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 and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Prior to joining Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California in August 2020, Chung Joe served as the Executive Director of the Korean American Family Services (KFAM) for 11 years. Under Chung 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, Chung 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. Chung Joe received her BA in Spanish and International Relations from USC and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Chung 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. Chung 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. Chung Joe was appointed by the Governor to the California Flexible Assistance for Survivors Advisory Committee in 2022 and by the California Senate to the Domestic Violence Advisory Council in 2016.  She currently serves as a member of Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council. Chung 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. Chung Joe was named Senator Maria Elena Durazo’s California District 24 Woman of the Year in 2022. She was named California Assemblymember Miguel Santiago’s AD54 Woman of the Year by in 2023. She was named as one of Senator Anthony Portantino’s Women in Business honorees in 2023.