THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2012

White House “Champion of Change” Alum Hee Joo Yoon Meets with President Obama

WASHINGTON, DC – Tomorrow, Thursday, April 26th, Hee Joo Yoon will be one of twelve White House Champions of Change Alumni who will meet with President Obama in celebration of the program’s one year anniversary. The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector has been highlighted and groups of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, have been recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.

Since the program began, the White House has hosted over forty Champions of Change events honoring over 500 individuals from all 50 states for their work in their community. This event highlights the great accomplishments the alumni have achieved since initially being honored as White House Champions of Change.

“We created the Champions of Change program to honor ordinary Americans who are doing extraordinary things,” said President Obama. “By making their communities better places to live, our Champions are helping to ensure that our country’s best days lie ahead.”

To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

Hee Joo Yoon, a Housing Counselors Champion, is the Program Director at Korean Resource Center (KRC). Founded in 1983, KRC currently serves over 11,000 community members annually, predominantly low-income Limited English Proficient Korean American immigrants. Ms. Yoon formally joined KRC as program director in January of 2005 after working nearly twelve years as a volunteer at KRC. She has over two decades of experience in strategic planning, program planning and evaluation, capacity building, fiscal management, fundraising, community outreach, and management of multicultural teams and projects. Her project expertise is financial empowerment for low-income and immigrants. She provides workshops on foreclosure prevention, housing counseling, volunteer income tax assistance (VITA), and credit education, as well as individual counseling for hundreds of community members every year. Ms. Yoon has launched KRC’s foreclosure prevention counseling program in 2008 as part of the organization’s financial empowerment project. With Ms. Yoon’s tireless efforts, KRC has become a HUD approved housing counseling agency in July 2010. Ms. Yoon served as the national executive director of Korean Americans for Peace and Justice, as well as a board member of Caju Food Co-op, and is a member of the HanNuRi Korean American Cultural Troupe. She is a long time California resident, serving on boards and volunteering in many community advocacy campaigns. She was born in the Republic of Korea and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1991.

The White House “Champions of Change” alumni invited to meet with the President are:

Michael Bowman
Michael Bowman, a Make It in America Champion, is a fifth-generation native of Colorado from the northeastern community of Wray, Colorado. Throughout his adult life he has been active in the rural development initiatives both nationally and internationally. He serves on the National Steering Committee for “25×25” was a founding member of the alliance. He is also a founding board member of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance and Shadowcliff, a Colorado-based environmental non-profit education facility in Grand County. Over the past seven years he has spoken nationally and internationally on issues related to rural development, sustainability and energy. Michael served as Chair of Colorado’s New Energy Future in 2006 and was co-chair of Governor-elect Bill Ritter’s transition team for energy policy. He currently serves as an Advisor to the Savory Institute and to the Dyne Group with fellow advisory board members Governor Tommy Ridge and General Wesley Clark. Michael is a graduate of the Colorado Agriculture and Rural Leadership program was a Next Generation Fellow in Columbia University’s American Assembly and a 2008 recipient of Gamma Sigma Delta’s Significant Achievement in Agricultural Award by Colorado State University. Most recently he was selected to participate in the White House ‘Champions of Change” program where he was recognized for his work in the areas of biofuels, renewable energy and rural development. Michael currently directs Strategic Initiatives for Sturman Industries of Woodland Park, CO, a global leader in next-generation, transformative energy technology.

Patience Lehrman
As an Immigration Integration Champion, Patience is the National Director of Project SHINE, an E Pluribus Unum award prize winner for Exceptional Immigrant/Refugee Integration, headquartered at the Intergenerational Center at Temple University. Over the past decade, Mrs. Lehrman has developed and led a wide-range of initiatives with local and national organizations serving youths, low-income adults and immigrants/refugees. She is a first generation immigrant from Cameroon, West-Africa. A leader in community service, workforce development and immigrant integration, Mrs. Lehrman was recently designated by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for her efforts in promoting immigrant integration. She is a strong advocate for immigrant/refugee rights and has testified before Philadelphia City Council and the Pennsylvania State Legislature against anti-immigration legislation. She frequently presents at conferences sponsored by national organizations such as the National Partnership for New Americans, American Society on Aging, Generations United, and AARP. She has also given presentations at universities and community organizations across the country, and was recently selected as the U.S. representative to speak at a global conference in Hamburg, Germany about the benefits of promoting immigrant integration through multi-sector collaboration. She holds a dual Master’s degree in Education and Organizational Development, and an Executive MBA from the Fox School of Business, Temple University.

Myrdin Thompson
Myrdin Thompson, a Parent on Education Champion, has been a Louisville public school parent, volunteer and advocate since 2002. Currently a contributor to Parent Involvement Matters (about education policy and parent engagement) and a United Nations Foundation Shot@LIfe champion/advocate. Myrdin has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change (Parents on Education, April 2011), a “Mom of the Moment” (Parenting magazine, March 2011), a “Woman of Wow” (Today’s Woman magazine, August 2011), and a KaBOOM! “Playmaker of the Month” (June 2008). She was honored by Jefferson County Public Schools outgoing Superintendent Sheldon Berman and the JCPS Board of Education with the Superintendent’s Distinguished Service Award for her outstanding educational and advocacy efforts on behalf of the students and families of the 15th District PTA (May 2011) and is also the recipient of a National PTA Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of devotion and distinguished services to children and youth (May 2011). She is the immediate Past-President of the 15th District PTA (2009-2011) and has served on the Kentucky PTA as a Legislative Committee Member (2008-2011) and as the Reflections Commissioner. She has an MA in Renaissance Drama from California State University, Fullerton. She can be found on twitter as @MyrdinJT and you can follow her blog at www.rootsandwingslibrary.com.

Cleve Jones
Cleve Jones, a Fighting AIDS Champion, is the founder of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Cleve Jones lives in San Francisco, California and works as a community organizer for UNITE HERE, the international union representing hotel, casino, food service and restaurant workers throughout the United States and Canada. Cleve is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights and a senior advisor to the Courage Campaign. Cleve’s career as an activist began in San Francisco during the turbulent 1970s, when he met pioneer gay rights leader Harvey Milk. Following Milk’s election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Cleve worked as a student intern in Milk’s office while studying political science at San Francisco State University. One of the first to recognize the threat of AIDS, Cleve co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983.

Semhar Araia
As an American Diaspora Communities Champion, Semhar Araia is founder and Executive Director of the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN), an organization whose mission is to develop and support talented women and girls of the African diaspora focused on African affairs. DAWN currently has 180 members representing 28 African countries, the United States, Caribbean, South America, Europe and the Middle East. With over ten years of experience working in public policy, US-Africa foreign policy, conflict resolution and international humanitarian law, Semhar’s primary focus is on promoting the role of the diaspora in Africa’s development. She spends about half her time on the continent and is a frequent guest speaker on US-Africa policy, effective advocacy strategies and community organizing. Semhar earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota and her law degree from Marquette University Law School. She was born in New York City to Eritrean parents and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hee Joo Yoon
Hee Joo Yoon, a Housing Counselors Champion, is the Program Director at Korean Resource Center (KRC). Founded in 1983, KRC currently serves over 11,000 community members annually, predominantly low-income Limited English Proficient Korean American immigrants. Ms. Yoon formally joined KRC as program director in January of 2005 after working nearly twelve years as a volunteer at KRC. She has over two decades of experience in strategic planning, program planning and evaluation, capacity building, fiscal management, fundraising, community outreach, and management of multicultural teams and projects. Her project expertise is financial empowerment for low-income and immigrants. She provides workshops on foreclosure prevention, housing counseling, volunteer income tax assistance (VITA), and credit education, as well as individual counseling for hundreds of community members every year. Ms. Yoon has launched KRC’s foreclosure prevention counseling program in 2008 as part of the organization’s financial empowerment project. With Ms. Yoon’s tireless efforts, KRC has become a HUD approved housing counseling agency in July 2010. Ms. Yoon served as the national executive director of Korean Americans for Peace and Justice, as well as a board member of Caju Food Co-op, and is a member of the HanNuRi Korean American Cultural Troupe. She is a long time California resident, serving on boards and volunteering in many community advocacy campaigns. She was born in the Republic of Korea and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1991.

Kathy Caldwell
A Transportation Champion, Kathy Caldwell is the President of the American Society of Civil Engineers. An adjunct professor at the University of Florida as well as the president of Caldwell Cook & Associates, of Gainesville, Florida, she is only the second woman in ASCE’s history to become president. Caldwell is active in many volunteer organizations. She is a member of Engineers without Borders–USA, the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers’ transportation committee, the Florida Engineering Society, Chi Epsilon, and Tau Beta Pi.

Andrew Yang
Andrew, a Youth Entrepreneurs Champion, is the Founder and President of Venture for America, a non-profit fellowship program that sends top college graduates to start-ups and early stage companies in Detroit, New Orleans, Providence, and other economically challenged U.S. cities in order to generate job growth. Previously, Andrew spent over 10 years as co-founder and executive of several start-up companies, most recently as the CEO of a test prep company that was acquired by Kaplan/the Washington Post. Andrew graduated from Columbia Law School and has a B.A. in Economics from Brown University.

Janelle Jessen
As a Recovery Act Champion, Janelle Jessen is the Accounting and Office Manager for Venture Communications Cooperative in Highmore, South Dakota. For the past 15 years, Janelle has been integral to the growth and expansion of Venture Communications. After receiving a $5.2 million investment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement a fiber-to-the-premise project in an underserved area of South Dakota, Janelle’s hard work ensured 865 rural subscribers have new and improved broadband service. These rural households, companies, and community organizations are using this new service to improve public safety, develop businesses, and stay better connected.

Ted Lasser
Ted Lasser, a decorated Vietnam War veteran serving with the Air Force in Southeast Asia and NATO theaters, serves as President and Executive Director of Veteran Entrepreneurial Transfer, Inc. He is a Business Mentorship Champion. With nearly 34 years of experience in executive management and entrepreneurship, Mr. Lasser, a highly effective serial entrepreneur, has a reputation for successful startup, turn-around, re-launch, investing, and merger activities.

James Bailey
James, a MLK Legacy Champion, serves as Market Vice President for the Southeast Region of Operation HOPE, a global non-profit, public benefit organization; America’s leading provider of economic tools, services, and financial dignity for the underserved. This fall in Atlanta, HOPE will open its flagship Financial Dignity Center at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, offering free programs for the community to include Home Ownership workshops, Small Business and Entrepreneurship training, Mortgage Crisis Assistance, Credit and Money Management Counseling, and many other services designed to empower and uplift. Since 2005 under James’ leadership in Atlanta, HOPE has helped over 40,000 children, individuals, and families, learn the language of money, start businesses, save their homes, and increase their financial dignity. A native of Atlanta, graduate of the University of Georgia and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, James has committed his life to serving others. Firmly believing to whom much is given, much is required, James devotes the majority of his time outside the office mentoring and volunteering with several organizations; most notably serving as Scoutmaster of the Mighty Troop 100, the largest inner city Boy Scout troop in the United States, sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

Kathy Sanchez
Kathy Sanchez is a Hispanic Heritage Month Champion. Raised in South Central Los Angeles in a single parent, Mexican household along with her 6 siblings, Kathy knows first-hand how focus and determination is necessary to succeed academically. Despite the hardships of being a single mother and raising 7 children, Kathy’s mother chose to bus Kathy out of South Central so that she could attend a high school in a better resourced neighborhood in the name of a good education. Ultimately, her hard work paid off as Kathy became the first in her family to go to college. She attended UCLA and it was there that she realized the resources available in South Central were different from those in the schools she attended. Upon graduating, she decided that it was her responsibility to give back to the community to help alleviate the disturbing educational gap. She is now serving her second year with City Year, leading a team of first year corps members and acting as a tutor, mentor, and role model to students at risk of dropping out of high school.

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