Top Honorees among Seattle Asian Community's
Honorees recognized including WA state Senator-elect Freida Takamura
On December 5th, Northwest Asian Weekly presented “2014 Top Contributors to the Asian Community.” Among the honorees, Lori Wada, Operations Supervisor Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), and Dr. Jai Jun Byeon, Chief Director of Cornerstone Medical Services, were mentioned as “true Asian leaders and mentors.”
The banquet was held at the House of Hong Restaurant, with about 300 attendees. Eight contributors and one organization were selected as recipients.
Pramia Jayapal, a founder of the immigration organization One America, and the first Indian-American elected to the Washington State senate, and Leny Valerio-Buford, a Filipino-American and director of the UW Upward Bound program—a program created to support students from low-income families at the UW, were recognized as honorees.
Also, the following contributors were recognized: Dat P. Giap, a Vietnamese dentist who volunteered to give free medical treatments to needy senior citizens and the homeless, Frieda Takamura, a Japanese community activist who dedicated her life to resolving issues related to bullying of Asian-Pacific Islanders students, and the NAAAP, National Association of Asian American Professional.
Lori Wada immigrated to the United States when she was in high school, graduated from the UW, married a 3rdgeneration Japanese husband, and became the first Korean woman in 25 years to become a Washington State official. She played a significant role in building bridges between the Korean community, as well as the Asian community and the Washington State government. As a Washington State Asia-Pacific Commissioner and a supervisor of the WA Office of Insurance Commissions that includes Obamacare, Wada also takes the lead on health issues in the Asian community in the area. She also worked as a founding member in the Korean Chamber of Commerce, and has made contributions to various organizations such as Korean American Grocers Association of Washington (KAGRO), Korean Women’s Association, Cornerstone Medical Service, and Korean Community Service. In her testimonial, she emphasized that “We Asians who live in America ought to acknowledge our differences and embrace it…We shall walk together as members and leaders of a leading society.”
Dr. Jai Jun Byeon graduated from the College of Medicine at Seoul National University, worked at the Samsung Medical Center, moved to Canada, and eventually settled in the United States. As a founder and president of Cornerstone Clinic, Dr. Byeon volunteers medical treatments to low income Koreans, Asians, and minorities. Last year, he received “Community Champion Award” from the Molina Heath care for providing free health care services over more than 4000 hours. In his testimonial, Dr. Byeon stated “When I became aware of the fact that there are numerous Koreans without health insurance in Seattle, I began to provide free health care services…. I want to give this honor to the Korean Americans in Seattle and Cornerstone Clinic volunteers.”
Attendees including Chang Bum Shin (Co-Founder of Cornerstone Clinic), Suzanne Park (Vice President of Cornerstone Clinic), Bu Won Yoon, Jong Sae Kwak, Suzanne Lee, Kyung Lim Hong (Volunteers of Cornerstone), Gil Su Kim (Director of Korean Community Service), Seung Ja Yoon (Former Head of the Korean Community Service), and Stephanie Yoon (Executive Vice President of UniBank) gave a big applause to the honorees.
by Hayoung Um
