2024 API Action for Community Advancement
ACA encourages API students to contribute to our community through innovative endeavors. We actively welcome project proposals from students, fostering a culture of creative engagement and service. ACA will award $500 scholarships for successfully completed projects.
Below are the proposal requirements.
Below are the proposal requirements.
Beneficiary
- Please describe the population that will benefit from your project, such as the API community, seniors, students, underserved individuals, immigrants, or the general population. It is essential that beneficiaries include residents of San Diego County.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be residents or students attending schools in San Diego County.
- Applicants must be of Asian Pacific Islander descent.
- The team lead must be a high school student or a student who will be entering high school as of summer 2024.
Project Requirements
- Projects must be non-commercial and focused on benefiting the community.
- Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: mental health support, cultural enrichment, environmental conservation, gun violence prevention, racial equality, immigrant integration, education access, poverty alleviation, homelessness assistance, youth empowerment, senior citizen welfare, healthcare access, women's empowerment, disaster relief, food insecurity, community infrastructure improvement, civic engagement, and technological literacy enhancement.
- We encourage team projects, which must involve teams consisting of 3 or more students. Each team member will be assigned specific tasks and deliverables.
- Additionally, a designated adult supervisor must be identified by the team lead to oversee the project.
Application Process
- Please click the provided link to submit a project proposal consisting of 500-1,000 words. Your proposal should include the project title, beneficiary population, objectives, execution plan, budget analysis, and intended outcomes. Additionally, please provide the names, schools, email addresses, and incoming grades of the team leader and members.
- You're welcome to review the project approved in 2023. However, please note that we do not accept proposals closely resembling those from previous years. We encourage new and innovative proposals annually.
- The (extended) application deadline is June 1st, 2024.
- The ACA committee will conduct a group interview, during which the team lead will present the proposal.
- Applicants will receive notification of their acceptance status by June 9th, 2024.
- Some project proposals may entail long-term or large-scale endeavors extending beyond the summer. In such cases, please outline a robust delivery plan specifically tailored for the summer period, even if it only represents a portion of the larger project. Successful completion of the project includes delivering and presenting the proposed summer delivery plan.
Communication with ACA
- The ACA internship committee will not provide step-by-step guidance for the execution of community projects, but we are committed to supporting you to the best of our ability if you seek advice or assistance.
- ACA will primarily communicate with the team lead via email. It is important to regularly check emails from [email protected] and promptly respond to any inquiries or updates.
- If your project deviates slightly from the original proposal during deployment, please inform ACA in a timely manner and submit a revised project plan for approval. Failure to communicate deviations from the original proposal may result in the project not being accepted for the ACA scholarship.
Deliverable
- Please upload your midterm project report by July 20th to provide an update on your project's progress. The final project report, highlighting major milestones, should be uploaded by August 15th.
- All participants are expected to attend the ACA summer intern graduation ceremony and present their projects. The ceremony is tentatively scheduled for mid-August (date to be determined). If any team member has a scheduling conflict and cannot attend the ceremony, please inform ACA as soon as possible.
- Projects that fail to meet any of the three deliverables mentioned above will not qualify for the ACA scholarship.
Time commitment
- We recommend that each team member dedicate at least 40 hours to their project.
- Team members have the flexibility to schedule their work hours during the summer. You can begin working on your project as soon as you submit your application, and the deadline for submitting the final project report marks the end date.
- Please keep a detailed log of project hours for each team member as part of the final project delivery document. Due to varying task assignments, each team member may have a different log. This log is crucial for accurately documenting your contributions. ACA can also sign off on your volunteer service hours upon request.
ACA scholarship
- Each team that successfully completes and presents their proposed project will receive an ACA scholarship of up to $500. A first $250 check will be granted to all approved project that deliver midterm update following project plan, and a second $250 check will be awarded to selected projects after reviewing the final project delivery. The number of teams receiving the second check may vary each year depending on fund availability and final presentation quality.
- Every team member will receive a personalized certificate from either the Mayor's office or a Council member's office, with the student's name included on the certificate.