Lee Po Cha Oral History Interview

This interview begins with Lee Po Cha discussing personal information such as where he has lived, his time at Portland State University, how his family coped with being refugees in America, the duties of his father when he worked for the U.S. government during the Vietnam War, and his siblings. Transitioning, he recounts his beginnings at both IRCO and the Asian Family Center (AFC). He discusses the role that he had to play when he was the director of the AFC. He then expounds upon the needs of the community, outreach, his current role as the associate director of IRCO, and funding. More specifically, he discusses the research and outcomes of the Coalition of Communities of Color report. Also important in this interview, he highlights the similarities and differences of struggles within the community of color to whom they tailor their programs. Lee Po Cha concludes by expressing what he foresees as the future of AFC, how the immigrant and refugee population has shifted, and acknowledgments of those who influenced him.

Lee Po Cha was born in Xayaburi, Laos, in 1963 to Laotian parents. He self-identifies as Laotian American, Hmong American—ethnically as Hmong and nationality-wise as Laotian. He grew up there until the mid-seventies when he and his family, consisting of his parents and 4 siblings, moved to Thailand before moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1978 after being sponsored by the Metropolitan Baptist Church. Cha attended Portland State University to study business administration. He began working for IRCO in 1981 and helped to establish the Asian Family Center in 1994. He currently holds the position of associate director at IRCO where he works to assist the executive director on government relations and to oversee that all of the programs are running smoothly.