John Thao is an alumnus of the inaugural class of LT Represent. John currently serves as the Program Director for the TRIO Educational Opportunity Center at Tulsa Community College.
The TRIO/Educational Opportunity Center program provides counseling and information on college admissions to qualified adults 19-years-old and older who want to enter, re-enter or transfer to post-secondary education programs.
“My experience with leadership has always been to “trailblaze”, proving that Asian American individuals can navigate through systems not intended for them and still make a change,” John said when we talked to him. “It meant a lot that I was able to showcase the AAPI community to my classmates in LT Represent while also learning from them.”
John’s experience with LT Represent shows that class members evolve during their time in the program to find the best way to make an impact, whether that’s running for public office or not.
“My takeaway from LT Represent was that the greatest, most current need for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is not for me to run for office now, but to first build a community-based organization that serves the AAPI community specifically,” he said. “We must build up leaders and equip them with information and data in order for them to effectively advocate for those that they represent.”
Learn more about the TRIO/Educational Opportunity Center program below!
TRIO Educational Opportunity Center
Tulsa Community College