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The Creating Our Paths: Women in Power webinar will feature and explore the paths of change-making women leaders. The conversations will provide a closer look at their paths to leadership, their experiences as women leaders in their sectors, and their personal insight for aspiring community leaders.
Women In Power will include:
The Honorable Judy Chu, Congresswoman, State of California
The Honorable Stephanie Chang, State Senator, State of Michigan
Caroline Choi, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Edison International and Southern California Edison
Diana Hwang, Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Asian-American Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI)
CAUSE equips community leaders with the skills and networks to address issues affecting the Asian Pacific American (APA) community. As part of the CAUSE Leadership Institute (CLI), a certificate program for high-potential professionals, Creating Our Paths a series designed to connect leaders and community members to share, discuss, and reflect on their journeys as part of collective solution-building initiatives.
FEATURING
U.S. Congresswoman The Honorable Judy Chu
Judy Chu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2009. She represents the 27th Congressional District, which includes Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley of southern California.
Rep. Chu currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes, revenues, Social Security, and Medicare. In that Committee, Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health, giving her oversight over healthcare reform and crucial safety net programs, Worker and Family Support, and Oversight.
She also serves on the House Small Business Committee, which has oversight of the Small Business Administration, as well as the House Budget Committee.
Chu was first elected to the Board of Education for Garvey School District in 1985. From there, she was elected to the Monterey Park City Council, where she served as Mayor three times. She then was elected to the State Assembly and then California’s elected tax board, known as the State Board of Equalization. In 2009, she became the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress in history.
MI State Senator The Honorable Stephanie Chang
Sen. Stephanie Chang, the first Asian American woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature, worked as a community organizer in Detroit for nearly a decade before serving two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives.
She served as state director for NextGen Climate Michigan, alumni engagement and evaluation coordinator for the Center for Progressive Leadership in Michigan, deputy director for the Campaign for Justice and as an organizer for Michigan United/One United Michigan. She also worked as a community engagement coordinator for the James and Grace Lee Boggs School and assistant to Grace Lee Boggs, an activist, writer, and speaker.
The senator also is a co-founder and past president of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote-Michigan, and she served as a mentor with the Detroit Asian Youth Project. She is a founder and board member of Rising Voices of Asian American Families and serves on the board of the Southwest Detroit Community Justice Center.
In the state House, Sen. Chang led the way on air quality protection, education, criminal justice reforms, improving economic opportunities, and affordable, safe drinking water. She passed bipartisan legislation on a range of issues including female genital mutilation, nitrous oxide “whip-its”, reentry services for wrongfully convicted individuals who were exonerated, and more. She quickly earned her colleagues’ respect and was named chair of the Progressive Women’s Caucus in her second term. She also served on the leadership team for the House Democratic Caucus both terms and was a co-founder of the Asian Pacific American Legislative Caucus.
Chang earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degrees in public policy and social work from the University of Michigan. She lives in Detroit with her husband and two young daughters.
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs Caroline Choi
Caroline Choi is senior vice president of Corporate Affairs at Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International. Choi oversees Corporate Communications, Corporate Philanthropy, Government Relations and Public Affairs at the national, state and local levels.
Previously, Choi served as senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs at SCE and was responsible for the company’s regulatory engagement, policy and strategy. Choi also served as SCE vice president of Energy and Environmental Policy and oversaw the analysis and development of energy and environmental policies and strategies, as well as engagement at energy and environmental regulatory agencies.
Before joining SCE in 2012, Choi was executive director of Environmental Services & Strategy at Progress Energy (now Duke Energy), where she led environmental permitting, compliance and policy.
Choi is active in national policy and community engagement. She serves on the board of SEPA, a nationwide organization that supports the implementation and deployment of clean energy and distributed resources. She also chairs the board of Veloz, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the shift to electric transportation through public-private collaboration and public engagement. In addition, she is a member of the Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation, National Forest Foundation, and Public Policy Institute of California’s Statewide Leadership Council.
Choi holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.
Diana Hwang
Diana Hwang is the Founder and Executive Director of the Asian-American Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI). She began her career politics at the State House as the Executive Director of the Caucus of Women Legislators and as the Legislative Aide to late State Representative Debby Blumer (D-Framingham). She then served as Chief of Staff on the Boston City Council. Diana is a Founding Commissioner on the Mayor’s Women’s Commission for the City of Boston. She also serves on the Boards of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP) at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Salesian Boys and Girls Club of East Boston, and served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Boston Women’s Fund.