Tina Yeh Fellowship Organizations: Applications Due Soon!
- AAAYA National
- Mar 11
- 3 min read
Updated: 10 hours ago
AAAYA is excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2026 Tina Yeh Fellowships.
This year, AAAYA will award two $7,500 fellowships for students to work with partner organizations SWOP Minneapolis and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). These organizations were selected in response to the increased level of activity from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), recognizing that heightened enforcement can place communities of color at risk.
SWOP Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN | www.swopmpls.com
The Sex Workers Outreach Project Minneapolis is committed to decriminalizing and destigmatizing Sex Work in Minneapolis and Minnesota. We are a local chapter of the largest national grassroots social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of Sex Workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education, community building, and advocacy.
SWOP is committed to the safety, autonomy, and human rights of people in the sex trade. We stand in solidarity with the many social justice movements intersectional to our own including but not limited to Black Lives Matter, disability rights, drug and immigration reform, gender equality and the LGBTQ movement, and the rights of the working class.
SWOP Minneapolis, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is committed to advancing the human rights, safety, and well-being of individuals in the sex trade. Our work is a margin to center praxis that prioritizes gender and racial justice, bodily autonomy and promotes a true working class solidarity.
Internship Project A
Conduct a needs assessment survey for workers in AAPI erotic massage business in Minneapolis. Write a 5 question survey that will illuminate the working conditions, distribute the survey and make connections with workers, and analyze the data. SWOP will use this information to advocate for policy and provide services that can best improve the working conditions and strengthen community support.
Internship Project B
Assist with the research for the Stripper Guild policy guide that focuses on racial justice in Strip Club organizing. Build case studies of organizing that has centered racial justice well to celebrate and build upon those victories. Conduct interviews of workers for more indepth analysis and to get direct quotes. These findings will be published.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Washington, D.C. | www.advancingjustice-aajc.org
AAJC, based in Washington, DC, works to advance human and civil rights for Asian Americans, and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. Founded in 1991, Advancing Justice | AAJC is a leading national expert on issues important to the Asian American community, including the Census, immigration and immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and voting rights. Advancing Justice | AAJC fights for civil rights through education, litigation, and public policy advocacy, and we work to empower our communities by bringing local and national constituencies together and ensuring Asian Americans are able to participate fully in our democracy.
Fellowship Information
Advancing Justice | AAJC seeks a Fellow to support its civil rights advocacy on a range of issues including immigrants’ rights and immigration policy and addressing anti-Asian hate and racial profiling. As a Fellow, you will gain deeper knowledge of the civil rights issues impacting the Asian American community and learn about the many facets of federal policy advocacy. You will sharpen your advocacy skills through work including:
● Assisting with policy and legislative research, and drafting memoranda, public comments, and testimony for Congressional and agency hearings;
● Supporting staff members in preparing for hearings, briefings, and meetings with policymakers, community groups, and civil rights organizations;
● Drafting community outreach, education, and advocacy materials.
For the summer of 2026, potential projects for the Fellow may include supporting advocacy to oppose policies and practices that are harming immigrant communities, including the current surge in immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation; and supporting efforts to address anti-Asian hate and racial profiling, including engagement with legislators, federal agencies, and coalition partners.
Through this fellowship, AAAYA aims to support work that protects and uplifts vulnerable communities while strengthening engagement within the AAPI community.
Applications are due by midnight (PDT) on April 3rd, 2026. For more information about the fellowship application, please look at our Tina Yeh Fellowship page, linked below.
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