NY Coalition Announces New Executive Director

From the New York Immigration Coalition:

On behalf of the board and staff of the New York Immigration Coalition, we are pleased to announce that on June 24th Steven Choi will assume the position of executive director of the NYIC, succeeding Chung-Wha Hong, who is stepping down after twelve years at the NYIC, the last eight as executive director.

Steve comes to the Coalition from the MinKwon Center for Community Action, where, as its executive director, he oversaw the organization’s threefold growth. Under Mr. Choi’s leadership, MinKwon has been an active member of the New York Immigration Coalition, serving as a board agency and assuming leadership roles in many of the Coalition’s multi-sector, multi-ethnic campaigns for immigrants rights.

We went through an extensive search and selection process and had an extraordinarily strong and diverse set of applicants. Steve exemplified just what we were looking for—someone comfortable with the complexities of coalition work, well regarded by allies across diverse sectors and communities, with solid organizing credentials, strongly committed to organizational management, and more than ready to hit the ground running and lead the New York Immigration Coalition into the next era. He will  build on the remarkable foundation laid by our outgoing executive director, Chung-Wha Hong, and her predecessor, Margie McHugh. On behalf of the board and our 200 member organizations, we welcome Steve into the fold with open arms, and express our eternal gratitude to Chung-Wha, whose outstanding leadership, integrity, smarts, and commitment have served us well and done us proud.

Before his tenure as executive director at the MinKwon Center for Community Action, Steve led its Immigrant Workers Rights Project, securing  court victories, settlements and awards on behalf of low-wage workers. Previously, he was a staff attorney at Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and held positions at an array of legal organizations. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in History with Honors and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Steve has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2012 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Best Lawyers Under 40 Award, the Korean American Association’s “Man of the Year” Award, the Wasserstein Fellowship, the Skirnick Public Interest Fellowship, the Skadden Fellowship, the Asian American Lawyers of Massachusetts (AALAM) Scholarship, and the Harvard Law School Asian Pacific American Alumni Award.

Steve told us, “I am honored to join the New York Immigration Coalition as its next executive director. I want to thank Chung-Wha Hong for her tremendous accomplishments in her 12 years with the Coalition. I plan to build on her amazing work in engaging the Coalition’s membership, supporters and allies in realizing our shared vision for a a stronger immigrant community, and a stronger New York.”

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