The 16th Annual Asian American Youth Leadership Conference is being held this Friday at PCC-Sylvania. APANO-PAC members will be tabling and seeking to register 100% of the eligible participants. 2008 is a special year for voter registration, as Oregon passed a new law (HB 2910) that permits 17 year-olds to register to vote. They are not eligible to cast their ballot until they are 18 years of age. This allows civic groups such as APANO-PAC to work closely with events like the Youth Leadership Conference to intentionally educate and register students.

Organizer Paul Mai reports they expect 400 students to attend from area high schools. Paul was the keynote speaker at the first Conference in 1992, and has come full circle to be on the planning committee. As for program:

Each year the Planning Committee selects a particular theme for the conference and then develops a series of workshops related to that theme. Although the theme and topics change from year to year, all workshops are developed to achieve the conference’s three overriding goals:

(i) to impart leadership skills
(ii) to provide career guidance and opportunities
(iii) to foster a strong sense of culture and self-pride among the students.

For more information, visit the nice new AAYLC website. APANO-PAC is seeking volunteers to help us register students to vote. Get involved by contacting Interim Organizer Joseph Santos-Lyons (apano.organizer@gmail.com) 503-490-5639 and filling out an APANO-PAC Membership Form.