Judge Lucy Koh, Songyee Yoon, Min Jin Lee, and Africa Yoon to be Honored at 2022 CKA Envision Gala & Summit
Washington, D.C. – The Council of Korean Americans (CKA) is proud to announce the honorees for the 2022 CKA Envision Gala & Summit. This year’s honorees embody the spirit of courage, leadership, and service, and they bring impactful change everywhere they go.
This year’s honorees include:
- Judge Lucy Koh (Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
- Songyee Yoon (President & CSO, NCSOFT)
- Min Jin Lee (Award-Winning Writer)
- Africa Yoon (Author, CEO, Blackyoonicorn)
Judge Lucy Koh (Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) – 2022 CKA Trailblazer Award
President Biden appointed Judge Lucy Koh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in December 2021. President Obama appointed Judge Koh to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in June 2010. Judge Koh is the first Korean American female federal appellate judge in the United States, the first Korean American federal district judge in the United States, the first Asian American district judge in the Northern District of California, the first Korean American female judge in the Bay Area, and the first Korean American judge in Santa Clara County.
Songyee Yoon (President & CSO, NCSOFT) – 2022 CKA Empower Award
Songyee Yoon is president and chief strategy officer of NCSOFT, a leading global video game developer and publisher headquartered in South Korea. She has 22 years of experience in High Tech, Media, and Entertainment businesses, having started her career at McKinsey & Company as a leader of its High Tech and Media and Entertainment practices. Yoon is currently a member of the Advisory Council of the Human-Centered AI at Stanford University, an advisory board member of the Center for Asia Pacific Policy, and a visiting fellow at the Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy at RAND, with which she continues to explore social impacts of AI, equity and ethical sides of technology.
Min Jin Lee (Award-Winning Writer) – 2022 CKA Voice & Leadership Award
Min Jin Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a finalist for the National Book Award. Lee is the recipient of the Manhae Prize for Literature and fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College and serves as a trustee of PEN America and a director of the Authors Guild. She is at work on her third novel, American Hagwon, and a nonfiction work, Name Recognition.
Africa Yoon (Author, CEO, Blackyoonicorn) – 2022 CKA Embrace Unity Award
Africa Yoon is an author, television host and celebrated activist known for working with young people on issues from education, poverty eradication, racism, at risk youth, obesity, bullying, sexual health and sport. She was awarded the Golden Graal humanitarian prize in Rome for using film and television to educate about HIV/AIDS and named one of the Top 40 Youth Activists in the world by MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation in her late teens. She has spoken around the world including the United Nations and is recognized for ending her speeches in song and dance. A graduate of New York University / Tisch School of the Arts, Mrs. Yoon bridges culture, activism and entertainment in all her projects.
The honorees will be recognized at CKA’s 2022 Envision Gala & Summit on the evening of Saturday, November 19th. Leading up to the highly anticipated gala, CKA is organizing several exciting VIP events that gathers some of America’s most influential business, civic, media, scientific, and government leaders.
Learn more about the honorees and this year’s gala at www.ckagala.org.
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The Council of Korean Americans is a national nonprofit organization. Our mission is to advance the national voice, interest, and influence of the Korean American community through education, collaboration, and leadership development.