POLITICAL INTERN SCHOLARSHIP

Since its establishment in 1990, one of KACL’s primary objectives has been to encourage Korean-Americans to actively engage in American politics. For this reason, the KACL considers its Political Internship Program as one of its most important initiatives. The Political Internship Program sponsors young Korean-Americans interested in politics and public service to work at the offices of various U.S. Congressmen, Governors, Mayors, and Attorney Generals during a summer term. Some of our interns have gone on to pursue their own political careers as lobbyists in Washington D.C, Attorney Generals’ Assistants, and a U.S. Embassy employee as a liaison between the Republic of Korea and the United States.

2024 Political Internship Program

The Korean American Citizens League of New England (KACL) invites high school and college students to apply to the 2024 Summer Political Internship Program. KACL is a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1990 to provide a coherent political voice within the community. The KACL political internship program strives to encourage Korean Americans to participate in local politics, expose student to public policy-related careers and mentors, and to develop and hone their leadership skills.

KACL will select four high school students and two college students. High school students will receive a $500 stipend and college students will receive a $2000 stipend. In addition to working in local government, interns will also be provided with professional development and mentorship by KACL board members. The program will start in early June and end in early August. Scholarships are formally presented at KACL’s Political Internship Fundraising Dinner in mid May (exact date and location to be determined). At the end of their internship, students will be expected to write a short essay describing their experience, which will be published in KACL’s annual journal.

This year, interns will be placed within one of the following offices:

  • Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (City of Boston)
  • Representative Vanna Howard  (17th Middlesex District)
  • Worcester City Councilor Thu Nguyen (City of Worcester)
  • Representative Tackey Chan (2nd Norfolk District)

Duties and responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

  • Constituent work: logging outreach in constituent database and drafting response letters to constituent inquiries
  • Research: as policy questions arise interns may be asked to research and write memos on different subject matters
  • Hearings/Briefings: attend (often virtually) briefings on policy matters and committee hearings and report back on the issues
  • Legislative tracking: updating information about the status of legislation and amendments filed representatives, writing testimony, and summarizing amendments

What former interns have to say about the program:

“Serving as an intern last summer inspires me to pursue a career in public service and government of my own in the future as it is the best way to give back to the community.”

“I feel that wherever I decide to go with my studies/career, this internship has helped me to develop transferable skills that I can be proud of.”

Application Timeline:

  • Monday, February 26, 2024: Applications Open
  • Friday, April 5, 2024, 11:59pm EST: Application Deadline
  • Week of April 14, 2024: Selected applicants notified about interviews
  • Week of April 28, 2024: Final decision notification
  • Mid-May 2024: KACL Political Internship Fundraiser Dinner

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Applicant must be a current high school or undergraduate student in good standing.
  • Applicant must be a US citizen or permanent resident of Korean American origin.
  • Applicant must be a New England resident or attend a college in New England.
  • Applicant must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on 4.0 scale), along with evidence of being a self starter, eager to learn, and have excellent oral/written communication skills.

Interested students can apply at this link.

KACL will interview selected candidates before making final decisions and sending applications to the desired office(s). Please note that while we will do our best to match interns with their first choices, KACL cannot guarantee placement with them.

For more information or questions, please contact Christine Lee at newenglandkacl@gmail.com.

Political Internship Fundraiser

Every year, KACL hosts a fundraising event to support its Political Internship Program and ensure that we can continue to provide opportunities for young Korean Americans, which can be the best avenue to increase our political strength in American politics.

2023 Political Internship Fundraiser Dinner

Please join us for our 25th annual Political Internship Fundraiser dinner to formally recognize our interns and raise funds to support the advancement of our internship program.

Date:

Time:

Location:

Please RSVP here. We look forward to seeing you!

Past Political Interns

1998

Thomas S. Kim | Georgetown University(School of Foreign Service)
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.

1999

Caroline Kim | Barnard College
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Daniel Yoonkwan Kim | Suffolk University Law School
Massachusetts Attorney General's Office
David Daesung Lee | Boston College M.A in Political Science
Mass. House of Rep./Mass. House Committee on Rules
Sarah Park | Harvard University
Mass. State House/Gov.Cellucci's Press Office

2000

Eun Young Choi | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Song Yee Han | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
David Kim | Tufts University
Senator Edward M. Kennedy's Office in Boston, MA
Benjamin Smith | Boston University
Mass. House of Rep./Gov. Cellucci's Ext. Relations
Irene Park | Bowdoin College
Mass. State House/Gov. Cellucci's Press Office
James Uhm | Tufts University
Masschusetts Attorney General's Office

2001

Min Suk Lee | Tufts University
Massachusetts Attorney General's Office
Yumee Lee | University of Pennsylvania
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Unok Nam | Mills College
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Doohyun Paek | University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Mass. State House/Gov. Jane Swift's Office

2002

Jennifer Myung | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Sonia Kim | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Yumi Lee | Georgetown University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Chan Joung Lee | Georgia Institute of Technology
Info. Tech. Div. of the Massachusetts Governor's Office

2003

Min Young Lee | Boston College
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Hee Jin Lee | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Heidi Yoo | Wesleyan University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.

2004

Se Yeom Kim | Syracuse University
Mass. State House/Gov. Mitt Romney's Office
Jihun Kim | Syracuse University
Mass. State House/Gov. Mitt Romney's Office
Jeong Mee Oh | Harvard University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Boston, MA
Jia H. Jung | University of California - Berkely
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washiongton D.C.

2005

Bomie Chae | University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Boston, MA
Hyejin Yu | University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Eliza Chon | University of New Hampshire
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Washington D.C.
Jesse Sejin Kim | University of Massachusetts - Boston
City of Boston Mayor's Office

2006

Angelina Hong | Williams College
Office of Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon
Stephanie Chang | Northwestern University
Massachusetts State House

2007

Michael Dong | Bentley Univeristy
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Younyoung Lee | Georgetown University
Office of Congressman Doung Lamborn

2008

Yeonman Jung | University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Office of Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon
Michael Shin | Groton School
Office of Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon (Jr. Intern)
Jaewon Lee | Tufts University
Mass. Dept. of Veterans Services

2009

Michelle Dong | Bentley Univeristy
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Steven Suh | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Hyun Jung Kim | St. Paul's School
Office of Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon (Jr. Intern)
Brian Kim | Oyster River High School
New Hampshire Governor's Office (Jr. Intern)
Jae-Hyuk You | Phillips Andover
Office of Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon (Jr. Intern)

2010

Bo-Reum Lee | Brandeis University
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Han-Ju Ryu | Babson College
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Boston, MA
Deborah J. Song | Smith College
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Maria Kim | North Reading High School
Massachusetts General Hospital

2011

Sungtae Park | Brandeis University
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Soo Mee Yoon | George Washington University
Senator John F. Kerry's Office in Boston, MA

2012

Crystal Jang | Boston University
Massachusetts Governor’s Office
Ryan T. Kang | Princeton University
Senator John F. Kerry’s Office in Boston
Eunice Roh | Vassar College
Massachusetts Governor's Office
Seyoung Kim | Holy Name High School
Office of Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung

2013

Elizabeth Lee
Soo Hee Yoon
Yoo Jin Ahn
Dong Hwan Kim (HS)

2014

Juyoung Hwang
SJ Richard Kim
Sol Park
Esther Choi (HS)
Beitrice Choo (HS)
Timothy Juang (HS)
Byung Joon Lee (HS)
Michael Yeung (HS)
Sihak Lee (HS)

2015

Jean Park
Esther Choi (HS)
Alex HY Park (HS)
Minki Seo (HS)
Liz Lim (HS)
Stephen Park (HS)

2016

Hannah Jin
Heidi Park
Junhyuk Jang (HS)
Wonyoung Jang (HS)
Yunkyo Kim (HS)
Brian Ko (HS)
Sarah Oh (HS)
Jinyung Suh (HS)

2017

WonYoung Jang
James Heo
Chris Jun
JiHun Ko
Yury Namgung
Nicholas Kim
TaeHyun Lee
Alexander Park
Jeongwook Yi

2018

Hyewon Sabrina Baang | Acton-Boxborough High School
Yubin Cho | Lexington High School
Randy Lee | Dracut High School
Jae Hoon Lee | Lexington High School
Jiung Choye
Chan Ju Scott Lee

2019

Jihyeon Grace Choi | Vanderbilt University
Jeong Wan Choi | Lexington High School
Yehoon Jang | Lexington High School
Kateline Kim | Masconomet Regional High School
Sanghoo Lee | Weston High School

2021

Jonathan Dees | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Grace Lee | Brandeis University
Lauren Lim | Lynnfield High School
David Min | Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Shyun Moon | Newton North High School
Claire Pak | Lexington High School
Alex Shieh | Phillips Academy

2022

Stephanie Choi | Amherst College
Yoojin Choi | Belmont High School
Rachel Heo | Longmeadow High School
John Lee | Noble and Greenough School
Esther Park | Concord-Carlisle High School
Erik Shin | Newton North High School

2023

Yubin Cho | Cornell University
Yuhan Kim | Yale University
Cailyn Kim | The Rivers School
Kathy Lim/strong> | Lexington High School
Ryan Park | Belmont High School
Kelly Sung | St. Paul's School

Past Keynote Speakers

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Sam came to the United States with his parents when he was ten months old, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen when he was ten years old. Sam Yoon made history in November 2005 when he was elected as a Boston City Councilor At-Large, becoming the first Asian America ever to run for office in Boston's history, and the first to be elected. Sam is known for his work to promote good government by bringing innovation to city hall and transparency to budgeting. With degrees from Princeton and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Sam has an extensive background in community development and affordable housing. Sam took on the role of President of Council of Korean Americans (CKA) in September 2012, and prior to that worked for the Obama Administration at the Department of Labor as a Senior Policy Advisor. Sam, his wife Tina, and their two children live in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Grace Lee immigrated to the United States and spent her childhood in Southern California. After receiving her BA in Political Science from California State University – Northbridge, Grace pursued her legal education and received her JD from the New England School of Law. Prior to her current employment as Special Counsel at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Grace served as First Deputy Treasurer and General Counsel for the Massachusetts State Treasury. Grace was the first Asian American in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve as chief legal counsel to a statewide officeholder. In addition to serving as First Deputy Treasurer and General Counsel, Grace served as Interim Executive Director to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American Commission, a permanent body dedicated to political advocacy on behalf of Asian Americans throughout Massachusetts.
Seung Jin Jung currently serves as the President of the MinKwon Center for Community Action (Formerly known as the Young Korean American Service and Education Center – YKASEC). S.J. first joined MinKwon in 1988 as a volunteer, then became its Executive Director in 1989, and finally its president in 2006. S.J.'s lengthy service to Minkwon helped the center become one of the most vibrant community organizations in Flushing, New York. In 2009, S.J. shook up the Queens political scene with an impressive campaign for New York City Council, winning endorsements from diverse sectors. Although S.J. fell short of winning the Democratic nomination by a slim margin, he is now widely regarded as one of the most unifying community and political leaders in Queens. In 2010, S.J. won the election for District Leader of the Democratic Leadership District 22 Part B, in Flushing.
Born in Seoul, Juliana was raised in the U.S. from the age of 2. Juliana attended high school in Massachusetts and was involved in a number of community activities during her youth. During her time at Brown University, from where she graduated with a dual degree in economics and political science, she ran volunteer programs with local shelters, interned with the office of Senator John Kerry, and spent her summer months working at a Providence law office. Juliana's interest in the public sector prompted her to attend the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she received a Master's in Public Policy in 1997. She focused on the areas of international finance and capital markets, with a summer internship at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington D.C., dealing with sovereign risk issues. Her master's thesis covered risk management topics for developing countries and was sponsored by the World Bank's Commodity Risk Policy Unit. Combining her ambitions in developing strong policies with practical market solutions, Juliana received her MBA at the international business school, INSEAD, in France in 1998. Since then, Juliana has been working for various investment banks, most recently with Bank of America in London. Her work has focused on economic analysis, derivative product development and risk solutions for the most highly regulated investment sector – life insurance and pension fund providers. She has contributed to public forums discussing new rules governing these long-term savings institutions, and specializes in asset-liability management issues. She also holds the title of Chartered Financial Analyst. Juliana is now married and spends her time in London and Athens, Greece.
Sangita Lee Chandra is an Emmy-winning journalist at WCVB TV 5, Boston's ABC television affiliate. As a producer for the nightly news magazine Chronicle, and a producer-reporter for the public affairs talk show CityLine, she has reported on a wide range of topics, from the environment to politics to fashion and entertainment. For Chronicle, she travels all over New England as well as internationally. She's profiled the life of a champion senior surfer, sailed across the Caribbean rainforest on a 1600-foot zip-line, studied the effects of climate change n greater Boston, hunted for gemstones in Main, spent years following the restoration of Boston's Opera House, and reported from South Korea, where she had a chance to go inside the DMZ. A graduate of Wellesley College, Sangita has a double degree in English literature and political science. She began her broadcast career as an overnight news writer at WCVB. She is also former President of the New England chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and Co-Chair of the 2009 AAJA National Convention in Boston. She serves on the Board of Directors for Ideas Boston and is a Global Outreach Connector for the newly-formed Boston World Partnerships. She also believes in mentoring the next generation of broadcast journalists, supervising a writing and production internship program at CityLine. So far, she has trained over 50 undergraduate and graduate students how to produce long-format segments for air.
Delegate Mark L. Keam represents the 35th Legislative District in the Virginia House of Delegates, which is considered the oldest continuous legislative body in the modern world, with roots dating back to Jamestown in 1619. In his first campaign for public office, in June 2009, Mark won a competitive four-way primary election for the Democratic Party's nomination to succeed a retiring Delegate. He went on to win the general election, and became the first Korean American and the first Asian immigrant to serve in the Virginia General Assembly. In the House, Mark serves on the Finance Committee and on the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee. AS a part-time citizen-legislator, Mark and his staff maintain a year-round office in Vienna and another in Richmond. When the General Assembly is not in session, Mark works for Verizon Communications where he helps develop public policy ideas that promote the use of technology to solve societal problems. Mark joined Verizon in early 2007 after twelve years of public service, in both executive and legislative branches of the federal government. For six years, he served as Chief Counsel to the Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before working on Capitol Hill, Mark was appointed Assistant Chief Counsel in the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and has also served as an attorney with the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Bureau. Mark's community service extends to a wide variety of local, state and national organizations. Most recently he was actively involved with the Rotary Club of Vienna, Boy Scouts, Vienna-Tysons Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Greater Washington, the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia, and the Governor's Asian American Advisory Board. Mark was born in Seoul, South Korea, the youngest child of a Presbyterian minister. At age four, Mark and his family moved to Vietnam where his father established a church. In 1975, when Vietnam fell to communism, the family fled the war-torn country. They then moved to Australia, where Mark's father established another church before eventually moving to America, settling in Orange County, California. Mark received a political science degree from the University of California at Irvine, and had a chance to live in Falls Church, Virginia, while working as a college inter. After receiving a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, Mark returned to Virginia where he met and married Alex Seong Keam. They have to small children, Tyler and
Thomas S. Kim is founder and President of Thomas Capitol Partners, Inc., an international lobbying and investment advisory firm. Mr. Kim's practice centers on representing and advising the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Korea International Trade Association on a wide variety of political, security, military, cultural, economic and trade matters before the United States Congress. He is also an advisor on investment deals to and from the Republic of Korea with specialized expertise in energy and green technologies. Prior to founding Thomas Capitol Partners, Mr. Kim was a Partner and Chair of the Asia Practice for Scribe Strategies & Advisors, Inc., a government relations consulting firm. Prior to joining Scribe, Mr. Kim was founder and CEO of Silver Method, LLC, a new media company. Before entering the private sector, Mr. Kim began his career as a graduate student fellow working on foreign policy issues on Capitol Hill and then as a Special Assistant in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Mr. Kim is on the Board of Directors of The Mirae Foundation, Inc. and is also an advisor to several Korean American organizations. Educated at The Johns Hopkins University (B.A.) and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service (M.S.), Mr. Kim currently resides in McLean, Virginia with his wife, Nancy, and their sons, Thomas Jr. and Samuel.
Recognizing the need to equip today's leaders with knowledge and perspective on global issues, Ms. Florence Lowe-Lee founded the Global America Business Institute (GABI) in Washington, DC in May, 2011. Previously, Ms. Lowe-Lee served as the Treasurer and Director of Finance and Publications at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) for 19 years. She monitored and wrote articles on topics concerning Korea's social issues and their impact on Korea's macroeconomic future. Her writings appeared in Harvard Asia Quarterly, Korea Times, and official KEI publications, among others. She was frequently interviewed by the U.S. and Korean media on current issues concerning U.S.-Korea bilateral relations. Ms. Lowe-Lee also organized and supervised programs involving senior officials from Korea and the United States, as well as visits by Korean government officials and National Assembly members. Prior to joining KEI, Ms. Lowe-Lee worked as Deputy Director of Operations for the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee, where she participated in the senior committee decision-making process. She served as an adviser to the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment in its efforts to launch missions to Korea. She successfully organized and facilitated the first visit by a Massachusetts governor to Korea. Earlier, Ms. Lowe-Lee worked as a research assistant at the Neuroanatomy and Neuroendocrinology Laboratory of Rockefeller University in New York City. She co-authored several articles that were published in Science, Neuroscience, and other scientific journals. Ms. Lowe-Lee holds a B.A. in Neuroscience from Mount Holyoke College and received an M.A. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.

Prior to taking on the role of Executive Director at KAA Sam was the founding ED of the Council of Korean Americans. Under his leadership CKA grew from sixteen to 190 members, a nearly $2 million budget, and four staff.

Sam’s prior experience includes a senior policy advisor role in the Obama Administration, executive director of a national community development association, and multiple nonprofits focused on low-income and affordable housing. Sam was the first Asian American to run for office in Boston’s history, and the first to be elected to office. He served on the Boston City Council as an at-large council member for four years, and ran for mayor in 2009.

Sam has degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School and Princeton University. He has been married since 1995 to Dr. Christina Yoon, a nonprofit development professional, and has two teenage children.