenda!
For more information or to get involved with immigrant justice organizing, contact Yasmin Yoon (yyoon@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.
Check out our NEW Voting in Virginia page for all the information you need about voting in the upcoming elections!
For more information or to get involved with our civic engagement work, contact Jasmine Wung (jwung@nakasec.org).
See our new Services page for more information!
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 (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) renewals
- Health care service referrals in Fairfax County & Prince William County
- Driver Privilege Card (DPC) assistance
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 or DPC applications, contact Yasmin Yoon (yyoon@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).
These programs are funded in part by the Fairfax County Consolidated Community Funding Pool.
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 latest 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 (오수경) 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 (복미애) joins NAKASEC VA 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 (윤소영) 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 (翁翠莉) 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.
Quynh (Nguyễn Quỳnh-Vân) 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.
Kevin Han (한예찬) is the Health Navigator at NAKASEC VA, focused on educating and assisting diverse Asian American communities with health coverage. He believes everyone deserves access to affordable healthcare, and is fully committed to helping anyone, including immigrants, LGBTQ+, women, and those with disabilities, acquire that basic human right.
Mitch is the Organizing Team Lead at Hamkae Center. Recognizing that being Asian is not a monolithic experience, she seeks to celebrate the differences in our backgrounds and experiences, so that we can uplift Asian voices, while ensuring that we fight and win the tangible changes that our communities need. She has a strong background in community and labor organizing.
Sami is is a queer, second-generation Indian American who was born and raised in rural Central Virginia. They are interested in social justice and promoting civic engagement, especially in underrepresented communities, and has experience in community organizing and politics.
Sejung is NAKASEC VA’s Community Outreach Specialist. She was born in South Korea. This is her first time working in the nonprofit field. She wants to help make a change in the community for the better.
Caitlin Huỳnh is a first-generation Vietnamese American who was born in Tiểu Cần, Việt Nam. Currently, she is based in Northern Virginia. She is fluent in English, French and Vietnamese.
Through her previous employment, she rediscovered a passion for language justice as it relates to healthcare access and information. As a result of her immigrant experience helping her parents navigate multiple government bureaucracies to receive unemployment assistance and healthcare, she is passionate about worker’s rights and universal healthcare coverage.
Patrick Canteros is a 1st-generation queer Filipino from Richmond, VA with an educational background in Asian American Studies and Finance. They fully believe in the power of care and revolutionary optimism to sustain movements and achieve collective liberation.
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
6715 Little River Turnpike, #207
Annandale, VA 22003
Centreville location
13890 Braddock Rd. Suite 309
Centreville, VA 20121
