For ‘New Americans,’ Elected Office is Way to Give Back

<a href="http://www.equalvoiceforfamilies.org/" target="_blank">Equal Voice News</a>
How do you run a successful race for public office as an immigrant?
<figure id="attachment_26143" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26143" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/stories/for-new-americans-elected-office-i…; rel="attachment wp-att-26143"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-26143" alt="Abdi Mohamud and Emily Verdugo participate in a "Ready to Lead" workshop in June 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo courtesy of New American Leaders Project " src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Abdi-Mohamud-an…; width="300" height="199"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-26143" class="wp-caption-text">Abdi Mohamud and Emily Verdugo participate in a “Ready to Lead” workshop in June 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo courtesy of New American Leaders Project</figcaption></figure>
Tell your story – your immigrant story – says the New American Leaders Project (NALP), which offers civic leadership training for immigrants and those who want to participate in public life around the country. Nearly one in five Americans is an immigrant or a child of immigrant parents.
“[The immigrant story] resonates with voters,” said Bao Nguyen, who won a seat on the board of education of the Garden Grove (Calif.) Unified School District after going through the course. “It defines us as Americans.”
NALP has offered electoral training since 2010 but has a new-found focus on school board elections. The approach is distinct: NALP is one of the few – if not only – national nonpartisan organizations focused on preparing immigrants for civic leadership. The thinking is clear: Immigrants care about education.
“They often come (to the U.S.) to get an education for their children,” said Sayu Bhojwani, founder and president of NALP who is of Indian descent. She also served as New York City’s first commissioner of Immigrant Affairs.
During the weekend of Feb. 22-23, NALP held a two-day training in Phoenix in partnership with Promise Arizona, a grassroots community group that works with immigrants. Trainees learned how to talk with the media and the basics of American elections, but they also learned about issues specific to education. Mostly, though, they focused on developing and telling their stories.
Nguyen went through the NALP “Ready to Lead” training in 2012, after unsuccessfully running for a school board position two years earlier. When he signed up, he was surprised at the focus on storytelling. But then he realized that “it made a lot of sense.”
About two years later, he’s practiced at it. Nguyen was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to the United States at 3 months. His mother was eight months pregnant when his parents fled Vietnam.
“It was a crime punishable by death,” he said. “We were in a sense illegal emigrants.
“They boarded a boat with their highest hopes and dreams to build a new future. I don’t see that as being much different from the folks that left England to board a ship for the Americas.”
His parents’ journey, Nguyen said, “shows the spirit of what this nation is about: It’s about making it better.”
Bhojwani said she developed the electoral training program in 2010, out of frustration with the lack of progress on immigration reform. So far, 275 people have been through the program. Mostly, NALP has focused on training first- and second-generation immigrants for local offices or the state legislature. “We decided there was value in building a pipeline of local leaders,” she said.
Looking back, NALP leaders realized some of their biggest successes were in school board races. Bhojwani saw that as a perfect niche. It would appeal to young people who were just coming out of the education system. It was an opportunity to try to address the achievement gap between white students and students of color. At the same time, the issues school board members decide aren’t specific to immigrants.
“Education is a universal connector,” Bhojwani said. “There’s general agreement that education is a pillar of the American dream. It’s a key part of being able to improve your life. These issues resonate across ethnicities.”
That’s key. The trainees quickly learn that, in order to win office, they have to reach outside their own communities. 
As for the initial impetus behind NALP – the promise of immigration reform – Bhojwani is still hopeful. However, she said that is not the main mission of NALP. It’s more about immigrant integration than it is about rewriting federal laws.
The program has turned out several successful candidates. Nguyen, for one, is ready to move onto other offices. Now, he’s running for Garden Grove City Council.
“I think because my parents came from a country that wasn’t democratic, I want to take advantage of what we have here,” he said. “I value the sacrifices that my parents have made for me, the American values that were only a dream. Now I have the opportunity to make that dream a reality.”

Author

Maureen O'Hagan