Connie-Chung Joe
Attorney Connie Chung Joe has been the Executive Director of Korean American Family Services (KFAM) since 2009.
Under Connie’s leadership, KFAM has more than doubled its budget and staff, with services to over 7,000 clients per year. KFAM was founded in 1983 with the mission to support and strengthen Korean American families in the greater Los Angeles area through counseling, education and social services. KFAM specializes in culturally and linguistically responsive services to Korean immigrant families, particularly those struggling with mental health, domestic/family violence, and acculturation stresses. In 2014, KFAM launched its Asian Foster Family Initiative, the first program of its kind in the US to recruit, train and support Korean and other Asian Pacific Islander (API) foster parents to provide culturally appropriate homes for API foster children.
Connie is active in advocating for and addressing the needs of API communities. She serves as the Vice-Chair of Planning of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), a consortium of 40+ API-serving organizations throughout LA County. Connie is also the co-chair of A3PCON’s Mental Health Subcommittee. She served as the co-chair for 2 years of the API Domestic Violence Task Force of LA County and co-founded the API Human Trafficking Task Force of LA County. Connie has been honored for her work by the Asian Pacific Women’s Center and Asian American Drug Abuse Program. In 2016, she was appointed by CA Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon to the Domestic Violence Advisory Council. In 2017, Connie was named by CA Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas and LA County Board of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas a 40 Under 40 Emerging Civic Leader.
Prior to joining KFAM, Connie was a public interest lawyer for seven years. She worked at the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union in Chicago, Illinois. Connie received her BA in Spanish and International Relations from USC and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.