Volunteer With Us
We have pro bono opportunities for attorneys; volunteer opportunities for all community members, and internships for students seeking professional experience. Please check this page often for the latest ways to get involved with Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California! To be added to Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California’s volunteer database, and to receive periodic emails regarding volunteer opportunities, please complete this form.
Please contact Volunteer Operations Analyst, Nathan Vuong, at nvuong@ajsocal.org with any questions.
Volunteer Opportunities
Citizenship / Naturalization Workshops and Clinics
What: Citizenship Workshop volunteers help individuals complete the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400), assess eligibility for various waivers, and provide in-language resources on the naturalization process. Advancing Justice will provide training in advance, and supervision. General volunteers will assist clients with preparation of the applications, while attorney volunteers will assist with legal review as the applications are completed.
When: RSVP to assist clients IN-PERSON (first Thursday of every month) or virtually (2nd, 3rd, 4th Thursdays) with citizenship and naturalization applications.
Where: AJSOCAL, 1145 Wilshire Blvd., 1st Fl. Los Angeles.
Sign up Here.
Please note that you must be trained prior to volunteering at an upcoming citizenship workshop. Training can be completed via online webinar on the Pro Bono Training Institute website.
Citizenship Volunteer Sign-Up Procedures:
Once you receive your confirmation email from our staff, you MUST RESPOND within 24 hours to confirm your availability. Otherwise we will reassign your slot to another volunteer. Thank you for your understanding of our efforts to combat last-minute volunteer cancellations!
Interpreters
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California provides services to diverse communities, and is committed to helping them overcome language-access barriers to education, legal, healthcare, and other institutions. Help us create access by donating your interpretation and translation skills! We maintain a volunteer interpreter corps that our staff reaches out to on an as-needed basis, and have particular need for Asian and Pacific Islander languages, and particularly South and Southeast Asian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Hmong, Khmer, Thai, and Vietnamese.
To better serve the community, we are expanding our reach and are looking for volunteer interpreters who are fluent in either Russian or Ukrainian.
To offer interpreter services, please contact Michi Lew with your language proficiency and availability.
Pro Bono
For a full list of the members of the Pro Bono Advisory Council, please click here.
Pro Bono Spotlights:The Pro Bono Spotlight is a regular feature honoring Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California’ dedicated volunteers and the important work they do to help us fulfill our mission.
Most recently, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California’s Pro Bono Spotlight featured Ariel Tu, for her work on communications and development programs.
Past Pro Bono Spotlights have featured:
- Irene Quach, for her work on communications, development, and litigation programs
- I-Hsuan Lin, for her work with our Citizenship Project
- Silhan Jin, for his work with SAFE
- Angelique Nguyen-Le, for her work with our litigation unit
- Pomona College student Vy Doan
- Shirley Wei, an immigration attorney
- Shang Liu, a USC doctoral student
- Eric Fanchiang, a UC Irvine School of Law 3L who volunteered remotely with our Survivor and Family Empowerment (SAFE) Project.
- Eileen Ma, volunteer attorney with our impact litigation unit
- Ashuka Xue, volunteer with the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California Health Access Project
- Ayano Wolff, longtime volunteer turned temporary staff attorney with the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California Survivor and Family Empowerment (SAFE) Project
- Elaine Hang, Arroyo High School graduate and Dickinson College incoming freshman
- USC’s Shelley Siying Wang
- Holland & Knight LLP’s Cheryl Kang
- Duane Morris LLP’s Cyndie M. Chang
- Bird Marella’s Nilay Vora
- Gibson Dunn LLP’s Todd Truitt
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California offers internships and law clerkships for undergraduate, graduate, and law students seeking work experience at a public interest organization. Our law clerkships for the year 2024 will be funded by the State Bar Legal Aid Fellowship Grant Program, and each fellow (up to 5 in 2024) will receive funding in the amount of $7,500.
For more information regarding our Law Clerk Programs: Click Here
INTERNSHIPS
1. OC IMMIGRATION PROJECT LAW INTERN
The Immigration Project at AJSOCAL assists immigrants nationally and locally who are seeking help with immigration relief such as DACA renewals, U Visa, VAWA, adjustment of status, representation in immigration court, and other forms of family-based immigration. The Immigration Project hosts free workshops and information session accessible to community members across Orange County, to assist undocumented immigrants for little to no cost. Immigration consultations are also available by appointment only.
Qualifications include: Experience working with immigrants or with low-income communities is preferred. Demonstrated commitment to public interest and prior non-profit experience also preferred.
Duties may include, but are not limited to: Provide support for casework, including but not limited to: following up on intake calls, conducting interviews or immigration screenings with prospective clients, follow-up with existing clients, preparing immigration applications, drafting client declarations, and conducting legal research, along with limited administrative duties as needed. Duties may also include interpretation and translation work, based on the candidate’s bilingual fluency.
Language requirements: Bilingual fluency in English and an Asian language preferred but not required.
Schedule Requirements: Seeking hybrid interns for a commitment of 15-20 hours/week for 10 weeks. When in-person, should be able to go in office at our Anaheim office.
2. CITIZENSHIP PROJECT INTERN
The Citizenship Project at AJSOCAL has developed a comprehensive citizenship program which has helped more than 19,000 individuals with the naturalization process. The Citizenship Project provides weekly citizenship clinics (currently remote) and collaborates with community-based organizations to hold free citizenship workshops to help people determine their eligibility for citizenship, complete the application, and apply for fee waivers when necessary. While the organization assists hundreds of individuals locally each year, it also provides technical assistance to community-based organizations throughout Los Angeles and the rest of the country to support capacity building as they develop their own naturalization assistance programs.
Qualifications: Experience working with immigrants, the naturalization process, or with low-income communities is preferred. Demonstrated commitment to public interest and prior non-profit experience also preferred.
Duties may include, but are not limited to: Assisting applicants with completion of their N-400 Application for Naturalization and Fee Waivers, translation/interpretation requests, preparing applicants for their naturalization Interviews through mock interview practice, and contacting clients to confirm eligibility for naturalization or follow up on their cases upon request from attorneys or DOJ accredited representatives. There may also be some case related administrative assigned duties as needed.
Language requirements: Bilingual fluency in English and an Asian language preferred but not required.
Schedule requirements: We have continued to offer most of our citizenship services remotely through our virtual clinics. However, there are opportunities to assist in-person at the office. The first Thursday of every month, we will be offering in-person citizenship clinics where interns will need to come into the office. We also offer some limited in-person assistance at our office, but these are scheduled on an individual case-by-case basis.
3. COMMUNICATIONS INTERN
Support AJSOCAL’s Communications team by creating digital content and campaigns to inspire engagement from young advocates. Create and execute a digital campaign to strengthen the organization’s reach with an emphasis on the 18-25 age group in Southern California. Support creation of historical timeline and a bank of diverse Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California client stories. Support with communications needs for our 2023 fundraising gala.
Qualifications: Authentic appreciation and/or knowledge of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander issues. Skills with social media, text campaigns and website management. Proficiency in digital analysis. Excellent writing skills. Comfort with business culture and protocol. High school degree required.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Assist with creation of historical timeline of Asian American and organization history
- Produce and collect content for inspirational diverse client stories
- Identify API student groups and execute digital campaign to strengthen organization reach to young advocates (Ages 18-25)
- Create, document and execute an integrated plan to boost social media followers on all Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California’s channels
- Assist in the creation of digital content. (IG Reels, TikTok, social media graphics, blog posts)
- Increase website traffic and expand email subscriber list
- Identify and contact appropriate partners and influencers to establish relationships
- Support 2024 Fundraising Gala
- Limited administrative duties as required
Schedule Requirements: This is a hybrid position. A minimum of 15 hours per week is preferred. For Fall, the internship will preferably run from September 2023 through November or December 2023. Open to candidates seeking academic credit. This is an unpaid internship. Applications are open for Summer and Spring 2024.
4. COMMUNICATIONS SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN
Support AJSOCAL’s Communications team by capturing and creating content for our social media platforms, print materials, and website. Support creation of historical timeline and a bank of diverse Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California client stories. Support with communications needs for our 2024 fundraising gala.
Qualifications: Authentic appreciation and/or knowledge of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander issues. Skills with social media, text campaigns, and website management. Proficiency in digital analysis. Excellent writing skills. Comfort with business culture and protocol. High school degree required.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Assist in capturing communications assets such as picture and video
- Can create digital content when needed: IG Reels/TikTok, social media graphics, blog posts, and printed materials
- Can create optimized versions of digital content for different platforms/uses (e.g. Turning a social media graphic into a flyer)
- Have working knowledge of automated publishing platforms such as Hootsuite
- Assist with creation of historical posts of Asian American and organizational history
- Identify API student groups and execute digital campaigns to strengthen organization reach to young advocates (Ages 18-25)
- Support 2024 Fundraising Gala
- Limited administrative duties as required
Schedule Requirements: This is a hybrid position. A minimum of 15 hours per week is preferred. Open to candidates seeking academic credit. This is an unpaid internship. Applications are open for Spring and Summer 2024.
5.COMMUNICATIONS FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION INTERN
Support AJSOCAL’s Communications team by capturing and creating video content for our social media platforms and website. Put your creative skills to work as you work in multiple areas of the production process. You will exercise your multitasking abilities as you assist in developing ideas, filming pieces, and editing takes.
Qualifications: Authentic appreciation and/or knowledge of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander issues. Have a strong passion for creative storytelling. Experience with script writing, filming, and editing. Proficient in Canva, Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, or any video editing software. High school degree required.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Assist in capturing communications video and photo assets to create digital content when needed for IG Reels/TikTok/Youtube.
- Research topics for video content using a variety of sources, including video archives, the internet, etc. as needed.
- Produce and edit video content that adhere to company guidelines and standards to share on online channels, including social media, YouTube, and our website.
- Provide assistance as needed in all components of the production, including sound, lighting, camera, editing and postproduction.
- Perform other duties as requested by Communications team to ensure all necessary tasks are performed in a proficient manner.
- Identify API student groups and execute digital campaigns to strengthen organization reach to young advocates (Ages 18-25).
- Support 2024 Fundraising Gala.
- Limited administrative duties as required.
Schedule Requirements: This is a hybrid position. A minimum of 15 hours per week is preferred. Open to candidates seeking academic credit. This is an unpaid internship. Applications are open for Spring and Summer 2024.
6. ADMINISTRATIVE INTERN
The Administrative Intern assists with general office, HR, IT, Accounting, Facilities, and Marketing activities as determined and directed by the Senior Administrative Specialist. Administrative interns assist with the day-to-day operations of the organization. They commonly perform a wide range of tasks, from answering phones to filing paperwork to organizing meetings and events. Administrative interns may also be given more specialized assignments depending on their interests and skills.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Answer main line to direct callers to appropriate parties, answer questions and resolve issues.
- Providing support to staff members in other departments as needed
- Assist Sr. Admin Specialist in tracking and following up on purchase orders.
- Performing clerical tasks such as filing, scanning documents into an electronic system, and making copies of documents
- Conducting research on potential clients or industries for which the company provides services.
- Preparing presentations for internal meetings on topics such as company goals, current projects, or industry trends
- Drafting letters and memos to staff members and customers, as directed by supervisor.
- Helping with marketing efforts by creating flyers and brochures promoting new products or services offered by the company.
Qualifications:
- High degree of organizational skill and problem-solving ability; specifically, the ability to work as a self-starter – especially as it relates to calling on resources outside the firm.
- Resourcefulness in finding information and answers from within and outside the company without prompting or micromanagement; a “consummate” self-starter.
- Respect for details; ability to execute accurately at a high level without excess supervision.
- Ability to prioritize/execute to achieve desired company and project goals with prudence and sense of urgency.
- Articulate communication skills – verbal, pictorial and numerical.
- Strong telephone etiquette, communication, and organizational skills, as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- General computer skills including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Schedule Requirements: This is an in-person position. A minimum of 15 hours per week is preferred. This is an unpaid internship. Open to candidates seeking academic credit. Applications are open for Winter, Spring, and Summer 2024.