Korean American League of Civic Action

The Korean American League of Civic Action (KALCA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, education and community advocacy organization. KALCA is dedicated to promoting the participation of Korean Americans and Asian Pacific Americans in community, legislative, and public affairs. KALCA seeks to promote active participation of the civic process; to educate community members about their rights, duties, and responsibilities as American citizens; and to encourage community members to contribute to the broader American society. KALCA strives to accomplish its goals through leadership programs.

Korean American Voter Education and Mobilization Project

"New York Immigration Coalition’s Immigrant Voter Campaign, Partner Asian Pacific American Voters Alliance (APAVA), Member"

In 2004, KALCA expanded its programs to include voter education and mobilization of the Greater New York area’s Korean American community for elections. KALCA formed an alliance with other Korean and Asian Pacific American organizations including, Young Korean American Services & Education Center (YKASEC), Korean American Voters Council (KAVC), and Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF), to organize non-partisan get-out-the-vote efforts in districts with large numbers of Korean American voters. KALCA has also been engaged in bilingual poll worker recruitment and poll site monitoring to better assist voters with limited English proficiency in New York. KALCA will collaborate with its partner organizations on voter education and other mobilization activities and conduct voter education forums on election issues and voting rights. Through its collective efforts, KALCA and its partner organizations hope to significantly increase Korean American and Asian Pacific American voter turnout rates in all elections.

Educational Forums

KALCA’s many educational forums provide opportunities to discuss and raise awareness of public affairs issues, to gain practical information for furthering civic and political participation, to bring community members together, and to meet civic leaders. Topics vary from socio-political issues to public health related issues. Examples include “Asian Americans and Politics: An INSIDER's View,” which provided practical and “real” information on how Asian Americans could participate in the political process more actively, the non-partisan forum on “Identifying Issues Impacting the Korean American Community,” co-sponsored by KALCA and other Korean American nonprofit organizations (KAVC, YKASEC and KAAGNY), the KALCA New York State Gubernatorial Candidates Forum, and “Asian American Perspectives on Reporting, Rebuilding, and Reflecting after 9/11,” which brought together a panel of distinguished Asain Pacific American leaders to discuss how the tragic events of 9/11 have uniquely impacted our community. Additionally, KALCA and the YWCA co-hosted “The Korean American Experience: Time Past, Present and Future,” a full-day conference in commemoration of the centennial of Korean immigration to the United States.

College Internship Program

The College Internship Program is an intensive, eight-week summer program that places college students in leading government offices, non-profit organizations and political campaigns in New York and New Jersey. Interns get an insider’s view of the civic and democratic processes, and participate in a specialized, hands-on curriculum to develop their leadership skills. Interns are supervised by senior staff in their assigned offices. The Program features individualized leadership training, the opportunity to meet civic leaders in small group settings, exploration of national, state and community issues, and career advice in a wide range of public service professions including government, law, journalism, non-profit management and politics. KALCA Internship alumni have entered nonprofit government positions.

Leadership Development Program

Partnering with leading training organizations nationwide, KALCA’s Leadership Development Program focuses on developing young Asian Pacific Americans to become effective leaders in public service and other professions. Training areas include communication and public speaking, consensus-building in a multicultural context, assertiveness training, understanding individual and group dynamics, managing complexity in a public affairs arena, and effective decision making.