The Korean American League for Civic Action is a leading non-partisan, non-profit community advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the civic participation of Korean Americans and Asian Pacific Americans.










The Korean American League for Civic Action, Inc. (KALCA) is accepting applications for the 2008 College Internship Program. The Program, now entering its eighth year, is a unique opportunity for college students and recent graduates of Asian Pacific American descent with demonstrated leadership potential to gain practical, hands-on exposure to government, politics and non-profit advocacy. The program is focused on community leadership and public service.

To view the 2008 College Internship Program Application, click here.

Interested candidates must fill out the attached application form and provide the following:

   - Resume
   - Official Transcript
   - Letters of Reference (Academic; Community or public service)

Applications must be postmarked on or before Feburary 25, 2008 and sent to:

Korean American League for Civic Action, Inc.
149 West 24th St. 6th Floor
New York, NY 10011

Finalists will be required to be available for in-person interviews on Saturday, March 29, 2008 in New York City.


If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact:

   Amy Hong at (212) 902-3010;
   Wonkyung Lee at (516) 998-5162
   Jane Kim at (626) 823-4763

Or e-mail info@kalca.org.











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Aug 6, 2007, KALCA hosted a lecture on Japanese forced incarceration during World War II led by Floyd Mori, National Executive Director of Japanese American Citizens League. Mr. Mori discussed the relevance of Japanese American internment to civil rights violations today.
Aug 1, 2007, KALCA and Grooted.org co-hosted the screenings of "Sa-I-Gu" and "Wet Sand", which were followed by a panel discussion to broach the racial tensions before and after the riots. John Choe, Chief of Staff to Hon. John Liu moderated the panel discussion, which included the following panelists: Eric Williams, WBAI 99.5 FM Reporter; Dai-Sil Kim-Gibson, Film Producer; David Chu, SVP of ImaginAsian Entertainment; Grace Lyu-Volckhausen, NYC Human Rights Commissioner; Angela Perry, Director of Public Relations and Marketing of National Urban Fellows, Inc.; and Joel Magallan, Executive Director of Tepeyac Asociacion de New York.

Sa-I-Gu (4-2-9 in Korean) symbolizes the events and social meltdown related to the acquittal of four police officers in the case of the beating of Rodney King on April 29th, 1992. This also triggered inner-city race tensions throughout urban America, including organized boycotts against small businesses. By commemorating this time of societal meltdown, the panelists and the audience examined how far we have come since Sa-I-Gu and discussed how we should move forward with everything we have learned from this incident.

The event was supported by a number of community-based nonprofit groups, including the Korean American Voters' Council, Korean Americans for Political Advancement, Museum of Chinese in the Americas, APA for Progress, Korean American Youth Foundation, Korean American Empowerment Council, and Korean American Democrats of New York.

To continue the discussion, please visit the online forums at www.grooted.org.
July 31, 2007 6:00 PM, KALCA hosted the Third Party Forum: The Growing Importance of the Third Party and Issues Relevant to the Asian American Community.

For generations American politics have been shaped by two major parties: Republican and Democratic. Proponents of the two-party system state that this system provides stability by preventing abrupt policy changes and allows policy makers to adhere to moderate positions, generally, appealing to the median voter.

Are there alternative viewpoints that are being crowded out by this system? What are those viewpoints and can third parties provide valid solutions to address current issues regarding health care policy, the war in Iraq and immigration reform?

Panelists:   Alvaader Frazer, Esq., NY Independence Party
                   Martin Hassner, First Vice-Chair, Liberal Party
                   Joseph Dobrian, Libertarian Party
Moderator: Irene Asbury, KALCA Board member

July 26, 2007, Kyung Yoon, Co-Founder of the Korean American Community Foundation, led KALCA members in a discussion on how the Korean American community has evolved over the years. 

"The Korean American community is at an important crossroad. Even just 10 or certainly 20 years ago, when Koreans were a relatively new immigrant community, we were so busy struggling to survive and focused on making a better life for our immediate families, we honestly did not have the capacity to even think of ourselves as a community in an organized way. But now, we are at a different place in our immigrant history, one where we have the opportunity to shape our future as active participants and leaders—a community that takes its place in the driver's seat of our journey in America, rather than being passive passengers.  It is a place of enormous potential to connect with each other, help each other, and to determine and articulate the needs and direction of our community—and if we don't seize this moment, it will be a wasted opportunity for ourselves and for our children and their children.  - Kyung Yoon

July 18, 2007, KALCA College Internship Program toured the New York State Supreme Courthouse and New York City Hall with Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, the first Asian American female judge in New York's Supreme Court history and Council Member John Liu, an ardent supporter of Asian American issues.

Judge Ling-Cohan gave the interns an overview of the judiciary system and discussed the importance of encouraging Asian American presence in the court system. She also discussed her career and explained that being Asian American has helped her to become a great mediator, as she grew up as an observer and has developed the ability to understand many different perspectives. However, Judge Ling-Cohan emphasized the importance of Asian Americans to be more articulate and assertive.

At the courthouse, the KALCA interns were taken on a tour of the facilities, learned about the court system, and attended an actual trial. The courthouse visit gave the KALCA interns a firsthand opportunity to experience our justice system in action.

The KALCA interns met with New York City Council Member John Liu in the City Council Assembly Room at City Hall. Among items discussed was that two-thirds of City Council seats will be open in 2009, providing a great opportunity for minorities, especially Asian Americans, to win increase presence in City government. Currently there are only two Asian Americans who have indicated interest in running. Judge Ling-Cohan suggested that the community needs more seminars on the "how-to's" of campaigning, since running for office requires more than just a will to represent the community.

Should you be interested in pursuing a career in the justice system, there are many positions open within the New York State court system. Also, we encourage the public to attend daily hearings held at the New York City Council, which are open to the public.

Judge Ling-Cohan and Council Member John Liu have opened their offices to the KALCA interns every year.
July 16, 2007, KALCA hosted the first lecture in the 2007 Summer Lecture series. Dave Pollack of the NYS Democratic Party joined KALCA members in a discussion on how "New Media" has changed campaigning styles much like the "Fire Side Chats" and television have for the 30s, 40s and the 60s.
July 12, 2007, KALCA and KAVC interns travelled to D.C. to lobby congressmen to co-sponsor H.RES 121, legislation advising the Japanese government to publically and unequivocally acknowledge its involvement in the creation and operation of "Comfort Stations" during WWII. The trip resulted in 6 new co-sponsors!
 
For more info please go to  www.support121.org.   

events









 

 
Campaign Management and Political Advocacy:
Preparing for the 2008 Election Cycle

Lerner Cinema, Lerner Hall
Columbia University  

Saturday, November 10, 2007 
11:30AM - 1:30PM
 
Get an overview of modern campaign management; understand how messages are developed in political campaigns; and learn about the citizenship and voting patterns of Asian Americans. The discussion will be led by Mayor Jun Choi of Edison, NJ who became the first popularly elected mayor of Korean descent in the contiguous United States, and served as the Founding Chair of the Korean American League for Civic Action. 
 
Event is co-sponsored by the Asian American Alliance, Korean Student Association and APALSA of Columbia Univeristy.

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Amplify: The 2nd Annual New York Asian American Leadership Summit 

NYU Silver Center Building, Room 703
100 Washington Square East
New York, NY 10003
(Enter from Washington Square North)

Saturday, November 17, 2007
8 AM – 5 PM

Amplify is a 1-day summit open to the public, offering five innovative personal and leadership development workshops. Designed by and for Asian Americans, these workshops will teach participants to amplify and leverage their leadership skills, polish their networking skills, and lead community action in the Asian American community.

Featured Workshops:
-Intercultural Communication
-Being a 21st Century Leader
-Making a Great 1st Impression & Developing Your Personal Brand
-Effective Communication Styles
-The Power of Networking


Cost| $10 student / $25 non-profit /  $50 general
(includes breakfast, lunch, and  materials)

Info/Register|
Visit http://leap.org/empower_conference_newyork.html to register online or  download a registration form.
The schedule can be found here: schedule
.

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If you are interested in volunteering, please send emails to wonkyung@kalca.org.


Please help support KALCA. Donate now.
Please contact us with any questions at 212-633-2000 or email us at info@kalca.org.







Be a volunteer! For more information, download our volunteer (and intern) guidelines.









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Korean American LEAGUE FOR CIVIC ACTION
149 West 24th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212.633.2000
Fax: 212.633.0707
Email: info@kalca.org