Korean American Youth Leaders in Training Program

(KAYLT)

Summer 2012 Internship
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Download Application

High School Internship Application

College Internship Application

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The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership is sponsoring an exciting leadership development initiative for high school and college students called the Korean American Youth Leaders in Training.  Sa-i-gu (April 29, 1992 Los Angeles Riots), which serves as the impetus for this program, exposed many deep-rooted problems in the Korean American community, particularly the lack of leadership. 

The purpose of this program is to take deliberate steps to fill that void by developing and supporting a new generation of Korean American leaders.  The program provides an opportunity for Korean American students to develop leadership skills, explore their culture and history, experience hands-on community organizing, and develop a larger perspective of themselves in relation to their own community as well as the larger public arena. 

Who Should Apply?

Korean American high school and college students who want to develop their leadership skills to create social change.  Each program is limited to 8 college interns and 10 high school interns. 

College interns will receive a $750 stipend.  College interns who are not from the Southern California area are eligible for an additional $750 stipend to cover travel and housing. 

High school students will receive community service hours for their participation in the internship.  The tuition for high school students is $100.00 for the entire eight week program.

Program Components

College interns will meet Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

High school interns will meet Monday through Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

EDUCATION emphasizes community organizing, power, politics, cultural diversity, gender, and generational issues.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT entails interviewing skills, coalition building, facilitation, and strategic planning.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS provide an opportunity to organize around critical issues facing the Korean American community.

Tentative Curriculum
Training sessions for the program will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Session 1: June 25 - Orientation
Session 2: June 27 - Tour of Koreatown
Session 3: July 2 - Korean American Pioneers
Session 4: July 5 - Asian Gangs
Session 5: June 6-8 - Retreat: Saigu/Family Session
Session 6: July 10 - Asian American Movement
Session 7: July 12 - Workers’ Rights
Session 8: July 16 - Asian Americans in Entertainment
Session 9: July 18 - North Korea
Session 10: July 23 - Coalition Building
Session 11: July 25 - Interview with Elected Official
Session 12: July 30 - Korean American Adoptees
Session 13: August 1 - Student-led Training
Session 14: August 6 - Hate Crimes
Session 15: August 8 - Personal Legacy/Program Evaluation
Session 16: August 17 - Graduation

Application Timeline
Application Deadline: Rolling Admission (submit application via e-mail or mail)
Program Begins: June 25, 2012
Program Ends: August 17, 2012

Who is K.W. Lee?

K.W. Lee is a renowned journalist, having worked in the mainstream and ethnic media for 40 years as a reporter, editor, and publisher.  He has covered such issues as civil rights struggles in the South in the early 1960s, massive vote buying practices in southern West Virginia, and the plight of Appalachian coal miners, but he is best known for authoring an investigative series on the 1974 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder conviction of immigrant Chol Soo Lee, upon which the film “True Believer” was based.  His five-year-long coverage with more than 120 articles led to a new trial and an eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from San Quentin’s Death Row. 

Inspired by the lifetime of service of civil rights activist K.W. Lee, the Center reflects his passion for community consciousness and his dedication to fostering young leaders.  The mission of the Center is to train young people to take proactive steps toward improving and enriching the quality of life in their communities.

More Information

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Do Kim at (213) 985-7451 or at dokim@kwleecenter.org.

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"Individually we are powerless and dysfunctional. YOU must be the generation to create a new value system -- one of community consciousness -- to break away from the past." -K.W. Lee