Program & Speakers

Angella Ahn, Professor of Violin and Viola at Montana State University, lives in Bozeman, Montana, when she is not travelling as the violinist of the acclaimed Ahn Trio, comprised of Angella and her sisters Lucia (piano) and Maria (cello). The Juilliard-trained Korean-American musicians have been hailed by the LA Times as “exacting and exciting musicians,” and their eight albums have been enthusiastically received. Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac, released by Sony, was No. 8 in the Billboard Charts for 26 weeks, and Dvorak, Suk and Shostakovich, released by EMI, won Germany’s prestigious ECHO Award. After the Spring 2017 release of their ninth album, Blue, the sisters completed a successful album tour in Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany. Their albums and concerts display their ever-evolving vision of what it means to be 21st-century musicians, and their wide-ranging collaborations with modern dance companies (including a B-boy dance company), film directors, rock bands, DJs, and singers has led them to be called “Classical revolutionaries” by New York Newsday. Their unique approach to classical music has taken the sisters to Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Vienna’s Musikverein, New York’s Lincoln Center, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Beijing’s Concert Hall, Istanbul’s Aya Irini in Topkapi Palace, and to over 30 countries and every state in America. In 2008, the trio was the only classical group invited to perform at the iTunes Festival; in 2010, they performed for the prestigious TED Talks; and in 2011, President Obama invited them to perform at the White House. Angella is a frequent guest of the Montana Chamber Music Society and the Muir Quartet. As the artistic director of the Big Sky Classical Music Festival, she is often performing with guest artists such as Matt Haimovitz and Rachel Barton Pine. She has taught often at Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle camps, and has been featured with musicians as diverse as Phil Aaberg, Darol Anger, Emmylous Harris, and John Prine. She can be seen in “Angella Ahn and Friends,” a program presented by Montana PBS’ Emmy award-winning 11th & Grant with Eric Funk.

Frank Aum currently serves as Senior Expert on North Korea at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. He was also a Visiting Scholar in the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He previously worked as a political appointee in the Obama administration from 2010-2017, serving as the Senior Advisor for North Korea in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During this time, he advised four Secretaries of Defense on issues related to Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea policy, defense posture, counter-missile capabilities, missile defense, military exercises, contingency planning, and POW/MIA remains recovery. Frank also served as head of delegation for working level negotiations in Seoul with the Republic of Korea (ROK), spearheading coordination of bilateral agreement on a range of key strategic issues, including the ROK’s Revised Missile Guidelines and the transition of wartime operational control. In 2017, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
Prior to his political appointment, he worked as a corporate attorney on private equity and mergers & acquisitions at the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP. Frank also has extensive experience in the public and non-profit sectors. He completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Jeju Island, South Korea and worked as a speechwriter in the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In addition, he worked to strengthen the Koreatown community in Los Angeles at the city’s Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and the Korean American Coalition (KAC). Frank received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.P.P. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Steve Baik grew up in the heart of Los Angeles with his family who immigrated from Korea in 1979. At a young age, he fell in love with the game of basketball. Although pursuing his dream came with endless challenges, Steve rose above, beat the odds, and saw his dreams become a reality. After an incredibly successful basketball experience during his high school and college years, Steve Baik was scouted to play professionally in Korea. When he discovered that this was not the path for him, he went on to coach high school basketball, and his passion to impact the youth came alive! This was the beginning of an astounding coaching career. During an incredible 18 year coaching career, Baik achieved the impossible. In 2016, Coach Baik led his Chino Hills team to an undefeated season, earning the title of National Champions and state Champions. Additionally, he was awarded USA Today National Coach of the Year and Naismith National Coach of the Year. Coach Baik went on to win another CIF title as head coach of Fairfax High School. He is the first Korean American coach to achieve these accolades. Throughout this historic success, Steve Baik has remained dedicated to his passion—to impact the youth and inspire them to pursue greatness. He saw and experienced first-hand a great need within the communities and public school systems. Baik’s dreams go beyond successful titles and awards. He questioned how he could do more and make a greater impact. In 2018, Steve and his wife co-founded Converge Los Angeles Basketball Club, a nonprofit organization dedicated to impacting the youth in surrounding communities through top-level basketball training, mentoring, and support. Their vision is to see young men and women achieve their highest potential both on and off the court. They believe Converge LABC can create amazing opportunities for young individuals who don’t have necessary support and guidance. Through donations and sponsorships, many more dreams can become a reality. Steve, his wife Grace, and their three young children reside in Los Angeles where they are dedicated to serving their communities.

Seth Berkman is the author of “A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History,” which was released in Oct. 2019. The book chronicles the journey of the first Unified Korean women’s hockey team, which featured players from North and South Korea. Born in Seoul and raised in New Jersey, Berkman made his first trip back to South Korea before the 2018 Olympics to cover the team. Since 2012, Berkman has been a regular contributor to the New York Times sports section. A graduate of Columbia University Journalism School, he has also had work published by The New Yorker and dozens of other local and national outlets. He currently lives in New York.

Carter Burwell currently serves as Chief Counsel to Senator John Cornyn on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In this capacity, he advises Senator Cornyn on nominations and issues related to the Constitution, national security, and criminal justice. Prior to his work in the Senate, Carter was a counter-terrorism and violent-crimes prosecutor for the Department of Justice, serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York and Virginia. Carter received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. After law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in the Eastern District of New York and Judge Karen Henderson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He also worked as a litigation associate at the law firm of Davis, Polk & Wardwell in New York City.

Henry Hosung Byun, CFP® is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner who works with clients that include business owners, entrepreneurs, individuals and their families, and corporate executives and professionals. People looking to improve their wealth outlook, build financial independence, and leave a legacy, work with Henry. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Henry was part of Goldsmith Wealth Advisors, an office of MetLife and involved in client acquisition, financial and estate planning, investment and retirement planning, college funding, protection planning, and special needs planning. His ability to uncover the issues, develop action steps, and help his clients modify their behaviors and implement solutions, is supported by his previous experiences in asset management operations, medical devices, information technology and healthcare services. He graduated with a M.B.A. from Boston College and a B.S. from McGill University. Henry enjoys giving back to the community and helping those in need, especially children. He has been an active supporter of underprivileged children for over 20 years through Children International. He also supports organizations such as Charity: Water, multiple minority bar associations, Korean Community Services of Greater New York, Junior Achievement, Koreanamericanstory.org, as well as volunteers his time through Better Money Habits and its partners like United Way and Dodgers Foundation. Henry currently resides in Westlake Village, California with his family, while continuing to build his bicoastal financial planning and wealth management practice.

Jeanie Chang is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She is passionate about effectively serving individuals, couples, and families including children and adolescents by promoting a solution-focused and multicultural competency approach in the home, schools, and workplace. She received her M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pfeiffer University. Ms. Chang has a diverse career background; first starting her career as a broadcast journalist in Washington, D.C. during the Clinton administration. She also attended business school at Johns Hopkins University from which she received an M.S. in Marketing. Ms. Chang has worked in public relations, marketing, and client success management in the corporate sector. She followed a calling to get her license in marriage and family therapy, and in recent years has specialized in treating children, adolescents, and families particularly with anxiety and depression with a solution-focused approach. Chang co-launched the behavioral health program at Avance Primary Care (Raleigh, NC) in 2016, and co-created in 2017, an Emotional Eating program integrating behavioral health with nutrition services for primary care patients. Ms. Chang is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) with experience in grief, loss, and trauma, and a Certified Facilitator for Prepare/Enrich, a program used for pre-marital, marital counseling, and marriage enrichment. In addition, Ms. Chang holds specialized training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She is an accomplished national speaker; leading workshops in corporate and in the school system on mindfulness, self-care, and wellness. She also facilitates skills groups and provides psychoeducation for adolescents and families through various organizations around the country. Ms. Chang serves as President of the NC Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, where she is spearheading the NAAAP Wellness program, a national initiative to launch in 2020. She also volunteers as VP of Membership on the executive board for the Business and Professional Women of the Triangle and sits on the advisory board of the Western Wake Tennis Association.

Daniel Cho is the Assistant Executive Director for Candidate Guidance and Policy at the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB). He serves on the Executive team and manages policies and procedures that affect candidates and their campaign staff in complying with the Campaign Finance Act and Board Rules. Mr. Cho oversees the communications and advice related to all campaign financial disclosures and the public matching funds program. He has served in various roles at the CFB as Director of Candidate Services, Payment Coordinator, Auditor and Compliance Analyst. Mr. Cho is a past Co-Chair of the Programming Committee for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) and participated in the New York City Leadership Institute. He also was selected by the New York Korean Consulate General to participate in and moderate at the Future Leaders’ Conference in Seoul, South Korea. He is a past Chair and Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Korean American League for Civic Action (KALCA). He currently serves as the Vice-President of Civic Engagement for the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY) and is an associate member of the Council of Korean Americans. Mr. Cho holds a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College.

Eugene Cho is also the founder and visionary of One Day’s Wages (ODW) – a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty. The vision of ODW is to create a collaborative movement that promotes awareness, invites simple giving (one day’s wages) and supports sustainable relief through partnerships, especially with smaller organizations in developing regions. Since its launch in October 2009, ODW has raised over $7 million dollars for projects to empower those living in extreme global poverty. ODW has been featured in the New York Times, The Seattle Times, NPR, Christianity Today and numerous other media outlets. For his entrepreneurial work and spirit, Eugene was recently honored as one of 50 Everyday American Heroes and a recipient of the Frederick Douglass 200 – included in a list of 200 people around the world who best embody the spirit and work of Frederick Douglass, one of the most influential figures in history. Eugene was also the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from Princeton Theological Seminary. Eugene Cho is the founder and former Senior Pastor of Quest Church – an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. After 18 years, Eugene stepped aside at Quest in 2018. He is also the founder and Executive Director of the Q Café, an innovative non-profit community café and music venue which closed due to relocation in 2015. Eugene recently released his first book, Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? He is currently writing his second book which is set to release in February 2020.

Hannah Cho is the Senior Policy Advisor for Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson. In this role, she provides strategies and counsel regarding public policy issues and special projects throughout the 10th district, which encompasses Koreatown. She also serves as the Council President’s liaison to the greater Los Angeles Asian American Pacific Islander community. Prior to her role at the City of Los Angeles, Hannah’s professional experience includes serving as a District Director in the California State Senate and many years in various roles in the nonprofit, and political sector. Her portfolio includes policy initiatives, programming, and advocacy campaigns with organizations such as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the California Democratic Party, Operation HOPE, CARE, the Clean Air Campaign, and the US National Park Service. Hannah is a member of the Executive Board of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the California Democratic Party, the Glass Leadership Institute of the Anti Defamation League, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Honor Society. She completed graduate coursework for her Master’s in Political Science and has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and minors in Hospitality and Non-Profit Management from Georgia State University.

Shirley Cho is a Partner at Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones. She specializes in corporate reorganization, insolvency, and bankruptcy law. She has represented some of the largest companies in America in connection with their corporate restructuring efforts, as well as acquirers of assets out of bankruptcy, and dozens of official committees of unsecured creditors across a variety of industries. Ms. Cho has significant experience representing U.S. debtors involved in cross-border proceedings and has also represented foreign creditors, including Fortune Global top 20 companies, to successfully pursue their claims in chapter 11. Ms. Cho is listed among Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers in the practice area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law as well as being listed among the Daily Journal’s Top Women Lawyers in 2019 and the Top Women Attorneys in Southern California for Bankruptcy. An active member of the community, Ms. Cho is a frequent lecturer and publisher of insolvency-related articles and is the past co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute Battleground West and the co-chair of the Annual Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors Conference. She has also served on the board of trustees of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and the board of directors of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA. Shirley earned her B.A at University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Ms. Cho is a member of the California and New York bars.

Marshall Cho was hired on May 1st, 2015 as the Head Boys Basketball Coach for Lake Oswego High School. Cho served as the director of basketball operations at University of Portland from 2012 to the 2014 season. His primary responsibilities include coordinating the team’s travel plans, office management, overseeing the programs community outreach efforts and managing the Pilot Basketball camps. Cho joined the Pilots after spending the previous three seasons on the coaching staff at renowned DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Cho began his career as an educator through the Teach For America program and taught in the South Bronx and Harlem for six years. He served as the boy’s basketball coach from 2004-06 at Future Leaders Institute, leading them to a New York City Charter School Championship. From 2006-09, while living in Mozambique, Cho spent three years as a volunteer coach and instructor with the Mozambican National Basketball Federation. Cho worked to assist the under-20 and under-16 national team and for Desportivo do Maputo, one of the top senior men’s club teams in Mozambique. He also trained under-16 basketball coaches using the NBA/Nike Africa Coaches Guide for six consecutive weekends leading up to the under-16 national championship. In August of 2008 Cho was the varsity boys’ basketball coach at the American International School of Mozambique, where he started and developed that program. During his time in Africa, Cho served as a coach for the NBA-sponsored Basketball Without Borders Africa. He also led a variety of volunteer efforts, including rehabilitating basketball courts by partnering with Hoops 4 Hope and the U.S. Embassy and conducting basketball clinics with local basketball clubs. Cho has served as clinician for USA Basketball Youth Division, and worked as court coach and support staff member for the junior national team program. He has worked with USA Basketball for the Nike Hoop Summit game since 2012 as well as working the junior national team’s U16/U17 trials. Cho graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2000. He also received a Master’s Degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from Columbia University in 2003. Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Springfield, Ore. Cho and his wife, Connie, have a son, Nathaniel and daughter, Emma.

Carol Choi is a businesswoman, a philanthropist and an entrepreneur. Carol graduated from UC Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology from Francisco J. Ayala School of Biological Sciences. Carol went onto graduate from USC with a Masters in Business Administration and Public Health (MBA/MPH). In 1993, Carol established United Exchange Corp. (UEC) specializing in the sales, marketing and distribution of Consumer Package Goods (CPG) throughout the U.S., Pacific Asia and Latin American regions. Through her work, UEC has been recognized as a good corporate citizen and valued community service provider in the diverse cultural neighborhoods of Los Angeles and Orange County. Carol was actively involved with the Irvine Public School Foundation (IPSF) as a board member, she served from 2006–2012. Carol currently serves as an Advisory Council member, helping to raise funds to support the Irvine School District. During Carol’s tenure as a board member with IPSF she started Irvine Korean Parent’s Association (IKPA). Carol served as President where she instituted the Program to Advance Cultural Education (PACE). The PACE program provides opportunities for educators in the Irvine School District to deepen their understanding of the city’s many different cultures. Carol supported the formation of the ANTrepreneurship Center at UC Irvine, which is designed to help students turn their dreams of starting a business into reality. The ANTrepreneurship Center is also focused on stimulating the economy and promoting education.

Dr. David Y. Choi has had an active career as an academic, consultant and entrepreneur over the last 20 years. Dr. Choi has been a faculty member and associate director of the nationally ranked Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship at LMU since 2003. He has taught undergraduate and MBA courses in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, social entrepreneurship and technology management at LMU as well as other institutions around the world including Peking University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Korea University. Dr. Choi is a winner of a national teaching award from the United States Association of Business and Entrepreneurship (USABE). He has been featured or quoted in many business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Los Angeles Business Journal and Business 2.0, among others.

Ji Mi Choi serves as an Associate Vice President of Advancing Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Arizona State University, utilizing her twenty-plus years of expertise in higher education at the intersection of entrepreneurial and public-private partnerships. Previously, Choi served in various fast-paced and evolving roles at New York University: early in her career at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School of the Arts before new media was new media; later at the Polytechnic University (now the Tandon School of Engineering at NYU), first serving as the chief of staff to the president and vice president for strategic initiatives, then later serving as the senior director of integration, leading the merger between the two institutions; and subsequently serving as the assistant vice president for global programs planning. Choi has also served at the world-renowned Earth Institute at Columbia University, ultimately as chief of staff and assistant deputy director. A long-time New Yorker by way of Seoul and an avid internationalist, Choi has served in a leadership role for the United Nations Development Programme and in various capacities for numerous start-up organizations, both not-for-profit and for profit (helping take a company public in the early days of the dot-com boom), and has been involved in political campaigns.

Juliet K. Choi is Senior Vice President & Chief of Staff at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. Previously, she was a partner with the VENG Group, a non-traditional government relations and public affairs firm which leverages a multi-disciplinary and technological driven approach to problem solving and achieving clients’ goals. As a strategist and multi-sector coalition builder, Juliet focuses on homeland security and immigration, health care, disaster response, inclusion leadership, and enjoys catalyzing public-private partnerships. A civil rights lawyer by training, Juliet most recently worked with the nationally recognized Partnership for Public Service as the Director for Federal Executive Networks. She served as a senior executive and political appointee in President Obama’s administration for five years. From 2014 to 2017, she was appointed as chief of staff and senior advisor at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the world’s largest immigration agency with a workforce of about 20,000 employees and nearly 250 offices globally. From 2011 to 2014, Juliet was appointed chief of staff and senior advisor for the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her areas of responsibility included civil rights policy, intra-HHS coordination, legislative and intragovernmental affairs, outreach and stakeholder relations. From 2006 to 2011, Juliet worked with the American Red Cross Headquarters, serving as a member of the Disaster Services executive leadership team in the capacity of senior director for disaster partnerships. She led national disaster relief operations and served as the principal in charge for revamping its national strategy for diverse and inclusive private sector partnerships and enhancing the nation’s premiere disaster case management technology consortium. Under her leadership, she helped to steward critical new partnerships with several groups including the Bank of America, Legal Services Corporation, National Baptist Convention USA, National Disability Rights Network, Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation and Y-USA. From 2004 to 2006, Juliet served at the Asian American Justice Center as the inaugural NAPABA (National Asian Pacific American Bar Association) Partners Community Law Fellow and staff attorney. She focused her legal and policy expertise on Title VI and language access with an emphasis on health care, disasters, and the courts. Her efforts led to amending the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to protect limited English speakers. Before her legal career, her portfolio included seven years with the corporate division of Gannett Broadcasting (1992-1999) and subsequently as policy director with the National Mental Health Association (1999-2000). Juliet is the daughter of immigrants from South Korea. A Next Generation Fellow of the American Assembly, Juliet is a graduate of both the American Express Non-Profit Leadership Academy and Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative. She received her law school’s Alumni Association Award for Leadership and Character (2003) and Rising Star Alumnus Award (2009). A certified mediator, she served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dennis M. Sweeney (retired) of the Circuit Court for Howard County, Maryland (2003-2004). A former CKA board member, Juliet currently serves on the boards of the YWCA USA National and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Law Foundation (NLF). Juliet received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia and law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Jim Chung is the Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at George Washington University, and a Co-Principal Investigator for the NSF Innovation Corps Node in Washington, DC (DC I-Corps). He was previously the Director of the Mtech VentureAccelerator and the Founding Director of the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund at the University of Maryland. Prior to Mtech, he served as a Director for New Business Development at the Corporate Executive Board. He was also Vice President at Cherington Capital (now Intervale Capital), a middle market private equity firm in the oil-field equipment and services industry. Jim started his private sector career as an early stage venture capital investor, most recently at incTANK Ventures, where he was the Managing Director. Some previous and current investments include Agamatrix, Nexaweb, Illterra, Zymetis (now Aemetis), FlexEI, FiscalNote, and TravelBank. Before becoming an investor, Jim was an academic researcher studying how business, government, and academia work together to create new innovations in high technology industries. He has been a researcher at MIT, Harvard, University of Tokyo (Fulbright Fellow), ETRI (NSF EAPSI Fellow), STEPI (Korea), and KAIST. He was named in 2015 by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the Top 100 Tech Titans in DC by Hot Topics as one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurship Professors worldwide.

Jenny Choi-Fitzpatrick is the Regional Director for Africa at Project Concern International (PCI), a non-profit, non-governmental international development and humanitarian assistance organization that benefits over 12 million people annually in Africa, Asia and the Americas. PCI strengthens and empowers vulnerable communities through life-saving and last-mile interventions that aim to enhance health, end hunger, overcome hardship and advance women and girls. Jenny has 16 years of experience in the international development sector and has held senior roles in program development, management, operations and quality assurance. Throughout her career, Jenny has established, implemented and overseen multi-million dollar projects and portfolios in 12 countries in Africa and Asia in diverse program areas including health, education, food security, nutrition, livelihoods, water and sanitation, climate change adaptation, humanitarian assistance and resilience. Jenny was also a Practitioner in Residence and faculty member at the School of Public Policy at Central European University where she taught skills-based courses to a globally diverse graduate student body and developed an innovative experiential learning program that helped bridge a multi-disciplinary study of public policy with meaningful engagement with policy practice. Jenny received her B.A. in International Development from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.A. in International Development and Administration from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Sun E. Choi is a trial attorney, litigator, and a certified mediator, licensed in MD and DC with over 20 years of trial experience. Ms. Choi’s areas of practice are criminal defense and complex family law. She is the founding member and managing partner of DC Metro Law, LLC. After obtaining her B.S. in Business from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from American University, Ms. Choi served as the first Asian Pacific American law clerk to the late Honorable Chief Judge Eugene N. Hamilton of D.C. Superior Court. Ms. Choi then became the first Asian Pacific American to serve as a prosecutor in Frederick, Maryland. In November 2010, she became the first female fellow invited by the Ministry of Justice for the Republic of Korea to provide research and to lecture on the U.S. criminal jury system to assist Korea’s newly established jury system. In March 2016, she was appointed as an Expert Attorney Advisor by the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family, the Republic of Korea to help improve Korea’s newly established child support system. Ms. Choi’s service to the APA and non-profit community includes serving as NAPABA Vice President for Communications (2015-18), KABA-DC President (2014-16), KABA-DC Vice President (2014-16), NAPABA Solo & Small Firm Network Co-Chair (2013-15), APABA-DC Board Member and Small Firm Forum Chair (2012-16), and APABA-MD President (2009-2010). She is a mother of two daughters, a marathon runner, and a breast cancer survivor.

Susan Jin Davis, Chief Sustainability Officer, has over 25 years of experience in the communications and technology industry. In her current position, she is responsible for identifying sustainable strategies and priorities and for implementing the Company’s Sustainability Program across all of Comcast NBCUniversal business units and functions. Prior to her current role, Susan was Senior Vice President of Operations Compliance and was responsible for implementing product policies, operationalizing regulatory and legal requirements, reducing costs to the cable business and managing business compliance. In 2011, Susan negotiated a historic Memorandum of Understanding between Comcast and the Asian American community as part of the Company’s merger with NBCUniversal that created ground-breaking commitments in the areas of programming, supplier and employment diversity and community investment. She serves on Comcast’s Internal Diversity Council and is a Company liaison to the Comcast and NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council. She is an executive sponsor of Asian Pacific Americans at Comcast, a Company Employee Resource Group. Susan completed the Women in Cable Telecommunications Senior Executive Summit at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and has completed the Women’s Executive Leadership Program at the Wharton School of Business. She received the 2010 Paragon Award of the National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Cable and completed CTAM’s Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School. Susan was a fellow in the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute of the Women in Cable Telecommunications. She has been named one of the “Most Powerful Women in Cable” and one of the “The Most Influential Minorities in Cable” by Cablefax for many years. Susan serves as the Chair of the Board of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies and is a director on the Boards of the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, and the Juvenile Law Center. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr College.

Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Emilia Gutierrez has spent the last ten + years in Washington, DC working to empower individuals and organizations to use digital tools and platforms to implement change. Before joining Facebook, Emilia worked as a digital strategist at a number of local and national non-profits and most recently led the digital team as the Director of Online Engagement at Amnesty International USA. When not working, Emilia is hanging out in Northwest DC with her Jack Russell/ Beagle mix, Topper and her husband.

Julian Ha is a Partner with Heidrick and Struggles based in Washington, D.C. Julian leads the firm’s Government Affairs and Trade Association Practices and places senior executives into public and private firms and member-driven organizations across all industries and sectors. Julian also leads the firm’s Trade Association sector and has extensive Association Board experience – he is currently a board member of the Public Affairs Council, US-ASEAN Business Council, and the National Association of Corporate Directors – Capital Area Chapter. He also serves on the global Board of AESC which represents the entire retained executive search and leadership consulting profession. Prior to executive search, Julian practiced as a corporate lawyer in New York, Washington, DC, London, Singapore and Shanghai. As a lawyer for Paul Weiss, Baker & McKenzie and Linklaters, he advised multinational corporations on their IPOs, private equity investments and cross-border M&A transactions. Julian has also served as a Director in the Corporate Finance group of Evolution Securities China Limited, an investment bank based in London, UK. Julian also has private sector Boardroom governance experience. He has served on the Board of China Recycling Energy Corporation (CREG), a NASDAQ-listed cleantech company where he chaired CREG’s compensation committee and Propulsys, a privately-held, precision manufacturing company with operations in the US, Germany and China.

Whirlwind American tours and performances across the globe have earned pianist Alpin Hong the reputation as a modern day Pied Piper. From Walt Disney Hall to the White House, his combination of stunning technique, emotional range, and rare humor continues to bring audiences young and old to their feet. Rooted in extensive classical training and a background in extreme sports, martial arts, and video games, Mr. Hong is a creative force unmatched in his vitality and charisma. In addition to his musical talents, Mr. Hong is an internationally renowned speaker and host. His message of artistry, tolerance, and service knits communities together in a spirit of common humanity. Mr. Hong’s recent TEDx talk “Transform Yourself Into a Performer” at La Sierra University showcased his ability to inspire excellence in everyone, and has been viewed over 180,000 times. Mr. Hong is regularly featured as a keynote speaker for philanthropic and educational events, including the Korean American Scholarship Foundation’s National Gala, the Michigan Music Teachers Association annual conference, WDPR Dayton’s Catch a Rising Star Gala, the Alvord School District’s Convocation in Riverside, California, and Diversity Day in Idaho Falls in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Jocelyn Hong has led many legislative accomplishments, during her time in Washington. She has created a winning bipartisan, bicameral team with Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and former Democratic Governor and Congressman Ted Strickland of Ohio to pass radioactive cleanup legislation in a record three days. Jocelyn has also represented a local government to obtain over $100 million in direct federal funding over the course of a 20+ year relationship. She’s worked with Congress and the Executive branch to obtain a $6.5 million intel contract in less than a year to help a vital interest affecting national security. She’s created a coalition of both left- and right-wing non-profit groups to eliminate an expensive $13 billion unauthorized government program. Jocelyn recently re-opened her name lobbying shop, Jocelyn Hong and Associates, LLC (JHA). JHA began in 1992 as one of the first female, minority-owned lobbying entities. In 1994, Jocelyn was recruited by the Dutko Group and in 1999, then served as a Principal in former Congressman Jack Fields’ boutique firm, Twenty-First Century Group. At TFCG, Jocelyn helped to build the ambiance and atmosphere that has come to be known as the premier location on Capitol Hill to relax and network with Members, Staff and lobbyists. Jocelyn has served on the Board of the Washington Coalition on Comfort Women Issues, the Korean American Coalition, Washington, D.C. Chapter. She currently serves on the Force to End Harassment in Advocacy (FEHA) a national task force writing the guidance on sexual harassment, and is the Chair of the H Street Group, an informal organization of over 100 Asian Pacific American lobbyists. She currently advises and mentors many young Hill staff and lobbyists.

Peter Huh is Chairman and Co-Founder of PAFCO, a private family-owned international Seafood Company, located in Southern California and Boston. PAFCO was founded in 1977 and is currently ranked one of the top Seafood company in North America. PAFCO has a presence in South America, Mexico, Central America, Asia, India, Africa and Europe. Peter serves on the board of several Community organizations. He worked as the Past Chair of Finance at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, in Los Angeles. Peter and his wife Jihee Huh served on the Chadwick School Board in Palos Verdes and Peter serves on the Chadwick International School Board in Song Do, South Korea. He is currently a Trustee and Chair of Membership Committee for the Council of Korean Americans. The Huh Family established the Peter Y. Huh Scholarship Fund 82’ at Amherst College to support and help underserved APIA Students to learn about Asia.

Tim is currently the Founder and CEO of FiscalNote, a Government Relationship Management platform that uses AI, analytics, and natural language processing to help global organizations take control of their government risk and automate the law. The global company with offices around the world has now grown to become the largest privately held company in the legal analytics space and powers 1,300 of the world’s largest and most influential law firms, legal departments, and governments in creating a more open and transparent society through data. With Hwang’s technology and capital partners from the likes of Mark Cuban, Jerry Yang, Steve Case, NEA, Renren and others, FiscalNote is revolutionizing access to legislation, regulations, and court cases for organizations around the world. Prior to founding FiscalNote, Hwang started his career in politics in the Obama ’08 campaign, assisting in the election of the first Obama Administration. He was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education a year later, overseeing a budget of over $4 Billion for 22,000 public employees. As a student, Tim also served as the President of the National Youth Association and the founder of Operation Fly. Inc., – a national 501(c)(3) organization that served inner-city children in underprivileged areas around the country. Tim was profiled in Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 30 Under 30, CNN’s Top 10 Startups, Business Insiders Top 25 Hottest Startups, and many others. He is a graduate of Princeton and currently deferring Harvard Business School. He is also currently a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a Trustee on the Board of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region (the largest funder of non-profit and philanthropic initiatives in the region), and a member of the The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

A trusted coach to Fortune 500 companies, Jane’s expertise in culturally fluent leadership, diversity & inclusion, and “Asian culture and identity” comes from 25 years of experience in high stakes business environments. Prior to consulting, she was an executive in Operations and VP of HR/Talent at JPMorgan and Recruiting Director at Deloitte. Over the years, her programs (including the Art of Cultural Fluency™ leadership roundtables and Bamboo Ceiling® Breakthrough Leadership Series) have helped thousands of leaders increase their agility and accelerate their career development. Her speaking style is described as: “Immediately engaging; communicates rich insights in a dynamic, approachable way.” Jane’s insights have been featured in CNN, CNBC, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review and WorkingKnowledge, Forbes, and NPR on the topics of culture and leadership. Apart from her consulting work, Jane is an advisor to the Center for Talent Innovation, American Heart Association Diversity Council, and Operation Exodus, a non-profit that provides academic mentoring to Latino youth in Washington Heights. Her groundbreaking first book, Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians, introduced proven success strategies for Asians operating in a Western cultural environment. The newest release, co-authored with Audrey Lee, Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences, examines the art of switching between styles to leverage the power of diversity in teams. She holds a degree in Economics and International Studies from Cornell University. Jane resides in New York City and is passionate about helping individuals flourish in their workplace and in their communities.

Peter Hyun’s practice focuses on representing individuals and entities in criminal and civil government enforcement actions, congressional investigations, and State Attorneys General investigations. A former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, Assistant Attorney General in the New York Attorney General’s office, and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Peter provides strategic advice to companies and individuals navigating multifront, parallel investigations. Prior to joining Wiley Rein, Mr. Hyun served as chief counsel to Senator Dianne Feinstein, advising her on law enforcement issues, including asset forfeiture, False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement, bank fraud, money laundering, cybercrime, white collar fraud, firearms, juvenile justice, domestic violence, child exploitation, sexual violence, and human trafficking. In addition, he has worked on bipartisan, bicameral legislation, and assisted on oversight of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Saeju Jeong, CEO and co-Founder of Noom, is a serial entrepreneur and tech company angel investor. Noom is a technology company focused on developing mobile applications for consumers, pharmaceutical and insurance companies that help people live healthier lives. Noom creates a mobile experience that combines the empathy of over 1,300+ real human coaches with the power of AI technology so consumers can manage their weight by changing their behavior. As CEO, Saeju has led Noom to become the top grossing mobile weight loss company for consumers in the US and a global industry leader. Noom Inc., is backed by Sequoia Capital and has raised $120M. Saeju oversees the growth of the company and serves as day-to-day CEO from the company’s NYC headquarters.

Mike Joo is Managing Director and COO, Global Corporate & Investment Banking at Bank of America. Mike is responsible for driving strategy and key business initiatives across corporate and investment banking globally. Mike began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York and then moved to Hong Kong where he was co-head of Asia Debt Capital Markets at Credit Suisse. After joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch, he relocated back to NY as COO, Global Markets and served as head of Global Rates & Currencies Origination. In Asia, Mike was involved in various advisory and financing projects for the Korean government and received a distinction from the Korean government for his contributions during the Asian financial crisis. Mike is currently a board member of Korea Finance Society and received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from MIT.

Charles Jung is a trial attorney who loves practicing law. His focus is both defending companies in employment/wage cases, and representing professionals, executives, and founders in high-level separations. In Mr. Jung’s employment and wage & hour defense practice, his clients have ranged from large publicly-held companies to smaller, privately-held businesses. Representing executives, founders, professionals, and others in complex cases, he has obtained tens of millions of dollars. Mr. Jung has substantial experience in trade secrets/employee mobility litigation and in class action litigation. He is a frequent commentator in the legal press on these topics.

Vice Chancellor Jerry Kang graduated magna cum laude from both Harvard College (physics) and Harvard Law School, where he was a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. After clerking for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he started his teaching career at UCLA in 1995. A leading scholar on implicit bias and the law, Vice Chancellor Kang regularly collaborates with leading experimental social psychologists on wide-ranging scholarly, educational, and advocacy projects. He’s won numerous teaching awards, including the law school Rutter Award and the University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award (Eby Art of Teaching). Vice Chancellor Kang speaks widely across the country to law firms, corporations, judges, and government agencies on the challenges of implicit bias and how to counter them.

Monica Kang is a creative educator who is transforming today’s workforce through the power of creativity. She is driven by the belief that everyone is innately creative and that creativity can be used to catalyze personal and professional change. As the Founder and CEO of InnovatorsBox®, her deepest satisfaction comes from seeing individuals realize their full potential and talents through creativity. Through her innovative workshops, consulting, products, and curriculum, Monica teaches creativity in a tangible, practical, and relatable way regardless of industry or job title. Monica is a recognized thought leader in creative leadership and education. She has worked with clients worldwide including Fortune 500 companies, higher education, government, and nonprofits. Her work has been awarded across numerous platforms, including The White House, Ashoka Changemakers, Women Empowerment Expo, Timmy Award, National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She is also the author of Rethink Creativity: How to Innovate, Inspire, and Thrive at Work. Monica’s passion for positively impacting the world extends beyond InnovatorsBox®. She is an active leader in StartingBloc, DC Tech, Startup Weekend, and Coach Diversity Institute where she became a Certified Professional Diversity Coach (CPDC). Driven by her lifelong love of knowledge, she is also an adjunct professor at BAU International University where she teaches entrepreneurship and leadership. Prior to InnovatorsBox®, Monica was a nuclear nonproliferation policy expert in international affairs. She holds an M.A. from SAIS Johns Hopkins University in Strategic Studies and International Economics and a B.A. from Boston University.

Delegate Mark Keam is a fifth term member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 2009, Mark became the first Asian-born immigrant elected to any state-level office in Virginia. Mark has over three decades of experiences working in campaigns and politics, and government and policy making roles, as well as holding private sector positions. Active in the local and national communities, Mark has helped start several nonprofit and political organizations that focus on his passions, such as promoting civic engagement, supporting immigrants and minorities, developing youth leadership, and assisting adults with literacy and lifelong learning. Mark holds political science and law degrees from the University of California system.

Abraham Kim, Ph.D., is the Executive Director at the Council of Korean Americans (CKA). He comes to CKA with 20 years of experience in foreign policy analyses, leadership development and innovation consulting. Previously, Dr. Kim served as Executive Director at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center located on the campus of the University of Montana, where he oversaw 50 staff, faculty and affiliates. During Dr. Kim’s tenure, the Center became one of the foremost U.S.-Asia policy and leadership development institutes in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies region. Prior to the Mansfield Center, Dr. Kim also served as the Vice President and Interim President of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) in Washington, D.C. In addition, he also functioned as the research manager for government services and principal Asia analyst at the global political risk consulting firm, Eurasia Group. He was a project manager and strategic planner at the Science Application International Corporation (SAIC) and a national security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Finally, Dr. Kim was a founding board member of CKA (2011-2013) and served as an adviser/instructor for NetKAL. Dr. Kim is a graduate of Boston University and Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.

Bennett Kim is currently a Managing Partner of Big Rock Senior Housing (BRSH). BRSH is a national leader in developing large upscale senior housing rental communities that consist of independent living, assisted living, and memory care. Mr. Kim has been involved in the senior housing industry for over 15 years. In addition to BRSH, Mr. Kim is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Bay Senior Club, an Adult Day Program offering personalized care, wellness, and recreation. Prior to BRSH and Sun Bay, Mr. Kim was the Head of Acquisitions for Carefree Communities, then the fifth largest national owner and operator of manufactured housing communities and RV parks. Prior to Carefree Mr. Kim was the Chief Investment Officer at Big Rock Partners (BRP). BRP is an opportunistic real estate investment firm that invested in and managed over $800 million in assets. Prior to BRP, Mr. Kim was a Vice President at Apollo Real Estate Advisors, an Assistant Vice President at Oaktree Capital Management, an Associate at Merrill Lynch Real Estate Investment Banking, a Senior Analyst at Walt Disney Imagineering and an Analyst at Disney Development Company.

David L. Kim is the CEO of The IAMBIC Group, a marketing and public affairs firm that develops marketing, CSR and communication strategies for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and non-profit groups. Prior to rejoining The IAMBIC Group, he was Vice President of Multicultural Markets and Engagement at the AARP, responsible for increasing the awareness, relevance and engagements in the multicultural segments of a 37-million member organization. David also served as the Chief of Staff at the United States Mint, advising the Director on all domestic and international policy and communications matters. At the conclusion of his appointment, he was awarded the United States Treasury Citation Medal for Exemplary Service from Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. Previously, he was the Director for Asian Marketing and Community Relations at Anheuser-Busch Companies in St. Louis where he established first-time signature branded lifestyle marketing platforms. He developed a community outreach network of over 500 Asian non-profit, trade and community organizations. For his work with the community, he was awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. David serves on several national boards, including the Board of Korean Americans in Action, the Board of Advisors for the Duke University Libraries, Board of Trustees for the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the Multicultural Marketing Advisory Board for Diageo.

David Y. Kim is an analyst with the Stimson Center’s WMD, Nonproliferation, and Security program. He formerly worked as a political appointee at the U.S. Department of State where he helped to advance priorities around international security and nonproliferation, U.S. – Japan relations, human rights and public diplomacy. Prior to the State Department, David served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and Correspondence where he assisted with vetting national security appointments and responded to letters on behalf of the president. His research interests include nuclear nonproliferation, security, and arms control; U.S. relations with North Korea, Japan, and South Korea; inter-Korean relations; and Asian multilateralism. David’s writings have been published in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, NK News, The Diplomat, and East Asian Forum and he has provided commentary for outlets such as CNN, Sky News, TIME, Bloomberg, Fortune, Reuters, AFP, Financial Times, France 24, China Global Television Network, , Korea Times, Japan Times, Vox News, Voice of America, Telegraph, Radio Free Asia, Kyodo News, The Strait Times, and South China Morning Post. He is a member of The Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and a CTBTO Youth Group member. He received his MPA and MPP from the University of Tokyo and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and his BA from the University of Washington. He is a native of Seattle, Washington and is fluent in Korean. David is a recipient of the State Department’s Benjamin Franklin Award.

Ellen is the Chief Financial Officer of Roti Modern Mediterranean, a 40-unit fast casual restaurant with locations in Chicago, Washington DC, Dallas, Minneapolis and New York City. Ellen’s previous professional experiences have spanned across both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she was a Director in AlixPartner’s Restaurant and Foodservice practice working with private equity-backed and public restaurant groups on a range of operational initiatives. She has also worked at ‘Wichcraft, Chef Tom Colicchio’s quick service restaurant group, was a political appointee in the Obama Administration at the US Small Business Administration, and she started her career in the Municipal Securities Division at Citigroup. Ellen was a 2012 Marshall Memorial Fellow, as well as a 2014 American Council on Germany Fellow. She is active with several Korean American organizations. Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from MIT and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

State Representative Patty Kim, a former news anchor, reporter and Harrisburg City Councilwoman, was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012. During her first term, Kim was a leader in government reform and transparency. She returned her cost of living increase (COLA) and introduced a bill to eliminate the yearly pay increases. She is also one of the only members of the House to post all of her expenses on her legislative website for public review. Rep. Kim’s priorities in the General Assembly include taking a solution-based approach to statewide issues, working in cooperation and collaboration with colleagues, and utilizing her record of service to support initiatives that stand to better the lives of the citizens she represents. Leading her caucus’ charge to provide a livable wage for all Pennsylvanians, in 2017 Kim introduced bill to increase the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. Twice before she introduced minimum wage bills. She continues her fight for a minimum wage increase to restore the middle class by lifting thousands of Pennsylvanians out of poverty. Kim serves on the Appropriations, Education, Local Government, and Transportation committees. She also serves as the Democratic South East Delegation Vice Chair of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Treasurer of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, and the Treasurer of the Capitol Preservation Committee. During her second term, she also served as Treasurer for the Legislative Black Caucus. Patty represents the 103rd legislative district, which includes Harrisburg, Highspire, Paxtang, Steelton and parts of Swatara Township.Prior to her work in the legislature, Kim was elected to Harrisburg’s City Council where she served two terms. Her colleagues elected her as council Vice President during her second term. A 1995 graduate of Boston College, Kim is married to John Sider and together they have two children, Brielle and Ryan.

Paul J. Kim is the CEO and Managing Partner of Aventis Asset Management, a discretionary diversified commodity fund with offices in Chicago, New York, and Shanghai and is committed to giving a significant portion of the company profits to charity. Mr. Kim is also the Founder and Managing Partner of LaSalle Asset Management, a hedge fund focused on trading derivatives of agricultural commodities based in Chicago. He is also Founder and Partner of 2DS Productions in Chicago, which is active in movie and television production. In addition, Mr. Kim manages the Kim Family Foundation along with his three children. The foundation is committed to delivering humanitarian aid and funding community development projects in North America, Asia, and Africa. Previously, he was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Prior to the Chicago Board of Trade, Mr. Kim was a trader with Cargill Incorporated. Mr. Kim graduated from Northwestern University with dual degrees in Economics and Biochemistry.

Pearl Kim was recently appointed to the Pennsylvania’s Office of Attorney General as a Senior Deputy Attorney General. Kim serves in the Executive Office under the newly formed Office of Public Engagement launched by Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Formerly an Assistant District Attorney in the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Kim was Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit in the Special Victims and Domestic Violence Division. Ms. Kim was appointed to serve on the Joint State Government Commission’s Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking and to report back to the PA Senate any recommendations for changes in state law, policies, and procedures. Ms. Kim secured the first trafficking of persons conviction under Pennsylvania’s trafficking statute and was a faculty member for the 2012 Institute on the Prosecution of Human Trafficking. In 2012, Governor Corbett appointed Pearl Kim to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs, and she serves on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania. The Legal Intelligencer has recognized Ms. Kim as one of the 2011 Lawyers on the Fast Track, as one of the 2011 Diverse Attorneys of the Year, and as one of the 2012 Women of the Year. The American Bar Association awarded Ms. Kim the Norm Maleng Minister of Justice Award for her efforts as a special victims prosecutor, and she was the recipient of the Government Attorney of the Year Award by the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 2015. Ms. Kim obtained her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law where she was the recipient of the Villanova Achievement Scholarship, and received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College.

Susan Kim is the CEO of Edmodo, a global education network with over 100 million members that connects learners with the community and resources needed to reach their full potential. Previously, she was CEO of EatWith, a Greylock Partners-backed global marketplace for communal dining featuring over 700 home chefs in 50 countries and 160 cities around the world and the CEO of Plum District, an e-commerce start-up that under her leadership doubled to over 2 million members. She also spent time in various leadership positions at Google and eBay. Susan sits on the board of Cladwell, a mobile app startup and mentors entrepreneurs for start-up incubators MuckerLab, SparkLabs, and TechStars LA. In addition, she co-chairs the annual fund at the Nueva School and previously served as a founding board member of the Korean-American Community Foundation of San Francisco. Susan received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Harvard College.

Thomas T. Kim is Managing Director of the Independent Directors Council (IDC) at the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the association representing regulated investment companies globally. In leading the IDC, Tom advances the education, communication and public policy priorities of independent directors on the boards of mutual funds and other registered investment companies. Before joining the IDC, Tom served as Senior Vice President at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where he led strategy and management of the organization’s commercial real estate finance area, including public policy on financial services, capital formation, and market liquidity. He also spearheaded governance and member engagement, advising the Commercial Board of Governors, executive roundtables and committees, forging consensus across a broad range of industry participants. Tom is a co-founder and board member of a nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking in developing countries. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of California, Irvine, J.D. from the UCLA School of Law where he served as a law review editor, and LL.M. with distinction from the Georgetown Law Center.

Mr. Yup S. Kim is a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (“APFC”), a $67 billion sovereign wealth fund, where he helps lead their private investment activities. He serves on the investment committees for the $14 billion global private equity and special opportunity mandates and serves as a board observer on several portfolio companies. Previously, he worked at DB Private Equity, where he served on the investment committee, Performance Equity, Silver Point Capital and began his career at Citigroup in New York. In 2018 and 2019, APFC was voted “Limited Partner of the Year – Americas” by industry peers through Private Equity International Magazine. In 2018, Capital Constellation (a joint venture with APFC, Kuwait PIFSS and UK Railpen) won the “Partnership of the Year Award” by Institutional Investor. Yup was recognized as a “Top 30 Private Equity and Venture Capital Investor” in 2019 and a “Top 30 Sovereign Wealth Fund Rising Star” in 2016 by Trusted Insight and recognized as a “40 under 40” by Chief Investment Officer Magazine in 2017. Yup guest lectures for a private equity course at Harvard Business School, regularly speaks at industry conferences in the U.S., Asia and Europe and has written articles for Privcap Media, Asian Venture Capital Journal (“AVCJ”), Chief Investment Officer Magazine, Trusted Insight, the Alaskan Chamber of Commerce, Juneau Empire and the Anchorage Daily News. Yup received his B.A. in Economics from Yale University and speaks six languages.

Dr. Eun Jeong Lee has worked to serve the disadvantaged population for more than 25 years in various non-profit areas, including elders, women, children, the disabled, and the victims of domestic violence. Before joining KASF, Dr. Lee, as National Director of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), managed the Senior Community Service Employment Program in 7 states nationwide. For the past 10 years, she increased program revenue from $6 million to $14 million. In addition, she has collaborated with academic institutes to conduct several research studies about financial well-being, elder mistreatment, caregiver, and heart health in Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) communities. Dr. Lee holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass communication and M.P.A. in social work policy from Hanyang University in Korea, and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Yeshiva University in New York.

Ms. Florence Lowe-Lee is Founder and President of the Global America Business Institute (GABI) in Washington, DC. Since its founding, one of the primary organizational missions has been to act as a forum and platform for discussion on policy-relevant energy and technology issues, with a focus on technologies that enable and facilitate an environmentally sustainable and low-carbon energy future. GABI approaches energy from a various viewpoints—economics, security of supply, diversity, safety, technological development and geopolitics. GABI regularly organizes seminars and workshops and the primary audience for such programing activities has been the policy community in Washington, DC, which includes think tanks, NGOs, US government agencies, congressional offices, embassies, academics, industries, etc. Previously, Ms. Lowe-Lee served as Treasurer, Director of Finance and Publications at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEIA) where she focused on issues impacting Korea’s macroeconomic development as well as security concern on Korean peninsula. She worked as Director of Operations at the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee and served as an advisor to the Massachusetts Office of Trade and Investment. Earlier, she was a research assistant at the Neuroanatomy and Neuroendocrinology laboratory at the Rockefeller University in New York City. Ms. Lowe-Lee received B.A. in Neuroscience from Mount Holyoke College and M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She is also an Adjunct professor of School of Global Entrepreneurship and ICT at the Handong Global University in Korea.

HeeSun Lee isn’t your average Hip Hop emcee. Put up for adoption in her native Korea at the age of four months, she was brought to America and raised by Chinese American parents on Staten Island, NY. As a teenager, she became a fan of Hip Hop acts ranging from Lauryn Hill and Will Smith to Tupac Shakur. Lee’s story is unique in that she credits not only her faith but also Hip Hop for saving her life. “Hip Hop saved me from a lot of things,” she confesses. As a wife of a NYPD officer, and the mother of two daughters, Hip Hop has been a passion and a juggle of life and family. Over a year ago, she competed in the Korean Rap Competition Reality show – Show Me the Money Season 6 and progressed through 3 rounds, though she had very little grasp of the Korean language, she showcased her skill set and her vernacular as a gifted positive role model rapper. This past April, she was on a 5 city tour in Korea – Busan, Taegu, Daejon, Kwangju, and Seoul for a Comeback Tour to promote Youth participation in Church. She just released her latest EP back in the early part of Summer called “Flying Cars” . Check her out on YouTube.

Jessica Lee is a Senior Director at the Council of Korean Americans (CKA). Previously, Jessica served as Interim Executive Director of CKA from April to November 2018, working with a national board, membership, and staff to advance the voice and influence of the Korean American community through collaboration and leadership development. Since 2016, Jessica has led a number of partnerships with major think tanks, foundations, and community-based organizations as CKA’s first Director of Policy and Advocacy, as well as forged new public-private partnerships with companies such as Google, McKinsey & Company and Comcast. Jessica is a regular commentator in the media, with TV appearances in BBC World News, China Global Television Network, and Sky News UK. Jessica has led annual and campaign fundraising, and major gift solicitations for CKA, raising $1.8 million as interim executive director in 2018, a 5% jump from previous year. Prior to joining CKA, Jessica was a Resident Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, HI, where she published articles on security and economic relations in East Asia. She was previously a senior manager at The Asia Group, LLC, a strategy and capital advisory firm, as well as its first chief philanthropy officer. Prior to The Asia Group, Jessica served as a staff member in the House of Representatives for six years, first as a professional staff member handling the Asia region for the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and as a senior legislative assistant on foreign policy and trade issues for a member of Congress on the Ways and Means Committee. Jessica is a Google’s Next Gen Policy Leader, David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission, and a Truman Security Fellow. Jessica received a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College and a A.M. in East Asian regional studies from Harvard University.

Linda Lee has dedicated her career to improving the lives of marginalized New Yorkers as the Executive Director of Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York (KCS), which serves over 1,300 community members daily, and through her previous work at the NYS Health Foundation. Linda’s leadership enabled KCS to be named a Champion of Change by the White House in 2014 for its work around the Affordable Care Act and in 2015, KCS opened a New York State licensed Article 31 Mental Health Clinic to serve the Korean-American community with mental health services. She has increased KCS’ profile by creating dynamic partnerships with policy-makers, other organizations, coalitions, and city/state wide government agencies while strengthening KCS’ internal structure and operations. She currently serves on Community Board 11, is a Board Member of NAMI NYC-Metro, received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University.

Tony is a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Washington DC office, where he serves clients in areas of global public health, development aid effectiveness, and policy & advocacy. Since joining the firm in 2003, he has led multiple strategic planning and organizational effectiveness efforts for clients across private, public and social sectors. As a dedicated leader of the Global Public Health Practice, Tony has led several strategy efforts in areas of family planning, maternal health, child survival, nutrition and HIV/AIDS for clients including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, UNFPA, FP2020 and the World Bank. Further, he has experience in serving clients in areas of global health innovation, market dynamics, health systems strengthening, and supply chain. He has worked in over 20 countries with significant experience in Africa and Asia. He recently led engagements in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Pakistan and India.

Catharina Min represents both U.S. and international clients in mergers and acquisitions, private financings, joint ventures, strategic alliances, corporate partnering, securities offerings, and other corporate transactions. She also represents emerging companies in general corporate matters and venture capital financings. In addition, Ms. Min has extensive experience representing Asian clients doing business in the United States. Ms. Min is a frequent speaker at many organizations, including the Practising Law Institute, Association of Corporate Counsel, SV Forum, the Korean IT Network, and a number of Korean incubators covering topics related to cross-border transactions and venture capital financings. She also regularly shares her insights at events for California Women Lawyers, Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Asian Business League, and others on mentoring and advancement of women and minority lawyers.

Ho Nam is a Managing Director of Altos Ventures, focusing on investments in the areas of software, mobile, and internet technologies. Ho began his VC career at Trinity Ventures and began his professional career at Bain & Company where he advised clients in technology, media and consumer products industries. Before co-founding Altos Ventures, Ho worked at Silicon Graphics and Octel Communications. Ho received an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Christian Oh has been a pillar of the local film-making community. As the current chair of the board for the DC Shorts International Film Festival (dcshorts.com), he has produced and directed many award-winning shorts, music videos, commercials, and public service announcements. He received his film background education from George Washington University Documentary Center, internships with Adobe at both the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals and on-hands experience with Sundance and Tribeca. Christian is also the President/Executive Director of the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival (apafilm.org), he loves production of all types of events and projects and has lots of experiences with expos, conventions, festivals, galas, and large-scale events. Prior to that, he was the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kollaboration DC, an Asian American Talent competition here in the DC metro area. Christian has also been a consultant for many different events pertaining to Asian Festivals, KPop, Music, Entertainment, and Film. Christian was a former adjunct faculty for the Asian American Studies program at University of Maryland where he taught ethnic studies in film, video, and social media. He has lived and worked in the DMV area for over 25 years.

Sam Oh is a Vice President at Targeted Victory, a nationally recognized digital, marketing, campaign, and public affairs firm based in Arlington, Virginia, where he helps lead the firm’s general consulting division. Oh has over fifteen years of experience managing and consulting on candidate campaigns and ballot initiatives at the local, state, and federal level. Prior to joining Targeted Victory, Oh served as the Chief of Staff to former U.S. Representative Mimi Walters who represented California’s 45th district in Orange County. Rep. Walters served on the House Energy & Commerce, Judiciary, Ethics, and Transportation Committees. Walters was also elected to serve two-terms on the Republican House Leadership team, and was appointed as a Deputy Chair and a Vice Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Prior to moving to Washington, DC, Oh managed dozens of campaigns and also served as a Chief of Staff in the California State Legislature where he worked extensively on transportation, healthcare, and tax issues. Sam graduated from the University of Delaware, and currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Andrea, and their two French Bulldogs, Pablo and Bernie.

Julia Park is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California and Alabama. She is the founder of Relationship 365, a counseling and consulting firm in Huntsville, Alabama working with individuals, couples, and organizations on research-based tools to help enhance all avenues of relationships. Throughout her professional career as a therapist and a relationship consultant, she has worked with people from all walks of life, ethnicities, gender, sexual orientation and religious affiliations. Julia’s main focus is on working with clients through The Daring Way™ method. This method is based on the research of Brené Brown Ph.D. LMSW, a research professor at the University of Houston, who has spent the past twelve years studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Through The Daring Way™ Method, Julia guides people to identify where they want to show up, be seen and live brave in their lives. Julia helps her clients learn how to embrace their vulnerabilities and imperfections and cultivate the courage, compassion and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging and joy to live from a place of authenticity and worthiness. Julia currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband, Mat, daughter, Amelia, and their two dogs, Mango and Cooper.

Dr. Mathew Park is a high performance psychologist and co-founder of Relationship 365, a boutique counseling and consulting firm located in the Village of Providence. Relationship 365 delivers research-based approaches to everyday relationships and trains organizations on conflict management skills through their critically acclaimed 6S Method™ training program. With a doctorate in clinical psychology, master’s in sport psychology, and a speciality in organizational development, Dr. Park trains Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and universities throughout the United States on the 6S Method™ training program. He is also a sport psychologist to many world class athletes, including those on the PGA Tour, LPGA major champion winners, and nationally ranked college and junior golfers. Prior to starting Relationship 365 with his wife, Julia Park, LMFT, Dr. Park taught full-time as a professor of psychology at John F. Kennedy University and served as chief resident at UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Park and his wife currently live in Huntsville, Alabama with their 4-year-old daughter, Amelia and their two dogs, Mango & Cooper.

Paul Park is a Program Manager at the Council of Korean Americans (CKA). Paul works closely with the Executive Director and the management team to initiate and execute membership engagement programs, as well as oversee the CKA-KALCA Public Service Internship Program. Previously, Paul was a Senior Research Assistant at the Brookings Institution’s Center for East Asia Policy Studies where he co-authored publications on a wide variety of Korea-related issues and managed research initiatives related to East Asia. Prior to the Brookings Institution, Paul worked for the Permanent Mission of South Korea to the United Nations as a Security Council researcher on nonproliferation sanctions regimes. Paul also spent a year in Seoul as a Visiting Scholar at Korea University and as a Research Fellow at the East Asia Foundation. Paul holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.A. in East Asian studies from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Representative Sam Park is the first Asian American Democrat and first openly gay man elected to the Georgia State Legislature. He is the grandson of refugees from the Korean War and son of Korean immigrants. Sam is a native Georgian, born and raised by a single mother. He became the first lawyer in his family, and has a Masters in Law, Politics, and Legislation. In 2016, Sam unseated a three-term Republican chairwoman running on expanding access to healthcare after his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After winning by less than 2% as a first-time candidate, Sam won his first reelection in 2018 with nearly 18% of the vote. Currently, Sam is the only Korean American Georgia State lawmaker and serves in leadership as a Deputy Whip in the Georgia House Democratic Caucus and as Vice-Chair of the Gwinnett State House Delegation.

Succeeding Founding Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, L. Song Richardson became Dean of UCI Law, effective Jan. 1, 2018. She received her AB from Harvard College and her JD from Yale Law School. An award-winning teacher and scholar, Dean Richardson’s interdisciplinary research uses lessons from cognitive and social psychology to study decision-making and judgment, including its implications for artificial intelligence. Her scholarship has been published in numerous law journals, including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Duke and Northwestern. Her article, “Police Efficiency and the Fourth Amendment” was selected as a “Must Read” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Her co-edited book, The Constitution and the Future of Criminal Justice in America, was published by Cambridge University Press and she is a co-editor of Criminal Procedure, Cases and Materials published by West Academic Publishing. Currently, she is working on a book that examines the history of race in the U.S. and its implications for law and policy. Dean Richardson’s legal career has included partnership at a boutique criminal law firm, work as a state and federal public defender, and serving as an Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. A leading expert on implicit racial and gender bias, Richardson is frequently invited to speak to law firms, district attorney and public defender offices, police departments, universities, judges, bar associations, and private industry about the science of implicit bias. Dean Richardson has won numerous awards and recognitions, including the American Association of Law School’s (AALS) Derrick Bell Award, which recognizes a faculty member’s extraordinary contributions to legal education through mentoring, teaching, and scholarship. She was recently named one of the Top Women Lawyers in California by The Daily Journal, one of the 100 Most Influential business and opinion shapers in Orange County, and one of the two most influential Korean Americans in Orange County. Dean Richardson is a member of the American Law Institute, and she serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools.

Dr. Michelle Rhyu has twenty years of experience representing life sciences companies, with a primary focus on high-stakes patent, contract, and trade secrets disputes in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She has extensive experience leading litigation and trial teams, has argued at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and has led briefing to the US Supreme Court. Michelle has litigated cases involving small molecule drug compounds, pharmaceutical formulations, monoclonal antibodies, biofuels, hormone receptors, gene expression technology and medical therapies. She has experience with Hatch-Waxman litigation and the abbreviated regulatory pathway for biosimilars (BPCI Act). Michelle was recognized by the Financial Times in 2015 as one of the Top Ten most Innovative Lawyers of North America and “the epitome of the 21st Century lawyer.” In 2014, Michelle was recognized for her excellence in patent litigation and was named one of the ‘Top 250 Women in IP’ by Managing Intellectual Property. She has also been named to The Recorder’s 2016, 2015 and 2013 ‘Women Leaders in Technology Law’ list, which recognizes 50 female attorneys in California who have ‘demonstrated leadership and expertise in solving the most pressing legal concerns companies can face. Michelle’s graduate work on elucidating asymmetric cell division in drosophila neurogenesis was featured on the cover of the journal Cell. She is a recipient of the UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award, which was presented to 150 alumni to honor the university’s 150th anniversary. She is also the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna of the Year for 2017 award from the UCSF Graduate Division. She served as a law clerk for Judge James Ware in the Northern District of California and as an intern for Judge Paul Michel at the Federal Circuit.

Linda Shim is an Executive Director of External Affairs at Comcast in Washington, DC. Linda works to advance Comcast’s partnerships with external stakeholders including advocacy organizations, public policy groups, and political organizations.
She has over a decade of experience on Capitol Hill and in government. Linda most recently served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) in which she was a senior adviser to the Congresswoman on legislative and political matters. Her legislative portfolio included intellectual property and telecommunications issues, and she oversaw the Congresswoman’s priorities as chairs of the Creative Rights Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). She previously served as Legislative Director and Counsel. Linda was also a Legislative Assistant to former Congresswoman Jane Harman (CA-36), who represented the South Bay area of Los Angeles. In this capacity, she primarily handled health care and women’s issues. She advised Congresswoman Harman on her legislative priorities during consideration of the Affordable Care Act and her priorities on military sexual assault. Linda was raised in Palm Desert, CA and completed her B.A. in Political Science at the University of California-San Diego. She received her J.D. and Certificate in Public Policy from the Catholic University of America.

Michelle Sing serves as the Deputy Head of North America External Relations for McKinsey & Company, bringing nearly 15 years of experience across strategy consulting, communications and journalism to the role. In this capacity, she oversees the firm’s external engagement and partnership strategy. Throughout her career she has focused on content creation, stakeholder engagement, and media strategy and has established a track record for leading strategic, brand-building campaigns at a global scale. Michelle is an active leader of Asians at McKinsey and was previously recognized as one of PR News’ “People to Watch: Rising PR Stars 30 and Under.” Michelle is a graduate of Columbia University, where she earned Master’s degrees in Journalism and International Affairs and a B.A. in East Asian Studies. She resides in Dallas with her husband and two young children.

Eunice Hur Song is the Executive Director for the Korean American Coalition — Los Angeles (KAC), a nonprofit organization established to promote the civic and civil rights interests of the Korean American community. Ms. Song first became involved with KAC in 2007 as a volunteer, providing free bilingual mediation services to primarily low-income individuals as a certified mediator for the KAC 4.29 (“Sa-i-gu”) Alternative Dispute Resolution Center. In 2012, her role evolved into that of the Mediation Director. In November of 2018, Ms. Song became KAC’s Executive Director and charted the strategic course of her organization. As an “in the trenches” leader, Ms. Song manages numerous programs in the following areas: Civic Engagement (voter registration, voter education, citizenship, Census 2020 outreach, and community advocacy); Alternative Dispute Resolution; and Leadership Development (National College Leadership Conference, Summer College Internship Program, and Leadership Series). Ms. Song received her Juris Doctor from the two-year accelerated SCALE program from Southwestern Law School. Prior to that, Ms. Song received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, Riverside.

Dr. Heseung Song started and leads Mighty Engine, an award-winning creative agency that partners with brilliant changemakers to advance life-saving missions. Whether it’s fighting for early literacy, educational equity, teacher diversity, trauma healing, public health or social justice, Heseung’s passion is fueled by her parents’ courage, her son’s future, and the basic belief that the human spirit can triumph over bad people, bad systems and bad ideologies. Heseung is an Ivy League psychologist who earned her community cred as an immigrant navigating starkly different American cultures growing up, then later as a teacher, coach, counselor, mentor, and grantwriter before setting up Mighty Engine in 2000. A protégé of Dr. Hesung Chun Koh, last year’s CKA lifetime achievement awardee, Heseung strives to embody what it means to be a LIDA, a uniquely Korean-American version of authentic leadership. She continues to serve as a director of East Rock Institute and will join the Triskeles Foundation later this year. She’s also a founding member of Philadelphia’s Social Venture Partnership and the chapter leader for the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance. Mighty Engine does their revolutionary work in Philly, Heseung’s adopted hometown. (Fly Eagles Fly!) The agency’s most recent work includes Our Words Heal, the nation’s first public education campaign focused on trauma healing. WeCanHealFromTrauma.org #OurWordsHeal Heseung is a graduate of Yale University and holds a master’s in education and doctorate in psychology from Harvard University. If you want to see her break out into a smile, just ask her about her son.

David Swerdlick is an Assistant Editor for The Washington Post’s Outlook section and a CNN Political Commentator. He was previously an Associate Editor at The Root. He was born in Brooklyn, grew up in the Bay Area, lived in North Carolina and is now based in D.C. He is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and the UNC School of Law.

Scott Wong is a senior staff writer at The Hill, where he covers House leadership. He has written extensively about Nancy Pelosi’s battle to return to the Speaker’s Office, as well as President Trump’s complicated relationship with Capitol Hill. He previously served as a congressional and policy reporter for Politico, where he covered the Senate and wrote the popular tipsheet “The Huddle.” Before that, he was a staff writer at the Arizona Republic, where he covered Phoenix City Hall and the state Capitol. He frequently provides political analysis on MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN and other TV and radio stations. He hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from UCLA.

Michael Yang is founder and CEO of an asset management company focused on technology investments. He has over 30 years of experience in the technology industry in Silicon Valley. He currently serves as a director on the Board of Hanmi Bank. Michael was a co-founder and CEO of three Silicon Valley technology start-ups that were sold to larger enterprises, including mySimon.com which raised $30 million in venture capital and was subsequently acquired by CNET for $700 million. Michael received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley, an MS degree in Computer Science from Columbia University, and an MBA degree from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Andrew Yeo is Associate Professor of Politics and Director of Asian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is the author of Asia’s Regional Architecture: Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century (Stanford University Press, 2019) and author or co-editor of three other books: North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (Cambridge University Press 2018); Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests (Cambridge University Press 2011); and Living in an Age of Mistrust: An Interdisciplinary Study of Declining Trust in Contemporary Society and Politics and How to Get it Back (Routledge Press 2017). His research and teaching interests include international relations theory, Asian regionalism, U.S. force posture and grand strategy, civil society, Korean politics, and North Korea. Dr. Yeo’s scholarly publications have appeared in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, Journal of East Asian Studies, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific among others. Dr. Yeo is a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the National Committee on North Korea. He contributes to the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, and has appeared or been published or quoted in a variety of media outlets including MSNBC, Channel News Asia, CBS radio, Voice of America, RTHK-Hong Kong, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, The New York Times Magazine, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. He received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, and BA in Psychology and International Studies magna cum laude, from Northwestern University.

Salle Yoo is the former Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel of Uber Technologies, Inc. Yoo joined Uber as its first general counsel in 2012 and was promoted to chief legal officer in 2017. Previously, Salle was a litigation partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Salle serves on the Board of Trustees for Scripps College and for the Asian Art Museum, as a member of the Leaders’ Circle of the Legal Services Corporation, and on the Board of the Council of Korean Americans.  Salle has been named a Women of Achievement by Legal Momentum (2016), and one of San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business (2015). She previously served as Secretary, Director and Chair of the Judiciary Committee for the Asian-American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area and as President of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California.  She is a graduate of Scripps College and Boston University School of Law.

Jae Yoon is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) . He serves as the Chair of the Investment Governance Committee, responsible for the oversight of the investment performance of the strategies managed by NYLIM’s boutiques and affiliate portfolio teams. Additionally, Mr. Yoon leads the Strategic Asset Allocation & Solutions (SAS) team which oversees the portfolio management of Mainstay and third-party multi-asset strategies, and asset allocation services and economic analysis for New York Life. Previously, he was responsible for investment risk and strategy efforts at NYLIM’s investment affiliate MacKay Shields. Prior to joining NYLIM, Mr. Yoon was Head of Quantitative Research, Analytics, and Risk Management globally at Western Asset Management. Previously, he was with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers where he served as the Head of Risk and Performance for the Pacific and European Regions in Tokyo and London, respectively. Mr. Yoon also worked at JP Morgan Securities in Asia as regional head of Risk Management Control for Fixed Income and Equity Derivative Trading. Mr. Yoon is a CFA® charterholder and holds a FINRA Series 3 and 7 registrations.

Suzanne Yoon is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on making control investments in lower middle market companies. Ms. Yoon has over 20 years of experience in private equity and capital markets and serves on several private company and not-for-profit boards. Before she founded Kinzie, Ms. Yoon was a Managing Director of Versa Capital Management, LLC, a private equity firm where she led transaction development throughout North America. Prior to Versa, Ms. Yoon was a Senior Vice President of CIT Group, co-founded LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO’s Corporate Restructuring Group, and held positions in distressed loan portfolio management and advisory at LaSalle Bank and Ernst and Young’s Corporate Finance Group, respectively. Ms. Yoon sits on several boards, including the National Philanthropic Trust where she serves as a Board Trustee and Vice Chair of the Investment Committee. She also serves on the steering committees of the Chicago chapter of the Women’s Association of Venture and Equity, which she co-founded, and PE WIN (Private Equity Women’s Investor Network). She maintains active involvement with Turnaround Management Association, for which she was a Board Trustee, and American Bankruptcy Institute, where she formerly co-chaired its Finance Committee. She is also active in Chicago community outreach, through her service on the Board of Directors for HFS Chicago Scholars, a non-profit that serves economically disadvantaged inner-city high school students. Ms. Yoon is an Executive Scholar from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and received a BA in Economics from the University of Iowa.

Philip Yun is currently the President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Northern California. Previously, he was the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Ploughshares Fund where he oversaw the organization’s entire range of day-to-day activities, including grantmaking, communications, financial management, and fundraising. Prior to joining Ploughshares Fund, he was a vice president at The Asia Foundation (2005-2011), a Pantech Scholar in Korean Studies at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center at Stanford University (2004-2005) and a vice president at the private equity firm of H&Q Asia Pacific (2001-2004). Mr. Yun was a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of State (1994-2001), serving as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. During this time, he also worked as a senior advisor to two U.S. Coordinators for North Korea Policy — former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and former Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. Mr. Yun was a member of a government working group that managed U.S. policy and negotiations with North Korea under President Clinton and was part of the U.S. delegation that traveled to North Korea with Secretary of State Madeline Albright in October 2000. Prior to government service, Mr. Yun practiced law at the firms of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro in San Francisco and Garvey Schubert & Barer in Seattle. He also was a foreign legal consultant at the firm of Shin & Kim in Seoul, Korea. In other lives, Mr. Yun was a national staffer on the Presidential campaigns of Vice President Walter Mondale, Governor Michael Dukakis, and then Governor Bill Clinton. Mr. Yun’s writings and commentary have appeared on The Hill, Foreign Policy.com, AP TV, Fox News, CNN, NBC and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He is the co-editor of a book entitled North Korea and Beyond (2006). Mr. Yun attended Brown University (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and the Columbia University School of Law (associate editor of the Journal of Transnational Law). He was a Fulbright Scholar to Korea. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and member of the Board of Overseers for Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.