The Hamkae Center, formerly known as Nakasec Virginia, is an immigrant advocacy organization focused on Korean and Asian-American issues. It is part of the Nakasec (National Korean American Service and Education Consortium) network. Nakasec also has a sister organization, Nakasec Action Fund. ¹

Activities

Hamkae advocates on issues related to the Asian community, education, healthcare, voting, and language access. Hamkae Center pushes for an expansion of acceptable voter identification, increased use of ballot drop-boxes, and no-excuse absentee voting. Hamkae Center opposes any legislation that defunds in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants. ²

Chinese Academic Funding

Hamkae Center has opposed Virginia state legislation on “Higher educational institutions, public; foreign governments, programs and grants” which would prohibit higher education employees in Virginia from participating in “Chinese-sponsored talent recruitment programs or receiving Chinese-funded grants.” ³ Hamkae Center opposes the bill on the grounds that the bill “specifically singles out or penalizes Asian Americans,” and they list their opposition under the heading of “Anti-Asian Violence.” ⁴

TikTok Regulation

The Hamkae Center was listed among the supporters of a letter opposing efforts to ban the Chinese-owned social media application TikTok in the United States. ⁵ The then-director of the Hamkae Center argued that the ban “alienates Chinese Americans” and that “some people will interpret the bans as a reason not to trust Chinese Americans.” ⁶

Target Pride/Trans Youth Campaign

The Hamkae Center joined calls for Target stores to resist efforts to wind down Pride/Trans campaigns for young people. Their 2023 petition called on “Target and Business Community to Reject Coordinated, Extremist Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks” organized by what they called “extremist groups.” ⁷

Dream Act and DACA

The Hamkae Center opposes efforts to curtail illegal immigration. When efforts to offer DACA recipients a path to citizenship failed in Congress, the Hamkae Center joined in a head shaving protest. Rachel Koelzer, communications manager for Nakasec, cited the “long tradition of shaving (the) head as a form of protest” in South Korean history. ⁸

Parent Organization

The Hamkae Center, formerly Nakasec Virginia, is the state affiliate of Nakasec. Nakasec Action Fund is the grantmaking arm of Nakasec, which focuses on immigrant and civil rights. Nakasec Action Fund seeks to benefit people who are “low-income, recent immigrant, limited English proficient, undocumented, queer, young people, seniors and women.” ⁹

Nakasec Action Fund is funded by groups such as the NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, which had an excess of $10 million in revenues and over $12 million in assets in 2022. NEO Philanthropy Action Fund is the funding pass through for NEO Philanthropy (formerly Public Interest Projects), a left-of-center grantmaking organization. ¹⁰

Nakasec reported revenues of $3.8 million in 2022. Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund donated $300,000 to Nakasec in 2021. ¹¹

JPB Foundation, one of the largest grantmaking foundations in America with $2.8 billion in assets in 2022, also donated $300,000 to Nakasec in 2021. ¹² JPB Foundation funds left-of-center organizations and focuses on medical, environmental, and poverty issues, as well as racial and gender justice. ¹³

People

Sookyung Oh is the director of the Hamkae Center, having joined the organization in 2017. She also participates on the board of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights. ¹⁴

1. “About.” Hamkae Center. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://hamkaecenter.org/about/.
2. “Policy Agenda.” Hamkae Center. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://hamkaecenter.org/2023ga/.
3. Legislative Information System. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231%2Bsum%2BSB1193.
4. “Policy Agenda.” Hamkae Center. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://hamkaecenter.org/2023ga/.
5. “A TikTok Ban Violates the First Amendment, but Don’t Take Our Word for It.” X (formerly Twitter). Accessed June 10, 2024. https://x.com/TikTokPolicy/status/1769836841451024741.
6. Cns, Vcu. “AAPI Communities Feel Impact of TikTok, WeChat Bans.” VPM, May 11, 2023. https://www.vpm.org/news/2023-05-11/aapi-communities-tiktok-wechat-bans-impact.
7. “One Colorado Joins over 200 Leading LGBTQ+ Advocacy Organizations and Allies Calling on Target and Business Community to Reject Coordinated, Extremist Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks.” One Colorado. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.one-colorado.org/latest/one-colorado-joins-over-200-leading-lgbtq-advocacy-organizations-and-allies-calling-on-target-and-business-community-to-reject-coordinated-extremist-anti-lgbtq-attacks.
8.  Gómez, Laura. “Immigration Advocates Shave Heads to Protest Failure to Pass Citizenship for Dreamers.” Arizona Mirror, October 8, 2021. https://azmirror.com/2021/10/08/immigration-advocates-shave-heads-to-protest-failure-to-pass-citizenship-for-dreamers/.
9. “NAKASEC Action Fund.” Cause IQ. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/nakasec-action-fund,870752611/.
10. “NEO Philanthropy.” Cause IQ. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/neo-philanthropy,133191113/.
11. “National Korean American Service and Education Consortium.” Cause IQ. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-korean-american-service-and-education-con,113303986/.
12. “National Korean American Service and Education Consortium.” Cause IQ. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-korean-american-service-and-education-con,113303986/.
13. “Program Areas Archives.” JPB Foundation. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.jpbfoundation.org/category/program-areas/.
14. “Staff.” Hamkae Center. Accessed June 10, 2024. https://hamkaecenter.org/staff/.