Korea Academy for Educators

Mary Connor,
President & Secretary
Co-Director Seminars and Workshops
505 Plymouth Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Mary@KoreaAcademy.org

Mary Connor taught Asian Studies and United States history for 35 years in the Los Angeles area. She is the author of The Koreas: A Global Studies Handbook (ABC-CLIO, 2002), a response to the need for a high school reference book and text on Korean history and culture. She is the founder of the Korea Academy for Educators (KAFE) and co-director of seminars and workshops at the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

Connor has received national and local recognition for her efforts to improve teaching about Asia. She has received prestigious fellowships: the Keizai Koho Center Fellowship to Japan (1997) and two Korea Society Fellowships (2000 and 2004). She is the recipient of the Peace Corps Association Global Educator Award (2002) and the Tachau Award (2005), the only award given to a pre-collegiate teacher by the Organization of American Historians. The Los Angeles Forerunners Lions Club has twice honored Connor for her efforts to educate teachers about Korean history and culture and the Korean American experience.

As a result of her passion for teaching, Connor shared her expertise for ten years as a presenter at conferences (National Council for Social Studies and the California Council for Social Studies Conferences). She has taught in programs about Korea at the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Illinois, East Rock Institute, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, University of the Pacific, and Cal State Fullerton. Connor has published over twenty-five articles in leading journals, such as Education About Asia,Social Education (NCSS), News and Reviews (Asian Educational Media Service, University of Illinois), and Independent School (the journal of the National Association for Independent Schools). An essay, “Teaching United States History Thematically,” was published in the Teachers’ Edition of The Americans (McDougal Littell), one of the most widely used United States history textbooks.

The first seminar on Korean history and culture and the Korean American experience was created in July 2004. In order to sustain and broaden programs, the Korea Academy for Educators (KAFE) was founded in 2006. Its mission is to bring Korean history and culture into American classrooms, respond to changing demographics, improve cross-cultural understanding, and meet the needs of Korean American students and their families.

Helie Lee,
Chief Financial Officer
Co-Director Seminars and Workshops
505 Plymouth Road
San Marino, CA   91108
Helie@KoreaAcademy.org

Helie Lee is the author of the United States bestseller Still Life With Rice (Scribner 1996), and In The Absence of Sun (Harmony Books 2002), memoirs in which she chronicles her family’s experience in war-torn Korea from the 1930s to 1997.  Her second book, In The Absence of Sun specifically details her Korean-American family's risky attempt to rescue her uncle from North Korea. Her courageous story led Cosmopolitan Magazine to select Lee out of thousands of women nominated for their "1999 Fun Fearless Female" competition as a "Freedom Fighter."

Born in Seoul, Korea, Lee’s family immigrated to America when she was four.  She graduated from UCLA in 1986 with a degree in Political Science.  After college, she sojourned back to her birth country to rediscover her roots. When she returned to the U.S., Lee began writing her first book while working on such shows as In Living Color, Saved By The Bell, and the Martin Lawrence Show.

As a bestselling author, Lee has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the Associated Press, NBC Nightly News, NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, People Magazine, Life & Times, Today Show, and Oprah. She has spoken as a guest lecturer at Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Northeastern University, Amherst, the Korean American Coalition, KASCON, The Museum of Tolerance, and many over venues.

Lee has also been published in Mademoiselle, Essence, and KoreAm Journal.  Lee is currently working on a documentary titled "MACHO LIKE ME." It highlights her six-and-a-half month journey living as a man to explore the dynamics of how society treats men and women differently.  Ms. Lee has adapted “Macho Like Me” into a one-woman performance piece. 

Lee is the co-director of The Korea Academy For Educators (KAFE), an honorary board member of the San Diego Asian American Film Festival, a board member of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, a member of the Asian American Writers Workshop, and PEN, a community of writers defending freedom of expression and building a literary culture. 

Lee lectures around the country on her bicultural heritage and human rights issues for North Korea refugees.  In June of 2002, Lee was invited by Senator Ted Kennedy to testify at the Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Immigration.

John Duncan
Director, Center for Korean Studies and Dept. of EALC
Box 951540
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA  90095-1540 
Duncan@humnet.ucla.edu

Professor John Duncan is a graduate of Korea University and received his Ph.D. at the University of Washington. Since 2001, he has directed the Center for Korean Studies. Since 2005 Professor Duncan has also acted as Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. He is an expert in Korean history and especially Korean intellectual history. His publications include The Origins of the Choson Dynasty (2000), The Problematic Modernity of Confucianism: The Question of Civil Society in Chosun Dynasty Korea (in Charles Armstrong, ed., Civil Society in South Korea, and Rethinking Confucianism Past and Present in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam (2002 co-editor). John works hard to foster improved Korean American understanding and is highly respected by the Korean American community in Los Angeles. He is very generous with his time in educating teachers about Korean history and culture at seminars and workshops at the Korean Cultural Center.

Jung Hae Kim
Principal, Wilton Place School
745 So. Wilton Place
Los Angeles, CA   90005
Phone: (213) 389-1181
jkim01@lausd.net

Jung Hae Kim received her BA in Asian American Studies-Korean from the University of Washington, a Masters in Educational Administration from California State University, Los Angeles, and attended UCLA Graduate School for her Educational Administration Credential. She has demonstrated her leadership ability as President of the Korean American Educators Association, President of the Korean Women’s International Network, and Principal and Deputy Superintendent of the Korean Saturday Language School, Los Angeles. After being Assistant Principal of the Brentwood Science Magnet School (LAUSD), she became Principal of the Farragut Drive School (Culver City) and from 1999-2006 Principal of Topeka Drive School (LAUSD). In January 2007 she was hired to serve as Principal, Wilton Place School (LAUSD). As a result of her dedication and service, Kim has been honored by the Ministry of Education (South Korea) and the Korea Media Association. She also received the Exemplary Educator’s Search in America Grand Prize Award.

Lee Ann Kim,
Founder, San Diego Asian Film Festival
Anchor ABC San Diego
7969 Engineer Road, #206
San Diego, CA 92111
Leeann@sdaff.org

Lee Ann Kim is an Emmy award-winning journalist for KGTV, the ABC station in San Diego, California where she currently anchors the 4 PM newscast with Carol Lebeau and reports in the evenings. Awarded by Metropolitan Magazine as of San Diego’s Top 40 under 40 and Best News Anchor by 944 Magazine, Lee Ann is one of the few Spanish speaking reporters at KGTV and is extremely active in the community. In 1999, she re-started the San Diego chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association and during her presidency, also founded the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Today, she continues to serve as founding executive director of the Film Festival and Asian American Film Foundation. Born in Seoul, she grew up in Chicago. Lee Ann is married and has two baby boys – one who is adopted from South Korea.

Sung S. Kim,
Dual Language Program, Cahuenga Elementary, LAUSD
16156 High Tor Drive
Hacienda Heights, CA  91745
(626) 855-0449 (H)
(213) 386-6306 (W)
Mrssungkim@yahoo.com

Sung Kim, a graduate of Seoul National University, is a dedicated professional who has developed creative Standards-based lessons for elementary teachers throughout the Los Angeles area. She teaches fifth grade students in the Korean Dual Language Program at Cahuenga Elementary (LAUSD). Kim has helped to create numerous power point slide lectures on Korean history and culture for elementary and secondary classes. In recent years she has participated in the California Association for Bilingual Education Conferences, a Symposium on Asia at UCLA, and has also worked to establish Korean language classes in public high schools in East Los Angeles. She has been an outreach teacher for the Foundation for Korean Language and Culture and was honored for her contribution to the SAT Korean Practice Book Project (2005-2006). Kim is currently developing an English Village Project with Kyeonggi Province to bring Los Angeles area teachers to South Korea in the summer of 2007.

Terrie Lee,
Certified Public Accountant
Lee and Bae
3660 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 944
Los Angeles, CA  90010-2705
(W) (213) 380-3322
tlee@leebae.com

Terrie Lee received her MS Degree from Cal State Northridge. She will receive her Masters Degree in Business Taxation at the Goldengate University in 2007.  For the past fifteen years she has practiced public accounting. Her experience includes six years with Ernst & Young and three years with RSM McGladrey. In 2002 she established her CPA firm with Stephanie Bae. Terrie has generously offered her time and expertise to the Korea Academy for Educators. She is also affiliated with the Korean American CPA Society as the seminar coordinator.

Ailee Moon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Social Welfare
UCLA School of Public Policy and Research
3250 Public Policy Building
Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA   90095-1656
(W) (310) 825-6219
aileem@ucla.edu

Ailee Moon received her BA, MSW and Ph.D. in Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. She has received substantial funding from the California Department of Social Services, the California Department of Health, the John A. Hartford Foundation and the National Institute on Aging for extensive research on family preservation and support programs, cultural and non-cultural factors in elder abuse assessment and older Korean Americans and their social support and long term care. As a result of her extensive research, Professor Moon has published two books and more than sixty journal articles. For nearly fifteen years she has been very active in community organizations and professional services and has served as President of numerous organizations, such as the Korean American Social Work Educators Association, Korean American Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the Foundation for Korean Language and Culture USA. Professor Moon has been honored many times for her community service and leadership ability by such organizations as the National Association for Social Workers, Korean American Social Workers Association, and the Korean American Education Foundation.

Linda Rose-Winters,
Coordinator for Diversity and Outreach/Admission Officer
Oakwood School
11600 Magnolia Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA  91601
(818) 752-4456
Lrose-winters@oakwood.org

Linda Rose-Winters is the Coordinator for Diversity and Outreach at Oakwood School, an independent K-12 coeducational school located in North Hollywood, California. She is responsible for creating and implementing diversity programs in support of Oakwood’s Board of Trustees’ Strategic Plan for Diversity. As Coordinator of Diversity and Outreach, Linda organized programs and forums for the entire Oakwood community that examined issues related to diversity. In a variety of innovative ways, she has been responsible for changes in admissions policies and curriculum. In 2006, she created a highly successful Diversity Day that involved workshops conducted by more than 25 speakers. Linda has served on the Oakwood Board of Trustees and the Board of the National Association of Independent School’s Southern California People of Color in Independent Schools.