The Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC) hosted a Culmination Ceremony for its graduates of the sixteen-week long Advocating Change Today Internship and Outreach Network (ACTION) Program at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday, June 14th. Thai CDC launched the ACTION Program earlier this year and selected ten community members to receive intensive training in civic engagement. The program culminated with a ceremony at LA City Hall to recognize the ACTION participants and their contributions to raising community consciousness about the importance of voting, civic engagement and participation.
The ACTION graduates attended the council meeting in Council Chambers Friday morning and were presented with proclamations by Councilman Tom Labonge. The Councilman gave the ACTION participants and Thai CDC honorable mention for mobilizing the Thai community during the Los Angeles City 2013 municipal elections. Afterwards, the group was taken behind council chambers for a photo opportunity with the Councilman in the Press Room.
Following the council meeting, Chancee Martorell, Executive Director of Thai CDC, lead a tour for the ACTION graduates and their families and friends through LA City Hall. They met with several city officials and city dignitaries, including Public Works Commissioners Steve Nutter, Warren Furutani, Capri Maddox, and Mike Fong from the Mayor’s Office. For many of the ACTION graduates and their guests, this was the first time inside City Hall.
At the conclusion of the tour, the ACTION graduates and their guests were brought to the Mayor Tom Bradley Room where Thai CDC hosted a formal ceremony for the ACTION Program graduates in the LA City Hall Tower. Thai CDC invited Maria de La Luz Garcia, Senior Project Coordinator from the Office of the City Clerk-Elections Division to serve as a Keynote Speaker for the ceremony. She congratulated the ACTION graduates for their efforts and services and commended Thai CDC for the organization’s perseverance to turn out the Thai vote during the local elections.
