Empowering Asian/Asian American Communities Fellowships Summer 2025
Through the Empowering Asian/Asian American Communities Fellowship, a Cardinal Quarter opportunity co-sponsored by the Asian American Activities Center and the Haas Center for Public Service, students engage with Asian/Asian American communities to apply what they have learned in and out of the classroom about race, diversity, equity, social justice, and the Asian/Asian American experience. Students will participate in a quarter-long practicum experience working with a nonprofit organization or government agency on social, political or economic issues affecting Asian/Asian American communities. Fellows can expand on an experience started through a course or extracurricular activity by continuing with an existing partner organization, or they can identify another relevant community organization. Empowering Asian/Asian American Communities Fellows spend the summer working full-time for nine weeks with a supervisor/mentor in a domestic U.S. community organization of their choice.
For opportunities during the Fall, Winter, or Spring quarters, please see the Jane Stanford Fellowship. For international opportunities, please see the International Public Service Fellowship.
Applicants propose their own placements with organizations with which they have corresponded before the application deadline and effectively demonstrate that their intended partner organizations have the need, interest and capacity to work with a fellow and to support the proposed project/work plans. Students can submit an application after they have received and accepted an offer from a host organization, and the host organization must then complete the Community Partner Questionnaire (via the fellowship application) by the application deadline.
The Haas Center has many Resources for Fellowship Applicants, including our list of Cardinal Quarter Connections of host organizations seeking to work with Stanford undergraduate students, and our Meet the Undergraduate Fellows page with information on previous fellows' community partners and projects.
Each Empowering Asian/Asian American Communities Fellow receives a base stipend of $7000 to support travel and living expenses during the fellowship. Financial aid and supplemental funding are available to students who qualify.
Please review the program policies in their entirety before applying.
Are you working on a “project” this summer? Would your “project” benefit from additional funding? A Cardinal Quarter “project” is defined as 1) student designed in consultation with a community partner, 2) student implemented, 3) provides a tangible deliverable to the community, and 4) is sustainable beyond the summer. Students working on projects may be awarded up to an additional $1000 for project-related expenses. Click here for more information about projects and here to see a list of project-related expenses that may be covered. Please check the relevant box on the fellowship application if you will be applying for project-based funding.
The Haas Center for Public Service and the Asian American Activities Center partnered to launch the Empowering Asian/Asian American Communities Fellowship as part of the Cardinal Quarter initiative. Funding has been generously provided by Haas Center donors as part of the Cardinal Quarter program.
Eligibility:
For complete eligibility requirements, please review our program policies in its entirety.
Applicants must be:
- enrolled at Stanford for the winter and spring quarters of this academic year (2024-25);
- be in good academic standing and not on suspension; and
- enrolled as a first-year, sophomore, or junior (from all academic disciplines), or a senior who will be returning for a co-term program during the following academic year
Graduating seniors are only eligible for Round 2 opportunities if funding is available after the February deadline, and the Round 2 deadline may be in early April. Students who have begun their coterm programs are not eligible to apply. Priority will be given to students who have completed fewer than two previous Cardinal Quarter opportunities.
Students are welcome to propose placements with a variety of public interest organizations, keeping in mind funding will be restricted for certain types of political, research, Stanford-based, for-profit, and faith-based organizations. Please review the “Host Organization Eligibility” section of our program policies for more information.
Requirements:
Selected fellows are expected to begin their fellowship following the completion of spring quarter classes and no later than July 7, 2025. All fellows are required to work with their community partners 35-40 hours/week for nine consecutive weeks.
Fellows are expected to work on-site at their host organizations at least on a hybrid schedule, but some fully virtual experiences may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Fellows must have a designated full-time professional staff member on-site as their supervisor/mentor. Please review the complete program policies for additional requirements. Other commitments include the following:
Spring Quarter
- Complete and online program orientation
- Complete the Engaging in Ethical and Effective Service in-person workshop or worksheet.
- Identify and meet with an on-campus mentor at least once.
- Design a personal learning plan and share the learning plan with the site supervisor and on-campus mentor.
- Complete all required pre-orientation forms.
Summer Quarter
- Submit a brief preliminary report
- Submit a final report, complete a program evaluation, and correspond with fellowship donor(s) as requested by fellowships program staff.
Fall Quarter
- Meet with on-campus mentor at least once
- For project-based fellows, apply to present at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Public Service (SURPS)
- Participate in outreach activities to share the experience and help publicize the program
