By Nina Huang
Northwest Asian Weekly
Susan Lee
Susan Lee has been a real estate associate broker since 1976. Now, Susan Lee is helping the Korean American community in the Seattle area as much as she can.
Lee is currently the president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce (KACC) of Washington state and has been since January.
KACC provides seminars and workshops to discuss concerns and issues that business owners have. The organization gives advice and encourages businesses to grow.
In 1993, she founded and was the first president of the Korean Women Realtor’s Association of Washington (KWRA).
KWRA’s goal is to facilitate the exchange of information among realtors to improve fellowship and prevent excessive competition among brokers and agents. The association organizes fundraisers to provide shelter and meals to the homeless, provide scholarships to students, and hold real estate seminars.
This year, Lee obtained about 6,000 signatures to support the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and sent a letter to President Obama to request that the FTA get ratified.
Lee was also actively involved in other organizations such as the Korean American Coalition (KAC) where she was a chairperson from 2007 to 2009. The coalition helped organize voter registration and encouraged the Korean community to vote. They also held candidate forums, fundraising events, and helped Asian Americans through leadership training programs.
From 2002 to 2007, Lee was a board member of the Korean American Voters’ Alliance (KAVA), which worked on projects similar to those of the KAC. In fact, the KAC was formed when KAVA and Korean American Professionals in Seattle (KAPS) combined.
Lee is very active in the Korean American community because she’s social. She supports Korean American candidates such as Sen. Paull Shin and Rep. Cindy Ryu.
Lee is also serving as a board member of the Korean Associations in Seattle, Tacoma, and Federal Way. She used to help out at the Korean Community Counseling Center, which, among other things, helps abused and battered women.
Lee was influenced by her late younger brother, Rocky Kim. He was very active in the Korean American community, and his activism became part of her inspiration.
Lee’s husband, Seung Shik Lee, is the president and property manager of Cho & Lee Investment. In 1999, he was president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce. The Lees are the first husband and wife duo to be president of the chamber. He helps Lee with community work and takes care of the family. They volunteer together, and both attend a Korean church in Bellevue.
The most important thing to Lee is that she is constantly helping out and doing the best she can to make a difference in the community.
“All the blessings I’ve had in my life, I wanted to return what I can to those who are less fortunate,” said Lee.
Lee lives in Bellevue, has three sons, and enjoys playing golf when she has the time. ♦
Nina Huang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.