Connie Chung Joe

Connie Chung Joe, JD, is the Chief Executive Officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Prior to joining Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California in August 2020, Joe served as the Executive Director of the Korean American Family Services (KFAM) for 11 years. Under Joe’s leadership, KFAM nearly quadrupled its budget and staff, with culturally and linguistically responsive services to immigrant families, particularly those struggling with mental health, domestic/family violence, and acculturation stresses. Prior to joining KFAM, Joe was a public interest lawyer for seven years. She worked at the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles representing clients in fair housing cases and the American Civil Liberties Union in Chicago working on immigrant’s rights, reproductive rights, post-9/11 racial profiling, police accountability and First Amendment cases. Joe received her BA in Spanish and International Relations from USC and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Joe is active in advocating for and addressing the needs of API and other BIPOC communities. She co-founded the API Human Trafficking Task Force of LA County, co-chaired the API Mental Health Subcommittee and co-chaired the API Domestic Violence Task Force of Los Angeles County. She has served as the first co-chair of the CA Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network, which consists of culturally-specific domestic violence organizations across the state working to improve services for the most vulnerable communities in California. Joe has been honored for her work by the Asian Pacific Women’s Center and Asian American Drug Abuse Program. Joe has testified on several occasions before the California State Assembly on Domestic Violence to advocate for the needs of immigrants, APIs, and other vulnerable populations in the State. In 2016, she was appointed by California Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon to the Domestic Violence Advisory Council. She currently serves as a member of Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council. Joe co-chairs LA County Human Relations Commission’s LA v. Hate Campaign and serves on the LA County District Attorney’s AAPI Advisory Board. Joe was named Senator Maria Elena Durazo’s California District 24 Woman of the Year in 2022.