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The Museum26th Annual Historymakers Awards Gala (2022)
The Chinese American Museum proudly announces our 26th Annual Historymakers Awards
Honorees
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Derek Ma and Daisy Ma Dr. Dan S. Louie Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award Daisy Ma currently serves as Chief Government & Community Relations Officer at Chinatown Service Center (CSC), a community Federal Qualified Health Clinic. CSC provides social services, medical, dental, optometry, behavior health services, including a youth center and economic development department. Prior to joining CSC, Daisy worked in the California State Legislature for 15 years as District Director to Assemblymember Ed Chau and Assemblymember Mike Eng. She worked at the County of Los Angeles Community Development Commission Housing and Development Unit and supervised the First Time Homebuyers Program for Los Angeles County.
Derek Ma immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong in 1971. He started working at his aunt’s warehouse bagging produce but soon was able to open a small garment contractor factory with six employees. He quickly expanded to two factories with over 100 employees. His experience as a small business owner led him to become President of the Garment Contractors Association of Southern California. He subsequently became the youngest President of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Chinatown, Los Angeles.
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Cathay Bank Judge Ronald S.W. Lew Visionary Award Since opening their doors in 1962, the founders of Cathay Bank have envisioned a financial institution that understands and supports the financial wellbeing of a growing Chinese American community in Los Angeles. For more than 60 years, Cathay Bank has provided the financial services that have enabled its customers to confidently pursue their dreams, start businesses, buy homes, and send their children to college. In 1985, Cathay opened its first overseas office in Hong Kong, and by 1990 entered a new phase of development, trading publicly in Nasdaq. The banking organization remains headquartered in Los Angeles and operates more than 60 branches in nine states.
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Erika Lee, Ph.D.
Champion for Justice Award
Dr. Erika Lee is an award-winning historian, author, and advocate. She is a Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, the Rudolph J. Vicoli Chair in Immigration and Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and President of the Organization of American Historians. She is one of the nation’s foremost experts on immigration and Asian American history. Dr. Lee has authored four award-winning books.
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Chinese Americans Citizens Alliance Los Angeles Lodge
Civic Leadership Award
Established in 1912, the Los Angeles Lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.) is one of the oldest Asian American civil rights organizations in the United States. It was founded to fight anti-Chinese discrimination, secure equal rights for Chinese Americans, and to better the welfare of Chinese American communities. The L.A. lodge is currently one of 20 chartered lodges and is dedicated to enhancing civic pride, supporting, and promoting community services, and advancing responsible citizenship. The nonprofit organization has fought against racial discrimination, defended civil rights, opposed anti-immigration movements, and battled efforts to marginalize American Chinese culture and heritage.
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Marjorie Lee
Heritage Keeper Award
Marjorie Lee was born at the Queen of Angels Hospital near her working-class East Hollywood neighborhood and attended Ramona Elementary. Her family later moved to a modem all-electric single-family home in Montebello. She was accepted into UCLA, where she attained her Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies and Master of Arts in Asian American Studies. She began to focus on the recovery of the neglected social history of 2nd and 3rd generation Chinese Americans in the pre-war through post WWII eras. She has served as the Library Manager and Collections Specialist for the UCLA Asian American Studies Center Library – a leading repository of English-Language Asian American and Pacific Islander research materials and archival collections. Marjorie is the academic research librarian who develops and maintains AASC’s collections and community literature.
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Jeremy Lin
International Impact Award
Jeremy Lin is the first American player of Chinese Taiwanese heritage to play professional basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league. In 2012, he was featured in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He subsequently played for the Dallas Mavericks, which went on to win the off-season NBA Summer League Championship. Currently, the nine-year NBA veteran is turning his attention to combatting anti-Asian hate and other issues facing young Asian Americans. He is the first Asian American to win an NBA championship, having done so with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
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Felicia Lowe
Societal Transformation Award
Felicia Lowe is an award-winning independent media producer, director, and writer. Her documentaries reveal the unique experiences of Chinese in America and have been broadcast on PBS and used in classrooms across the country. A descendent of Angel Island detainees, she has been a leader in efforts to preserve and restore this National Historic Landmark. Majoring in Journalism, she studied film and video production and was accepted in a special Affirmative Action Training Program at Columbia University in Broadcast Journalism. After returning to the Bay area, she was offered the opportunity to be the first Chinese American female reporter at KGO-TV. The cumulative experience she gained as a general assignment reporter plus years as a field producer led her to produce her first documentary and subsequent award-winning films.
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Alfred H. Soo-Hoo
President’s Award
Born in Los Angeles, Al Soo-Hoo is a true Angeleno. He grew up in and around Central Plaza in New Chinatown during the 1950s and ‘60s, and from the age of 6 or 7, he helped in the family business, South China Gifts. He attended Castelar Street Elementary School, Nightingale Junior High School, Belmont High School, and UCLA. After graduation, he worked in the banking industry for more than 20 years and later entered the world of international trade. In the early 1970s, Soo-Hoo began volunteering with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which produces the Chinese New Year festivities each year, including the Miss Chinatown pageant, grand parade, and carnival. At the urging of the late Helen Young, respected community leader, he continued to volunteer and soon participated in several community-based nonprofit organizations, including the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Los Angeles Lodge (C.A.C.A.), and the Chinese American Museum.
In addition, Soo-Hoo returned to active participation in his family/clan association, Fong-Lun Benevolent Association, and subsequently became involved in the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA).
He served as president of the Friends of the Chinese American Museum (FCAM) in 2012 and has been an integral part of the museum’s financial governance ever since. Soo-Hoo attributes his attention to detail and diligence to his early banking experience. |
Honorary Dinner Co-Chairs
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Munson Kwok Suellen Cheng |
Event Co-Chairs
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Jenny Lin
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Steph Lo-Pelletier
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Sponsors
Event Sponsor
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Platinum Sponsors
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Diamond Sponsors
Jim and Lillian Jang |
Gay Q. Yuen, Ph.D. |
Gold Sponsors
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| Al and Bibiana Y. Soo-Hoo | Bing Liu | |
| Cultural Foundations of Zhendai He USA | Carl and Linda Moy Foundation | |
| Matthew and Joy Lin |
Koo and Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation
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| Larry and Diane Jung | Robert and Esther Louie Henry | |
| Susanna and Evans Lam | The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites Los Angeles | |
| Winston and Joanne Young |
Silver Sponsors
| Chung King Properties
Doré Hall Wong East West Bank Friends of Mei Wah Lau |
Joe Quan & Family
Nadine Soo Hoo and Israel Levy Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuaries The Honorable Hilda Solis |
Table Sponsors
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Asian Youth Center Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Los Angeles Lodge Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association Dean Cheryl Ney Derek and Daisy Ma Ed Lew & Family Erika Lee and Felicia Lowe Eugene Moy and Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Evie Jeang Friends of Esther Woo Jan /Godmother of Chinatown and Ambassador of Charity Friends of the Morning Light Foundation |
Fong Lun Association Jenny Lin Los Angeles County Asian American Employees Association Marjorie Lee & Family Marjorie Lee & Friends Michael Woo and Laurie Dowling Ray and Elsie Chan Steph and Kelsie Lo-Pelletier TECO University of California Los Angeles – Asian American Studies Center Wing Hop Fung |
Donations
| Anonymous
Chinese Parents Association for the Disabled Daniel & Vicky Wong Dexter & Bessie Yuen Evelyn Lee Guillermo Garcia / La Noche Buena |
In Memory of Esther Woo Jan
Judge Linda Sun Kathleen Cheung Kenneth Louie Nancy Yap Paul and Christina Chang |
Peter Ng
Richard Ferrante Sherlyn Chew and Victor Siu Tak Lau Charity Foundation Timothy L. T. Liu & Pei Lu Liu |