Rita Pin Ahrens, executive director of Asian American Pacific Islander civil rights organization OCA—Asian Pacific American Advocates, will step down effective Sept. 4, OCA announced in a press release Monday.
OCA, one of the nation’s most prominent AAPI-focused organizations, hired Pin Ahrens in May of last year, commending her advocacy work and background in research, technology, and policy. The OCA website states that her passion for social justice stems from her experience as a Khmer-American refugee and public school teacher. The press release stated that she led “major initiatives” at OCA, including the celebration of AANAPISI Week (Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions), creation of the Inclusive K-12 Curriculum Task Force, passage of the FUTURE Act, and spearheading anti-Asian hate task force legislation.
Pin Ahrens resigned to provide more support to her family through the pandemic according to the press release, which added that OCA “thank[s] her for her service and for all her contributions to the organization.”
In her resignation letter to the OCA National Executive Council, Pin Ahrens said it was a difficult decision to make. “I remain committed to the community and will continue to be a friend of OCA as we collectively work to address the challenges that our community faces from our unique spaces of engagement,” she wrote.
The press release noted personal reasons for Pin Ahrens’ leave, but the announcement comes on the heels of a wave of controversy over “workplace toxicity” at OCA, as indicated in an open letter that garnered 221 signatures, including many from current and former staff.
The letter, published on Aug. 17, raises a number of issues, citing misgendering, underpayment, mishandling of sexual harassment, anti-Blackness, and high employee turnover. The signees also claim OCA prioritizes corporate ties over policy needs and focuses only on the strategies that can rein in money from corporate sponsors.
“Of late, OCA has published three different blog posts on the organization’s website that were actually written by telecommunications companies,” the letter states. “In an email on July 24, 2020, [Senior Policy and Advocacy Associate] Maddie Schumacher shared their concerns about publications made in OCA’s name, though Rita Pin Ahrens did not respond.”
OCA’s advocacy model, according to the letter, is based on “leaving some behind.” Leadership has refused to sign onto opportunities to support vulnerable non-East Asian immigrants and Black-led coalitions, the letter states. Pin Ahrens and CEO Ken Lee are quoted saying, “We [OCA] stand up as an organization of a certain level … We don’t want to pull ourselves down. We need to have a higher standard for what we comment on.”
The OCA National Executive Council responded a day after the signed open letter was published. In a statement, OCA said it “take[s] the contents of this letter seriously and support[s] our staff’s rights to express themselves openly and freely.” To address the letter’s concerns, OCA created a task force that began work immediately.
Several current and former OCA staffers recalled personal experiences with verbal abuse and mishandling of sexual harassment allegations, AsAmNews reported Monday. The staffers additionally reiterated their lack of trust in the organization. AsAmNews attempted to reach out to OCA three times over a one-week period to no avail.
Editor’s note: Editor Andrew Peng is a current intern at OCA; editor Cheyenne Cheng is a former intern. Neither was involved in the writing and editing of this story.
