Donation from Ms. Robin Kim
$100,000 Donation from the Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation
The Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) is pleased to announce a $100,000 gift from the Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation to establish four Chair Scholarships to be awarded to four students from the Western Region. The donation will be used to annually award $4,000 to deserving students in perpetuity. This gift is in addition to another $50,000 donation that was made by the Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation to launch the “50 for 50” capital contribution campaign in early 2019.
Ms. Kim stated “the reason I am establishing the four chair scholarships is that I believe in the value of learning and higher education which creates the invaluable spectrum of opportunity in a person’s life. If donors are able to help by establishing chair scholarships or through the “50 for 50″ campaign, then it would be a wonderful gift to our younger generation in their pursuit for seeking higher educational opportunities, and later, to contribute to society with their acquired knowledge and skills”.
On behalf of the KASF National Board of Directors, KASF is honored to have the Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation create four Chair Scholarships. “These four Chair Scholarships will give students encouragement to pursue their dreams. The scholarships will convey to the students that there are Korean-American donors and parents who are willing to lend a helping hand and motivate the students to push themselves harder to succeed in realizing their dreams. The students will hopefully one day “pay it forward” by joining KASF and/or making donations to worthy causes which will continue this virtuous cycle of giving,” said Mr. Frank Lee, KASF National Board Chairman.
Donation from Mr. Dow Kim
$100,000 Donation from Dow Kim in addition to the $500,000 Multi-Year Pledge from The Dow Kim Family Foundation in 2018
[Vienna, VA] – The Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) is pleased to announce a $100,000 gift from Mr. Dow Kim in memory of his beloved wife, Aeri Kim. The funds will be used to assist in awarding of scholarships to the most qualified students attending institutions of higher education in the United States. This gift is in addition to the pledged multi-year gift of $500,000 from the Dow Kim Family Foundation made in 2018, which is the largest gift KASF has received to date.
Mr. Kim believes in the importance of higher education being a platform for developing future leaders, and he strongly supports KASF’s core activities of helping Korean American students pursue academic and personal achievements, encouraging community and civic service as an integral part of leadership development; and nurturing the sense of pride in Korean cultural heritage. Mr. Kim genuinely wants to see more Korean Americans succeed in all professions so that over time, we can economically, culturally, and politically become stronger as a group in this country. Mr. Kim has been advising the board leadership since 2018 and will continue to do so going forward.
“On behalf of the KASF National Board of Directors, KASF is honored to have Mr. Dow Kim create four Chair Scholarships. Moreover, Mr. Kim continues to give KASF invaluable advice and guidance in order to make KASF a more professional non-profit organization. KASF looks forward to furthering Mr. Kim’s involvement with KASF on a national level,” said Mr. Frank Lee, KASF National Board Chairman.
About Mr. Dow Kim
Dow Kim is a Private Investor and the Chairman and CEO of privately-owned companies of PT Sarabau Mas Group in Indonesia. Mr. Kim is also the President of Dow Kim Family Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) designated private foundation engaged in philanthropic activities to help better and empower the lives of underserved and under-resourced Korean Americans in areas of education, social services, and arts & culture. In addition to the work through the Family Foundation and various other philanthropic activities, the Kim Family also supports education through The Dow Kim Family Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund at The University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kim was the Co-President of Global Markets & Investment Banking, and EVP and a member of the Executive Management Committee at Merrill Lynch & Co during October 2003 – May 2007. Mr. Kim served as a Trustee of The Asia Society during October 2006 – October 2009 and as a Board Trustee of the Marymount School of New York during 2005-2014. Mr. Kim received the “Spirit of Asian America Award” from the Asian American Federation of New York in 2006. Mr. Kim completed the Advance Management Program at Harvard Business School and received his MBA and BSE from The Wharton School. Mr. Kim graduated from Phillips Academy Andover.
About KASF
KASF is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization established in 1969 to assist Korean American students to pursue academic and personal achievements; encourage community and civic service as an integral part of leadership development; and nurture the sense of pride in Korean cultural heritage. KASF is a national organization currently operating with seven regional chapters located in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Denver. Since 1969, KASF has provided more than 10 million dollars of scholarships to about 6,800 Korean American and qualified students, and in 2019, KASF provided $514,500 scholarship to a total of 273 students nationwide. For more information, please visit KASF website at www.kasf.org and contact Eun Jeong Lee, Executive Director of KASF at ejlee@kasf.org
National Board Executive Director
[Vienna, VA] – The Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) announced that its Board of Directors has selected Dr. Eun Jeong Lee as Executive Director, effective July 15, 2019.
“We’re very excited to have Dr. Lee at KASF as the first-ever Executive Director to continue to assist more younger generation and professional Korean Americans so they can take critical roles as citizens in the U.S.” said Frank Lee, Chairman of KASF’s National Board of Directors.
Dr. Lee brings to KASF more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, program and research development, and fundraising. She recently served as the National Director of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging and managed federally funded employment training programs for low-income Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) older workers nationwide. She also developed various collaboration programs with academic institutes to conduct several research studies about AAPI communities. She received the “Excellence in Multicultural Aging” award from the American Society on Aging, as well as the “Community Organization Recognition” award from the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus of the American Public Health Association in recognition of the best innovative practice in serving disadvantaged older adults.
“Our Korean community in the U.S. has had a significant growth over the past 50 years with hard work and sacrifices from the first generation immigrants. I believe KASF played a key role in supporting the Korean American community by helping to educate our next generation leaders in our community for the past 50 years. I hope to become a bridge between older and younger generations and develop advanced collaboration models to support Korean American students as they pursue their dreams and make lasting contributions to our society at large.” said Dr. Lee. She holds B.A. in Journalism and Mass communication and M.P.A. in social work policy from Hanyang University in Korea, and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Yeshiva University in New York.
Donation from Ms. Robin Kim
The Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) is pleased to announce a recent gift of $50,000 to the KASF from The Robin-Hwajin Yoon Kim Foundation. This gift is the beginning of the capital campaign to solicit 50 donors to give in 2019 and/or pledge $50,000 in celebration of KASF's 50th year anniversary in service to students in the need for financial help. With this gift, the funds will be used by KASF to assist in the awarding of scholarships to the most qualified students attending school in the United States.
Ms. Robin Kim has been a Director of the Western Region of KASF since 1998 (with her ex-husband Steve Y. Kim) until 2002 and has recently rejoined the Board. The Steve & Robin Kim Family Foundation established a Chair Scholarship in 1998 and between 1998-2002 donated over $175,000 in Designated Scholarships to KASF.
Ms. Kim is a retired attorney and businesswoman living in Beverly Hills, CA. She has three children Elizabeth, U. Penn '21; Andrew, U. Mass Amherst '22 and Madeline, Columbia U '23.
Donation from Mr. and Mrs. Boklim Choi
KASF National Board is pleased to announce a recent contribution of $50,000 from Mr. and Mrs. Boklim Choi. With this donation, Mr. Choi wants to create two new Chair Scholarships in NERC. Mr. Choi who has been involved with the KASF since 2003 and also served NERC as the 5th president during 2009-2010.
Mr. Choi is author, writer, poet and novelist and recently he published 2 novels in English. After graduation from Yonsei University in Seoul with major in political and diplomatic science, he started his journalist position with a producer at Dong-A Broadcasting Company in Seoul, and in New York he resumed his journalist job as editor-in-chief of the Korea Times (Hankook Ilbo). His wife Jenny retired from RN and he is a father of 3 beautiful married daughters.
KASF Legacy Video, produced by Mr. Boklim Choi.
Why are we pledging to KASF?
We are pleased to announce a recent pledge gift of $500,000 to the Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) from an anonymous donor, which is the largest gift KASF has received to date and in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary. With this gift, $300,000 will be used to award scholarships for our Northeastern Regional Chapter and $200,000 will be used to award the most qualified students from the pool of applicants from the rest of our regional chapters over the multi-year period.
Below is a personal statement from the donor regarding his decision to donate to KASF:
Why are we making a pledge to KASF?
First and foremost, it’s because my family believes in the importance of higher education and we want to help in meeting the financial needs of Korean American students seeking higher education. My family’s desire to do so is closely aligned with the mission of the Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF). KASF is well established and has nearly a 50-year history and an excellent reputation as the only nationally organized scholarship foundation which serves the under-resourced young Korean American students.
I had a firsthand opportunity to learn a lot more about KASF’s mission, its available resources, and scholarship allocation process by spending some time with the KASF National Board Chairman as well as NERC leadership and their young professional board members. And it is through my interactions and dialogues with them that I became impressed by their boundless passion, dedication, and service.
I realize that philanthropy is a very personal thing. Each person and each family have varied perspectives and goals on philanthropy. In case of my family, given my family's own Korean heritage and given where we are in our life-cycles, we decided to make a lasting commitment to do what we can to help better and empower the lives of Korean Americans.
We genuinely want to see more Koreans do well, assimilate, and succeed in all professions so that over time, Koreans can become stronger as a group economically, culturally, and politically in this country. My family feels deeply honored and privileged to join the existing ranks of board of directors, volunteers, donors, and supporters of KASF, and we look forward to many years of fruitful association.
Donation from Mr. Tae Jin Kwon
KASF National Board is pleased to announce recent commitment of $250,000 from Mr. Tae Jin Kwon, first president of NERC.
Mr. Kwon announced at the NERC director’s meeting in Jan 15, that he would donate $50,000 yearly for five years. This year, out of his 1st installment, $30,000 will go to NERC and the other $20,000 will be available for use by other regions. This is in addition to the Chair Scholarships he had previously established for NERC in 2001 and 2008. For his continued dedication and commitment to KASF, he was awarded KASF NB Lifetime Service Award earlier this year
In September 2018, Mr. Kwon helped to establish the Mountain State Regional Chapter (MSRC), which includes five states, and he donated $25,000, 1st Chair Scholarship to this newly founded chapter. Mr. Kwon lived in Denver for 17 years before he came to New York 30 years ago.
Mr. Kwon majored law in Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea and he received his J.D in Ohio Northern University Law School. By the time of retirement as an attorney, he attended New Brunswick Theological Seminary. After he was ordained as priest by the Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad in 2008, he served as a publisher of the Christian magazine, 빛과 사랑 until May, 2018. During his tenure of publisher he has traveled many countries, including some of African countries to help Korean missionaries in the areas.
Mr. Kwon currently lives in New York with his wife and has two sons and one daughter.
Donation from Mr. Keith Soon Kim
KASF National Board is pleased to announce a recent contribution of $100,000 from Mr. Keith Soon Kim. With this donation, he wants to create four new Chair Scholarships (Mr. & Mrs. Keith Soon Kim Chair Scholarships): 2 in WRC, 1 in ERC, and 1 in MWRC. This is in addition to the Chair Scholarship he had previously established for WRC in 1987. Mr. Kim served as the first President of WRC for six years and the third Chair of KASF NB from 1994-1995. For his continued dedication and commitment to KASF, he was awarded KASF NB Lifetime Service Award earlier this year.
Please join me in thanking Mr. Kim for his life time dedication and his generous gift to KASF. Below is his personal statement about his donation:
"I am proud to be a member of the Korean American Scholarship Foundation. Scholarship is one of the best ways to help young students with financial need to reach their potential to create better future for this country."