KKOOM Board Members met in Boston for the 2020 Board Retreat: (L to R) Helen Shin, Margaret Cleveland, Aimee Jachym, Grace Lee, Sabrina Ku, and Bill Downey.
Improving the Lives of Korean Youth Through Outreach and Education
Improving the Lives of Korean Youth Through Outreach and Education
KKOOM Board Members met in Boston for the 2020 Board Retreat: (L to R) Helen Shin, Margaret Cleveland, Aimee Jachym, Grace Lee, Sabrina Ku, and Bill Downey.
The current KKOOM Board of Directors presently consists of 10 members plus the Executive Director (ex-officio). Each director is elected to a one-year term and may be re-elected to serve additional terms. The Board meets monthly via internet teleconference and once annually in person. Directors are responsible for paying for their own travel expenses to the annual meeting. KKOOM’s Co-founder, Erika Senneseth, and Bill Downey are honorary board members. Since 2007, a total of 28 people have served at various times on the volunteer-driven Board of Directors.
Grace Lee was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Sejong, South Korea in 2015-2016. Currently residing in Georgia, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Georgia State University. In 2012, she graduated from GSU with a Public Policy degree, concentration in Non-Profit Leadership. While at GSU, she was a Welcome Center Tour Guide, Vice President for Student Government Association, and crowned the 3rd Asian Homecoming Queen. For six years, Grace worked at a private K-12 school as a preschool/middle school teacher and the Director of Diversity. She volunteered at the annual Samsungwon Christmas party in 2015 and has traveled to Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Jamaica, to serve children in their local communities. Before serving as Executive Director, she was KKOOM’s Chief Administrator from 2017-2020 and served on KKOOM’s Board of Directors from December 2016-April 2017.
Helen Shin is a corporate attorney in New York and has served on KKOOM’s Board since 2012. In addition to legal experience, she brings to the Board a passion for social justice and international human rights matters. Her experience includes co-supervising an international human rights clinic at Fordham University School of Law and researching and doing fieldwork on various humans rights issues in Sierra Leone and Malawi. She has devoted significant amounts of time to legal pro bono work and looks forward to utilizing her talents and resources to benefit KKOOM and the children in Korea.
Aimee was born in South Korea and adopted by a Detroit-area family as an infant. In 2004, she made her first return to South Korea on a Fulbright teaching grant. Aimee spent her free time in Korea volunteering at Samsungwon, the orphanage in Gumi, and developing basic Korean language skills. She never expected that the 2004-05 ad-hoc holiday fundraising drive would evolve, with the help of great friends, into KKOOM three years later. She has bachelor’s degrees from Western Michigan University and a Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University. From 2011-2013, Aimee took a break from her legal career to serve as KKOOM’s first Chief Administrator. She currently practices corporate and international law as an attorney at Miller Johnson.
Born and raised in Los Angeles County, California, Leanne graduated from Pitzer College of the Claremont College Consortium in 2005. At Pitzer, Leanne double majored in Psychology and English & World Literature, played varsity softball, was active with Pitzer College’s student senate, and spent a semester studying abroad in Botswana. After graduating, Leanne was a 2005-2006 Fulbright ETA, teaching English to the boys at Gyeonggu High School in Gumi. Leanne spent her free time volunteering with the Samsungwon Orphanage preschool children, first and second grade elementary school girls, and a middle school boy. Leanne earned her Masters in Communication Disorders and Sciences from California State University, Northridge. Currently, Leanne lives in Los Angeles and works as a speech-language pathologist. Leanne has served on KKOOM’s Board since the beginning and is strongly committed to KKOOM’s mission.
Margaret Cleveland attended the University of Missouri and participated in the TaLK (Teach and Learn in Korea) program, through which she developed a passion and heart for the people of Korea. After graduating in 2015, she was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant for a year in Yeongcheon, South Korea, followed by two years teaching with Fulbright at an elementary school in Seoul. In 2017, she was named the Native English Teacher of the Year by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. During her time in Korea, she volunteered with multiple mentoring and teaching programs for North Korean defectors. She is currently working on her fourth-generation family owned fish farm in central Missouri. She is honored to work with KKOOM to help meet the needs of Korean children.
Leah Garlock is a Korean American Adoptee, and grew up in Upstate NY. She is currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in South Korea. Before Fulbright, she worked as an Experience Designer at a social impact design agency in New York City. Many of her clients were focused on improving educational inequities, learning differences, and dual-language curriculums. It’s here that she became interested in the intersection between design and education. In her free time, Leah volunteers for International and Transracial Adoptee communities, as well as AAPI organizations. She is passionate about using her skills for good, and is excited to use her experience and knowledge to help serve KKOOM’s mission.
Patricia Liu is a Korean American author, entrepreneur, and E-commerce executive living in Minneapolis and New York City. She is the founder and CEO of BestofKorea.com, a media platform that features the best of Korean culture, entertainment, lifestyle, and achievement. She is also the author of The Wrapping Scarf Revolution, a book that introduces the Western world to the beautiful and eco-friendly Korean tradition of wrapping and carrying with fabric. Born in Seoul, Korea, Patricia immigrated to the US at the age of 5 and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in Painting. Both her grown sons have worked with KKOOM in various capacities including a summer stay at a children’s home in Korea as well as online tutoring programs. She is honored to be serving KKOOM as a board member.
HeeJae An was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Cheongju, South Korea from 2018 – 2020. During his time with Fulbright, HeeJae volunteered at holiday parties hosted by KKOOM at Samsungwon and Emmanuel Orphanages. He was also an orientation coordinator for the 2019 Fulbright grantee cohort. HeeJae earned his B.A. and M.A in Clinical Developmental Health and Psychology from Tufts University and is currently residing in New York City. Since coming to New York, HeeJae has been deeply engaged with the nonprofit community in the city in his capacity as an organizational development consultant.
Amanda Cho (Assalone) is a Korean American Transracial and Transnational Adoptee who is actively involved in civil rights and advocacy organizations that support Communities of Color, particularly Asian Americans and Asian American Adoptees. She is the Policy Manager for Adoptees for Justice (A4J), a project affiliate of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) where her main priorities are to advocate for the Adoptee Citizenship Act and support adoptees who are without citizenship. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Prior to joining A4J, Amanda worked in the Higher Education field on various projects that focused on advancing DEI research and policy. She has over 20 years of professional experience working in K-12 and Higher Education. Amanda received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The University of Tulsa and her PhD in Higher Education from the University of North Texas.
Amanda enjoys volunteering for adoptee-led organizations and is a founding member of the Korean Adoptee Association of Georgia (KAAG), and an Advisory Council member and conference co-chair for the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN). She lives in Atlanta with her husband, stepdaughter, and dog; and is also in reunion with her Korean birth family.
Jin Chun is an IT Executive and SVP Head of Cognitive Computing and IT Fellow at Fidelity Investments. Prior to joining Fidelity, Jin was Chief Architect of State Street Global Markets. Based in the Boston area, Jin was born in Seoul and immigrated to the United States at the age of 3. Jin is a graduate of Yale University and part of the first generation of his family to graduate from college. He is very passionate about helping the children and young adults of KKOOM.
Jean So was born in Buffalo, New York to South Korean immigrants, moving multiple times before arriving to the small, rural city of Rome, Georgia. After graduating from Georgia State University with a B.S. in psychology, she continued her studies and completed her M.Ed. in College Student Affairs Administration at the University of Georgia. Her passion has always been promoting holistic development of college students with a career spanning over 20 years specifically in university recruitment, admissions, new student orientation, and retention. She returned to UGA and received her Ph.D. in Counseling and Student Personnel Services. Now contributing her time and energy to her family’s poultry services business, her role has pivoted from higher education to accounting and administrative services. Jean resides in North Carolina with her husband and two children and continues to use her extensive background and experiences to serve multiple community organizations and school boards. She is excited to serve as a first-time Board Member of KKOOM.
Bill Downey is an information technology specialist and professional photographer based out of Boston, Massachusetts. After completing his career in the U.S. Army, Bill has performed in various roles from senior IT manager with Harvard University, commercial pilot with a private aviation firm and adjunct professor with Lasell College. Bill completed his undergraduate degree at Western New England University, holds various technical certifications as well as being a commercial pilot and certified scuba diver. Bill’s keen interest and passion for Korean culture formulated during a four-year tour of duty in Korea during his army career, and previous experience with various non-profit organizations led to his desire to support the KKOOM mission. Bill has also supported KKOOM by making volunteer trips to Korea and is committed to continuing his direct engagement with the kids and the orphanages through multiple visits each year.
After graduation from Connecticut College, Erika spent the 2004-2005 school year teaching English as a foreign language at the all boys’ Gyeonggu High School in Gumi, South Korea. Her favorite times in Korea were working with preschool and early elementary children at Samsungwon orphanage. She now uses her Masters in Education to coordinate the educational components of KKOOM’s 360 degree giving campaign. She is originally from Minnesota but is currently the Head of School at Sandhills School, a school for students with dyslexia and ADHD in Columbia South Carolina. She served on the KKOOM Board of Directors from 2007-2013.