Korean-American Youth Foundation

What Korean-American Youth Foundation does

The Korean-American Youth Foundation, operating under the brand KAYA (Korean American Youth Alliance), is a New York-based 501(c)-style nonprofit (EIN 11-3186054) founded in 1993 to empower underserved youth of immigrant families to find their voices and create positive impact in their local communities. Its single flagship offering is the WAFL (We Are Future Leaders) program, a year-long cohort-based leadership development curriculum delivered in person to Korean American youth, focusing on purpose, open-mindedness, empathy, public speaking, and community impact. The organization has run six consecutive WAFL cohorts (2020-2021 through 2025-2026), indicating sustained rather than expanding program delivery. It is headquartered at 164-01 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, NY, with an additional office at 16307 Depot Road in Queens.

The business model is a community-based nonprofit: WAFL and related programming are provided free of charge to participants, and the organization is funded entirely through donations and fundraising events such as an annual Golf outing and Gala. There is no disclosed pricing, subscription, or fee-for-service component, and no commercial revenue. Outreach is conducted through a Squarespace-hosted website (kayany.org), a newsletter subscription service, and earned media placements in Korean American outlets including New York Ilbo, Korea Times, Korea Daily, and The Korean Channel. There is no proprietary technology platform, no mobile app, no AI/ML capability, and no API or integrations disclosed.

Organizationally, the entity operates with 1-10 employees, is governed by a board of directors, and shows no parent company, subsidiaries, or institutional investment. The operating footprint is regional — limited to the New York metropolitan area — and there are no disclosed partnerships, acquisitions, funding rounds, or leadership changes. In short, KAYA is a small, durable, single-program community nonprofit optimized for sustained local impact rather than scale.

Name

Korean-American Youth Foundation

Legal name

Korean American Youth Foundation

Website

https://kayf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Korean-American Youth Foundation, operating as KAYA, is a New York-based nonprofit running the WAFL (We Are Future Leaders) youth leadership program for underserved Korean American immigrant youth. Founded in 1993, it delivers free in-person programming funded by donations and annual fundraising events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Leadership Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Youth leadership development
• Community engagement programs
• Nonprofit youth services
• Immigrant youth support
• Leadership training programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Flushing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

KAYA operates the WAFL (We Are Future Leaders) flagship youth leadership development program, which serves Korean American youth from immigrant families through mentorship, training, public-speaking development, and community engagement activities designed to build leadership capability and civic impact. The organization also runs a free email newsletter subscription to keep supporters, families, and community members informed about program activities and organizational news.

Product overview

Korean American Youth Alliance (KAYA) operates a single-program model centered on the WAFL (We Are Future Leaders) flagship youth leadership program. Founded in 1993 and reorganized under its current name, the organization focuses exclusively on empowering underserved youth of immigrant families through intensive leadership development. The WAFL program is supplemented by a newsletter subscription service for community engagement and updates. Additional program years (2020-2021 through 2025-2026) are archived but not independently marketed as separate products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WAFL (We Are Future Leaders): Flagship leadership program cultivating daring leaders among underserved youth of immigrant families.

Products and services

• WAFL (We Are Future Leaders) Program A flagship youth leadership development program that cultivates leadership capability through mentorship, training, public-speaking development, and community engagement, targeting underserved Korean American youth from immigrant families to build voice, vision, and lasting community impact.
• KAYA Newsletter Subscription

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• New York Edge: New York Edge operates after-school, summer, sports, and arts programs for young people across New York City. It reaches the same regional youth and family audience and uses a similar direct program-delivery model.
• Asian American Youth Center: Asian American Youth Center is a New York-based nonprofit providing youth and family services, after-school support, and leadership and community programming to Asian American communities. Its culturally specific, direct-service youth model closely matches KAYA's focus on underserved immigrant youth.
• South Asian Youth Action: South Asian Youth Action is a New York nonprofit serving South Asian youth and families through education, leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. Its culturally specific immigrant-youth development model is directly comparable, despite serving a different community.

Emerging players

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City: Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City provides one-to-one mentoring and youth-development relationships for New York City children and teens. Mentoring is a core component of KAYA's WAFL program, making it a relevant but narrower, partial peer.
• Korean American Civic Empowerment: Korean American Civic Empowerment is a Korean American nonprofit focused on civic participation, education, and community advocacy. It is an emerging, adjacent peer because it shares KAYA's Korean American identity and civic-engagement mission, but does not appear to operate the same full youth leadership curriculum.

Broad incumbents

• YMCA of Greater New York: YMCA of Greater New York runs after-school, camp, sports, and youth-development programs across the metropolitan area. It is a broad incumbent with the same youth and family audience and a comparable community-based service model.
• The Door: The Door is a New York City youth-services organization combining education, career, health, legal, and arts support. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping youth-development and community-engagement capabilities, but serves a wider range of needs.
• Children's Aid Society: Children's Aid Society provides education, health, after-school, and family services to children and families in New York City. It is a broad regional incumbent with a similar direct-service model and a broader service portfolio.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Boys & Girls Clubs of America is a national youth-development network offering after-school, mentoring, leadership, and recreation programs. It is a broad incumbent whose target youth, community delivery, and leadership-development functions overlap with KAYA, though at much greater scale.

Regional players

• Queens Community House: Queens Community House is a Queens-based settlement house offering youth development, education, family, and immigrant-support services. It is a regional peer because it serves a similar New York community and participant base, although its portfolio is broader.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kayfnyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/korean-american-youth-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Korean-American Youth Foundation