2019 Annual Gala - Honorees

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CORPORATE HONOREE

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YOUNG SOHN

President and Chief Strategy Officer, Samsung Electronics& Chairman of the Board, HARMANYoung Sohn is corporate president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics, where he leads the company’s strategy and new business creation efforts. In this capacity, he also serves as Chairman of the Board at HARMAN International Industries.During his time as president and chief strategy officer, Sohn led Samsung’s $8 billion acquisition of HARMAN, pioneered the company’s strategic investments and open innovation in emerging areas including AI, digital health, IoT, autonomous mobility, and other data-driven applications of technology.Before joining Samsung, Sohn worked in Silicon Valley building and scaling businesses in semiconductors, storage, and other core technologies. During this period, he served as chief executive of Oak Technologies, Avago (then known as Agilent), and Inphi, after leading each company through a successful IPO. As a seasoned investor, he also advised startups and fostered promising, untested innovations, helping entrepreneurs turn breakthrough ideas into thriving businesses.Early in his career, Sohn worked with Intel to launch its first PC chipset division and formed the company’s joint venture with Samsung, laying the groundwork for the modern chipset ecosystem. Over the course of his career, he has helped establish one of the world’s largest disk drive manufacturers and overseen development of the world’s first 100 Gigabit Ethernet CMOS PHY solutions. He has also served on the Boards of ARM, Synnex Corporation, Hyundai Electronics (now SK Hynix), and Cymer, Inc, and was a senior adviser to MIT Media Lab’s One Laptop Per Child initiative, which put the power of modern computing in the hands of disadvantaged children living around the globe and popularized the notion that access to the internet is a human right.In addition to Sohn’s role at Samsung, he serves on the MIT Sloan School North America Board, is a senior advisor to the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, is a member of the board of directors at Cadence, Fungible, Graphcore, and is an advisor to Bitfury Group, Zoom video, and the University of California Innovation Council.Sohn holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and MS from the MIT Sloan School of Management. As an undergraduate, he served as captain of the Penn varsity fencing team, leading the team to victory at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association and Ivy League championships in 1978.An avid outdoorsman, Sohn spends his personal time kite surfing, competing in triathlons, and hiking.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARDEE

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HEE SHIK KIM

Co-Founder, Korean American Community Services & 40 Year VolunteerHee Shik Kim co-founded Korean American Community Services of Silicon Valley (KACS) in 1979 and has volunteered her time and expertise to the organization for 40 years. She was born in the Republic of Korea and graduated from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul with a degree in Social Work. She then came to the US in 1968 to seek her Master’s in Social Work from St. Louis University School of Social Work. As a student, she met and married her husband Dr. Cheol Kim and the couple then moved to Palo Alto where Dr. Kim began his PhD studies in Electrical Engineering.Mrs. Kim was hired by the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency in 1972, where she advocated on behalf of children and families until her retirement in 2012. She was widely respected by her colleagues and earned a reputation of approaching each client with dignity and compassion. She has received numerous awards for her volunteer work including one from the Junior League of San Jose.Today, she continues her work as a volunteer on behalf of people and families in need through KACS. She is a proud mother of James and Grace and grandmother to Samantha, Allison, Cora, and Evan. She enjoys regular rounds of golf and looks forward to hitting another hole-in-one.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]

SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCE

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MEGAN LEE

Singer/Songwriter, ActressMegan Lee is a Korean-American actress and singer/songwriter based out of Los Angeles. She is best known for her lead role as Sun-Hi in Nickelodeon's hit TV show Make It Pop. She is also known for her singing talents on her YouTube channel which has 44 MM+ views including a cover song with Jason Mraz performing 'Lucky.' Megan recorded and released her first single '8 Dayz' which went on to be hugely popular in Korea, reaching the Top 40 charts. She now continues her music career in the states with songs like 'Young and Broken' recently released under Spinnin' Records, 'Stronger' and music collaborations with Timothy Delaghetto and Andrew Garcia. In 2018, Megan is featured on the Emmy Award winning vocal competition, NBC's The Voice Season 14 on Team Alicia. She has also appeared in numerous national commercials including McDonalds, Verizon & Nintendo.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]

SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCE

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PAUL PK KIM

ComedianPK has a one hour special on Hulu and Amazon which has not changed his life at all but its a cool credit.  He is a regular at all the major clubs in LA and he has personally brought over 10,000 people to the Laugh Factory in Hollywood over the past 14 years.He was the Grand Prize Winner of The Uncle Clyde's Comedy Cup at The Pasadena Icehouse sponsored by H2F Productions, which featured 100 comedians and he took first place.PK is the Founder, Exec. Director, and host for ten years of a non profit organization and annual Asian talent show called Kollaboration, which now in its 17th year, draws over 7,000 people annually in fourteen cities. www.kollaboration.orgHe is the Co-founder of LiNK, Liberty in North Korea, a non profit organization dedicated to bring awareness to the needs of North Korean refugees. www.linkglobal.orgHe was invited to The White House as a Champion of Change for his contributions to the community.He was a producer, writer, and host of Mnet's BPM - Beats Per Mnet - a daily talk show on TV focusing on food, fashion, and clothing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]

MISTRESS OF CEREMONY

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ESTHER CHAE

Award-Winning Actor, Professor, Speaker CoachTED & NetKAL FellowEsther Chae is an award-winning actor (N.C.I.S., 24, The West Wing), published playwright (So The Arrow Flies), speaker (TED) and consultant for Korean entertainment and Hollywood (LOST, World of Dance). Esther Chae’s work has been covered by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Hollywood Reporter. Her life in Hollywood was the subject of a Korean Broadcasting Station (KBS) documentary. Esther graduated from the Yale School of Drama (MFA Acting), the University of Michigan and Korea University. She currently teaches at Emerson College (LA) and Yonsei University.  www.estherchae.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]

AUCTIONEER

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FRANCO FINN

Warriors Hype ManFranco Finn is best known as the "Warriors Hype Man" for the Golden State Warriors for more than 20,0000 fans a night.  He is also a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist/Professional Auctioneer who brings a high level of energy and excitement to galas and events for nonprofit organizations, including American Red Cross, American Heart Association, Stanford Medical Center, American Cancer Society, American Heart/Stroke Association, UCSF, and hundreds more.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="50px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

2019 GALA SPONSORS

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Marcy & Young Sohn

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PLATINUM SPONSOR

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Chong Moon Lee

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GOLD SPONSOR

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Susan Koret

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Sung Jin and Frank Ingriselli

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SILVER SPONSOR

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So Yong Park and Brian Byun

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Sophia Oh-Kim and Seung Kim

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Bo & Joseph Kim

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Jennifer & David Ko

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Eunice & Andrew Kim

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Mike & Albert Lee and Family

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PATRON SPONSOR

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Jin-Young & Walter Jin

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Sally Carlson

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Mary & Bill Kim

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Jan Kang & Junie Lim

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Jan & Maria Leeman

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Taehong Huh

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Ed Chin

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WINE SPONSOR

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VIDEO SPONSOR

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PRODUCT SPONSOR

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