Our Mission

Our Mission
Our mission is to empower immigrants in the Bay Area through access to education, services, resources and advocacy. We are a bridge helping individuals get needed resources at critical moments in their lives.
Our Vision

Our Vision
Our vision is a world where immigrants and refugees thrive in an inclusive and equitable society and everyone has access to basic health care, housing, work and can be part of a safe, healthy and thriving community.
Our History
Team
June Lee
As an immigrant and mother of a teenage daughter, June is passionate about women’s empowerment issues. “I make the world a more wholesome place by helping disempowered people to realize their power and become active participants in our society.”
Una Chen, MFT
Una has an MFT from Drexel University and a B.A. in Journalism from Shih Hsin University in Taiwan. As an immigrant from Taiwan, she deeply understands the challenges of immigrants in navigating unfamiliar systems and coping with mental, financial, and emotional struggles during the transition. Una loves working out after a full day of stress and, for Una, “NO Boba, NO life!”
Esther Lee
As an immigrant herself, Esther has a genuine heart for the immigrant community. It is her passion to bridge the cultural gap between her clients and society so that they can feel accepted and make their voices heard. Esther is a foodie and loves exploring local cafes and restaurants. Ddeokboki and K-food are very important elements of her life.
Hye-Yun Graves
Hye-Yun developed a strong sense of devotion to make a community in a healthier and better way while working in another community center. Her experience gave her a deep appreciation for an organization like KCCEB for how to bring positive changes into the community with passion and effort. In her spare time, she loves taking a walk and watching movies.
Art Choi
Jisoo Kim
Jisoo received her B.S. in nutritional science dietetics from UC Berkeley and loves talking about food and nutrition as a form of preventative medicine. She has experience in patient interaction and practice in nutrition education and counseling. When Jisoo is not working, she loves to watch Netflix, solo travel, discovering new cafes and restaurants on Yelp, reading, and doing puzzles.
Amy G. Lam, MA, PhD
When she is not at KCCEB, Amy is walking along the ocean or writing at her computer. Amy is an energy healer and a published poet, playwright and composer, working on her first musical.
Amy’s mantra is: “Let’s dream the world we want to see into being.”
Pysay Phinith, LCSW
Yeri Shon, MPH, MSW
Yeri completed her MPH/MSW from the University of Michigan and has a BS in Chemistry from UC Berkeley. Coming from a struggling immigrant family and with over nine years working at non-profit organizations, Yeri developed insights into how systemic barriers cause social inequities leading to negative health outcomes. During her free time, she enjoys reading, exploring diverse eateries around the Bay Area, and being a die-hard Warriors fan when the basketball season starts.
Yu Seoun Lhim, JD, MSW
While in law school, she expanded her commitment to public interest. As a student attorney at the Immigration Law Clinic, she successfully represented undocumented minors who had fled gang violence and/or abuse in Central America in guardianship and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status proceedings. She was the recipient of the Immigration Law Clinic Award of the year as a result of her zealous advocacy. She externed with the Health Care Bureau, Division of Social Justice of the New York State Office of the Attorney General. There, she participated in various health care consumer projects to safeguard New Yorkers’ health care rights. She interned at the Nassau Suffolk Law Services, working on a wide range of poverty issues, including family law, government benefits, and housing law matters. As a judicial extern, worked for the Hon. Theresa Whelan at the Suffolk County Family Court for the 10th Judicial District of New York, where she got involved in numerous child protective proceedings related to child abuse and neglect.
Prior to entering law school, she served as a program director and medical social worker in a community-based health care center for low-income older adults and people with disabilities for several years. Before the position, she interned with the Older Adults Program of the Special Service for Groups, focusing on health disparities among vulnerable communities. She also interned at the Korean American Family Service Center in Los Angeles, where she facilitated court-ordered parenting and domestic violence classes and provided counseling sessions.
Donna Jung
Art graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in International Political Economy and from Sogang University in Seoul, Korea with a MA in International Relations. Art has international consulting experience with business professionals from the U.S., Korea, China, and India. He is a Bay Area native and an avid Bay Area sports fan. Art’s hobbies include playing any sports, card and board games, watching movies and shows, eating everything, and being adventurous.
Catt Olazabal
Seokjune Hong
As a first-generation immigrant, he is keenly aware of the need to provide helpful information to all newcomers. He hopes that by volunteering, KCCEB staff have one less hurdle to deal with in their jobs.
Join KCCEB Family
Interested to join? Check out our Careers.
MHAP Program Interns
KCCEB’s Mental Health Asian Pipeline (MHAP) Program provides comprehensive community mental health service training with attention to culturally informed practices, advocacy, and innovation.
MHAP’s goal is to increase the number of mental health social workers in the U.S. with specialized experience with Koreans and other Asian immigrants.
We currently have six MSW Graduate Trainees in the Adult Mental Health and Community Mental Health concentrations.
First Year Trainees
- Lydia Kim (English and Korean)
University California of Berkeley (UCB) - Ellen Suh (English and Korean)
University of Southern California (USC) - Jiaying Sophie Yang (English and Mandarin and Cantonese)
University of Southern California (USC)
Second Year Trainees
- Krystal Anne Fermin (English and Tagalog)
California State University of the East Bay (CSUEB) - Ruiqi He (English and Mandarin)
University of Southern California (USC) - Sonnara Sen (English and Khmer)
California State University of the East Bay (CSUEB)
Board of Directors
The volunteer board of directors at KCCEB is responsible for long-term strategic and programmatic planning, financial oversight and investments, fundraising, and general governance.
Dong Suh is the Chief Deputy of Administration at Asian Health Services. At AHS, he coordinates policy, planning, development, advocacy programs, and issues that affect its patients.
Jennifer Choo is the Associate Director, China Program, at Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. Prior to this position, she served as the Director of Programs at Asia Society Northern California in San Francisco.
YoonSun brings a deep understanding of Korean immigrants' lives earned from serving as a Social Work Specialist and Case Manager at Kimochi to KCCEB leadership. Her passion is in healing disenfranchised populations through music.