• The applicants must be at least a rising junior in college (during the summer internship period), a recent graduate, or a graduate student interested in a public-service career that strengthens their local, national, or global communities. 
• The applicant’s internship must be full-time and public service-oriented. We define a public service internship as a student working at a not-for-profit (e.g.,501c3 orgs), community service organization, government (federal, state, or local) office, or research think tank.
  * Please note: Internships with political campaigns are not eligible for this scholarship program. In addition, corporate offices or any private sector internships do not qualify for this scholarship. 
• The internship duration must be at least eight consecutive weeks. Shorter internships may be considered. 
• The student has demonstrated interest in the history, culture, and people of the Korean American community. 
• This scholarship is contingent upon awardees securing a summer public service internship in Washington, DC, or New York City. Virtual or Online summer internships will be considered, but these summer programs must be with offices based in Washington, DC or New York City.

• You do not have to be Korean American to be eligible for this program. We encourage all applicants applying to have an interest in the Korean American community. 

• The internship duration (number of weeks) will determine the scholarship level or amount with a preference for 8-week internships.

• The Emerging Leaders Scholarship program will start with a welcome dinner for the interns and CKA staff in early June and end with a closing ceremony in August. Exact dates will be provided to participants by May.
• Due to students having various internship start dates, we will prioritize students who can participate in the program full-time for eight consecutive weeks.

• We expect all Emerging Leaders to participate in the following activities:
  • Welcome dinner in DC or NY (In-person)
  • Emerging Leaders Speaker Series events and group discussions (Virtual)
  • Occasional field trips (In-person)
  • The closing ceremony in DC or NY (In-person)

*Due to the changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, all in-person events are subject to change pending CDC guidelines and recommendations. 

• CKA will be covering the transportation costs for awarded students who are working in-person for their internship in the Washington, DC, and NYC area. If you choose to work remotely, we will not reimburse you for travel to attend the in-person meetings and field trips.

• Awardees are solely responsible for securing their summer public service internship. This program is not an internship program. 
• CKA is available to assist awarded students who have made a reasonable faith effort to secure a  summer public service internship when they have been selected for the scholarship program. However, please keep in mind that finding and securing an internship is the sole responsibility of the awardee.

• We accept shorter-term internships on a case-by-case basis. Alternatively, we encourage those with less than eight weeks to find a second internship to carry over into eight weeks.

• Although many internship scholarship programs prefer students to select only one award, CKA permits awardees to receive CKA’s award with other scholarships to support their summer public service internship as long as the other awarding organization allows the awardee to be identified publicly as a CKA Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient and permits the awardee to participate in CKA summer activities. 
• CKA requests that CKA be informed about these additional funds if you have won multiple awards. 

• The target notification date is Monday, April 3, 2023.

•  All interviews are conducted via Zoom or equivalent online meeting programs.

• Yes, you are welcome to reapply to the program.

• All Emerging Leaders scholarship awardees are responsible for securing their own respective housing.