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Yul Kwon
Yul Kwon won the hit CBS reality show, Survivor, during last year's highly controversial, racially-segregated season. He previously enjoyed a diverse career straddling both the private and public sectors in law, politics, business, and technology. As an attorney, he clerked on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and practiced a mix of litigation, appellate, transactional and regulatory work at several law firms. As a legislative aide to Senator Joseph Lieberman, he helped draft portions of the Homeland Security Act, authored a landmark bill on nanotechnology, and organized a bipartisan caucus on science and technology. Several years ago, Yul transitioned into the business sector, first joining McKinsey as a management consultant and then crossing over to Google's business strategy group.
Last year, Yul was recruited to participate on Survivor: Cook Islands, a season which generated controversy by dividing the tribes along racial lines. On his way to winning, Yul skillfully led a multi-ethnic team and earned a reputation as one of the show's most strategic and honest players. Yul has since worked to support charitable causes, raise the profile of Asian Americans in the media, and encourage youth to become active in their communities and in politics. He has spoken at many of the country's top corporations and universities, including Yahoo, Verizon, AT&T, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Yale, Duke, and Northwestern. He is currently a guest lecturer at the FBI Academy. Yul was recently named in both People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive and Hottest Bachelor's issues, made EXTRA TV’s list of Most Eligible Bachelors, and was profiled in VIBE Magazine's annual "Juice" issue as part of the new generation of people with power.
Yul obtained his B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, received the James Lyons Award for Service, and attended Officer Candidates School for the U.S. Marine Corps. He then received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served on the editorial board of the Yale Law Journal.
 Becky Lee (Confirmed)
Ms. Becky Lee received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Women's Studies from the University of Michigan and then continued on to receive her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Interested in the prevention of domestic violence, Ms. Lee has been working on issues concerning domestic violence survivors over the last eight years as an advocate, a policy associate and an attorney. She is also passionate about creating awareness of the specific needs of battered immigrant women, such as language access and cultural competency. Additionally, she has worked as a kickboxing instructor for over 6 years and has focused on helping battered women regain their confidence and self-esteem through her classes.
When she was given the opportunity to try out for Survivor during the summer of 2006, Ms. Lee decided to go for it because she wanted to break media stereotypes of Asian Americans and also bring more awareness to the prevalence of domestic violence. Now that the show is over, she continues to dedicate much of her time to these causes. With much of the money she made on the show, Ms. Lee first created the non-profit organization, Becky's Fund, (www.beckysfund.org) to raise money to address the issue of domestic violence in the Asian and immigrant communities and prevent domestic violence from continuing on in our community.
After seeing a bigger need for programs such as education and advocacy for battered women, the mission has evolved into 4 components: 1) creating awareness: helping people understand the elements of domestic awareness such as how prevalent it is, why battered women can't always leave easily, and what can be done to fight against domestic violence, 2) encouraging advocacy: getting people to care about ending domestic violence, 3) supporting activism: taking an active role in helping battered women find safety through counseling, legal representation, etc, and 4) fundraising: providing financial assistance to organizations that support victims of domestic violence through the awarding of grants through a competitive process to small organizations that have proven potential for great impact and stability, particularly in marginalized or immigrant communities. She is currently working on a domestic violence college tour which launched in the fall of 2007 and incorporates interviews about domestic violence with local celebrities, students, survivors, and leaders of the community in her presentation to the schools.
In her free time, Ms. Lee is extremely active in the Korean community. She is a member of the Korean Americans Against Family Abuse Committee and Board Member and Secretary of the DC Chapter of the Korean American Coalition. Since she believes strongly in giving back to the community and helping the younger generation excel, Becky has also taken part of her earnings and set up several scholarships through her high school, University of Pittsburgh Law School, local church, and a civic organization, The Korean Association of the Greater Pittsburgh.
Jeff Chang (Confirmed)
Jeff Chang has written extensively on race, culture, politics, the arts, and music.
His first book, Can't Stop Won't Stop, garnered honors including the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award. He has also edited an anthology entitled Total Chaos: The Art & Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, released in February 2007.
Jeff was a founding editor of ColorLines magazine, and a Senior Editor/Director at Russell Simmons' 360hiphop.com. He began writing for URB and The Bomb Hip-Hop magazines, and has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Vibe, The Nation, and Mother Jones, among many other publications.
In 1993, he co-founded and ran the influential hip-hop indie label, SoleSides, now Quannum Projects, helping launch the careers of DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Speaker. He has helped produce over a dozen records, including the "godfathers of gangsta rap", the Watts Prophets.
After being politicized by the anti-apartheid and anti-racist movements at the University of California at Berkeley, Jeff worked as a community, labor and student organizer, and as a lobbyist for the students of the California State University system.
He received a bachelor's degree from Cal and a master's degree in Asian American Studies from the University of California at Los Angeles and has published scholarly articles on culture and race relations in Hawai'i and Los Angeles. He has lectured at dozens of colleges, universities, festivals, and institutions in the U.S. and around the world.
He was an organizer of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and has served as a board member for several organizations working for change through youth and community organizing, media justice, culture, the arts, and hip-hop activism.
Born of Chinese and Native Hawaiian ancestry, Jeff was raised in Hawai'i where he attended 'Iolani School. He lives in California. He is a big fan of Japanese curry and poi, but not at the same time.
 Gary Okihiro (Confirmed)
Gary Y. Okihiro is professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University. He was the founding director of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, and formerly directed Cornell's Asian American Studies Program. He is author of eight books in ethnic and Asian American studies and African history, including the well known, MARGINS AND MAINSTREAMS: ASIANS IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, and THE COLUMBIA GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Studies Association, and is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.
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