In honor of AAJA New York chapter co-founder Jeannie Park, we’re offering scholarships to chapter members to attend AAJA’s National Convention in Minneapolis this year. The grants, each $700, will help cover flights, convention registration and hotel costs for seven members. The deadline to complete this application is April 17 2026, and awardees will be announced around May 1. (You will need to have an active AAJA NY membership to be considered)
This application is an opportunity to introduce yourself and share why you wish to attend this year’s convention. If selected, we will ask that you reflect on your experience—what you learned, who you met, and how it impacted you—and share your story with the chapter. More details will be provided to awardees.
Jeannie has been with the chapter since the beginning, and we are grateful for her continued support and dedication. In 2025, we awarded six journalists (River Zhang, Elena Xiang, Priyanka Runwal, Gaea Cabico, Rekha Shanmugam and Aditi Sangal) to attend the conference in Seattle. Check out their stories here.
*Please note that if you are selected for the grant, you will be required to volunteer for an AAJA event in the future.*
Photo of Jeannie Park, speaking at “Intersections” Book Panel at CUNY J School, hosted by AAJA NY/AAJA
Congratulations to our 2025 Jeannie Park Grant Recipients!
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s cohort of AAJA-NY members! Each of them will be receiving $900 to help cover flights, hotel, and registration costs to attend the convention this summer:
About Jeannie Park
Jeannie Park has been an advocate for diversity and racial equity throughout her 22 years as a journalist and now as a nonprofit leader. Her first journalism job was as a copy editor at the English-language Korea Herald in Seoul. Through connections made via the newly formed AAJA in LA, she managed to get an entry-level job at Time Inc., where she spent the next 22 years working at Time, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle and People. As executive editor of the latter two publications, she was one of the highest-ranking Asian Americans in magazines. In 1987, she became the founding president of the AAJA’s New York chapter; she co-chaired two national conventions and served as national secretary and as a long-time facilitator for the Executive Leadership Program. She is currently devoted full-time to non-profits and serves as a board member of the Korean American Community Foundation and the Donors of Color Network, leveraging philanthropy to build power for communities of color. She is a co-founder of the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, advocating for racial equity in higher education. She can trace all these opportunities back to the friends, experiences and challenges provided to her by AAJA, for which she is eternally grateful.