About Us

Founded in 2003, The KW Center for Leadership is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing youth with the tools and opportunities necessary to become future leaders. Based in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, the Center offers youth leadership training and educational programs that encourage community organizing. The mission of the Center is to teach and train youth to take proactive steps towards improving and enriching the quality of life in their communities.

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In the summer of 2005, The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership launched its first leadership development initiative for college students called the Korean American Youth Leaders in Training (KAYLT) Program. Sa-i-gu, 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, who can bridge the gap with other communities of color and mainstream society. The program provides an opportunity for Korean American students to develop leadership skills, explore their culture, 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.