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ABOUT US

our mission

The Korean American Coalition – Los Angeles (KAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1983 to promote the civic and civil rights interests of the Korean American community. KAC endeavors to achieve these goals through education, community organizing, leadership development, and coalition-building with diverse communities.

To be an effective bilingual advocate for the Korean American community by articulating community concerns and interests, and establishing channels of communication with elected officials, private and public agencies, other community organizations, media and the general public.

To promote and advocate for the civil and civic rights interests of Korean Americans, increasing civic and legislative awareness and the general social consciousness of the Korean American community.

To be an informational resource and referral for and about the Korean American community.​
To maintain networks of communication and cooperation between KAC and other organizations in the Korean American community as well as with organizations representing other racial and ethnic communities.

To maintain a viable working organization composed of first, second, and third generation Korean Americans.

To organize and implement leadership development programs encouraging Korean American students to become capable leaders in community and civic affairs.

To serve those in the low to moderate income brackets.

HISTORY

Early Roots
Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1983, KACLA advocates for the interests of the 1.8 million strong Korean American community. As recent immigrants and members of an ethnic minority group, Korean Americans face many barriers in their pursuit of full and meaningful participation in American society. KAC was established to serve as the vehicle through which to overcome those obstacles. KAC’s priorities have remained untouched since its inception: advocacy, empowerment, organizing and outreach, education, and multi-generational collaboration. As a bilingual and non-partisan membership organization, KAC has been bridging the inter-generational gap and galvanizing multi-generations of Korean Americans into taking civic action.
Organizational Growth
One of the major turning points in KAC’s history was during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, when KAC emerged as the voice of the Korean American community. KAC represented the concerns of a community that had been devastated by inner-city violence to mainstream media, elected officials, and government agencies.

Milestones

Throughout the years, KAC has developed various programs aimed at empowering and educating the community. Over the course of 39 years, KAC has assisted over 40,000 immigrants to become U.S. citizens and registered voters; co-founded the Black Korean Alliance in 1988, and launched the 4.29 Center in 1997 to provide dispute resolution and inter-ethnic outreach; coordinated victim relief efforts after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots; successfully lobbied for erroneous bilingual voter registration forms and sample ballots in California; conducted redistricting outreach campaign to unify Koreatown into a single city council district by organizing community town halls, and forming coalitions with other diverse Los Angeles-Based organizations; conducted various community outreach and education campaigns to raised awareness of COVID-19 and vaccines; trained more than 800 college students in leadership development and community organizing; and sponsored over 200 college internships. KAC has continued to work closely with government agencies and elected officials to promote more responsive governance and policy making that impact the community. KAC also developed broad coalitions with other ethnic communities around shared concerns. In 2017, KAC was recognized as a Non-Profit of the Year honoree, becoming the first Korean American organization to receive this honor in California.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Susie J. Oh Board Chair

     Senior Vice President    Private Client Advisor

Bank of America Private Bank

Robert J. Kang, Esq.
Vice Chair

Director & Associate General Counsel for Cybersecurity Law

Meta 

Garrett Lee, Esq.
Secretary

President

Jamison Properties, LP

Albert J. Jang, CPA Treasurer

Managing Partner

Kim & Lee, LLP

Robert Lee Ahn, Esq.

Partner

Enso Law

Zena Ho

Partner

McDermott Will & Emery

Vivian Huang

Director of Talent Acquisition

Bank of Hope

Joyce Kwon

Senior Vice President

Director of Human Resources

Citizens Business Bank

Theo Kwon

Partner – Private Equity

Apollo Global Management 

 

Joone Kim-Lopez

General Manager/CEO

Moulton Niguel Water District 

Commissioner

CA Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission

Aaron Pyon

Senior Manager, Business Analytics

Bimbo Bakeries USA

James Santa Maria

President and Founder

The Santa Maria Group

Tim Yu

Partner

CKP, LLP

ADVISORY BOARD

Alex Cha, Esq.

Attorney and Founding Partner

Law Offices of Alex Cha & Associates

Dr. Cameron Chang, M.D.

Physician and Partner

Golden State Hospitalists

Physician Advisor

Kern Family Health Care

Hon. Gregory C. Hill

Principal and CEO

Radiant Financial Group

Alexander Kim

Principal and CEO

Three Kings Public Affairs

Charlie Kim

President

Kim Yong Hwan Foundation

Jay Kim

Managing Director

AAAZA, Inc.

Keith Kim

Founder of KAC

Retired Engineer & Author

Paul "PK" Kim

Regiona Talent Acquisition Manager 

Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc.

Standup Comedian, MC

Robin Kim

Founder and Trustee

Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation

President

R. H. Kim. Inc.

Daniel Lee, Esq.

Attorney

Lee & Oh, A Professional Law Corp

Jeanne Min

Chief of Staff

Office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker

Woo-Jin Shim

Finance Director 

Cloudbeds

Crystal Williams

Community Relations Manager

Southern California Gas Company

HONORARY BOARD

Dr. David Lee & Dr. Miki Nam

Jamison Properties, LP

​Yong Hwan Kim

President of the Kim Yong Hwan Foundation

The late Yong Hwan Kim was a remarkable community advocate and a long-time supporter of KAC. We celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Yong Hwan Kim who deeply cared for the next generation of young Korean American leaders.

STAFF

Eunice H. Song, Esq.

Executive Director

4.29 Alternative Dispute Resolution Center Director

Ronald Lee

Strategic Development
Senior Manager

Jeany Choi

Operations & Program Manager

Mindy Yi

Leadership Program Advisor

Jamie Moon

Intake Coordinator

THE KAC LUMINARY AWARD

2019 marks the second year of the KAC Luminary Awards, which celebrates one Individual and one Corporate recipient for their overall betterment of our Korean American community. Award recipients will be announced in our Winter Gala, to be held at the Wilshire Country Club on December 18, 2019.
The KAC Luminaries recognize and highlight the Leadership, Impact, Generosity, Hope, and Tenacity of recipients as they LIGHT the way forward for our community. The 2018 KAC Luminary Award recipients were Min Kim, CEO of Open Bank for the Individual award, and Akin Gump Strauss and Hauer & Feld LLP for the Corporate award.