2025-2026 New York City Youth Ambassadors at The Korea Society
Posing with the Society’s Exhibition Dyadic | Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee
The Project Bridge Youth Ambassador Program has been the longest running program offered by The Korea Society’s Education Department. It was started in 1993 as a response to the 1992 Los Angeles uprising to introduce African-American urban students to Korean people, history and culture in an effort to promote greater understanding.
Since its inception Project Bridge has engaged urban youth in New York City and Los Angeles and over time has expanded student diversity in these two urban groups. In fall 2019 the Program had added a rural and Indigenous youth perspective and voice with the addition of students from Montana. Project Bridge has been geared to inner-city junior and senior public high school students in New York and Los Angeles and to juniors across Western Montana. Students have hail from diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.
The Korea Society has worked in conjunction with the Los Angeles-based Pacific Century Institute and the Missoula-based Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana to offer many exciting opportunities for youth ambassadors to not only learn about Korea but to develop leadership and intercultural competence skills, improve their public-speaking ability and grow their personal and professional networks. The academic year-long program has consisted of three key components: bi-monthly workshops, a ten-day study tour to the Republic of Korea and individual research culminating in a spring community presentation. Each site has selected eight students annually through a highly competitive application process.
Project Bridge goals have ensured students develop insights and skills needed to “bridge” the gaps between people of divergent cultural heritages, to empower them to view social and cultural differences as a pathway - not a barrier – and to exercise their responsibilities as emerging young leaders in an increasingly interconnected and richly diverse world. More specifically, it has aimed to build an understanding of and appreciation for Korea and the importance of the US-Korea relationship, an understanding that they hold for a lifetime and also share with their respective communities.
 |
 |
 |
Use the following links for further information:
Project Bridge Sponsors and Contributors
Program Overview
Project Bridge New York City Community Presentation
Most recent New York City Youth Ambassador cohort
NOTE:
The Korea Society will not offer the Project Bridge Youth Ambassador Program for New York City students during academic year 2026-2027.
The Los Angeles Pacific Century Institute Program will offer the Program Bridge Youth Ambassador Program for Los Angeles students. For more information on the Los Angeles program, click here.
