Catherine was born in South Korea and immigrated to America in the early 80’s. Upon completing her education, she established a church, Christian Total Ethos in 1994 with a call to practice her faith in the community. She realized that her community needed religiously nonthreatening services and established an affiliated nonprofit organization, Koreatown Multipurpose Senior Center (KSC) in 1995. Under Catherine’s leadership, KSC became the focal points for the immigrant community with various needs. KSC was also the center for education, immigration and social service, advocacy, and participation opportunities. She completed several major projects successfully in collaboration with state government agencies and nonprofit organizations. In the early stage of KSC, she supported her community work by moonlighting as an instructor at the Los Angeles City College. Catherine focused on community education and job training for new comers. She established Korean American Homecare Academy to train and place bicultural and bilingual in-home care providers for Korean American frail elderly. Catherine was one of the most frequent guests to the media interviews on the current policies that affected the community. Catherine was the first Asian female student who preached about the gender identity before the community worship service in the Claremont School of Theology. For this progressive moment of her life, Catherine was honored by the faculty members, and a textbook in the library was dedicated to her name. Upon the dissolution of KSC in 2015, Catherine followed her heart to serve the higher call, preserving the humanity over religion. She renamed the church as Total Ethos and changed its status as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the community of gender identity.
Catherine earned a Master of Science in Gerontology at the University of Southern California, Master of Divinity at the Claremont School of Theology, Master of Art in Christian Education and Organizational Leadership at the Talbot School of Theology. Among other things, Catherine has keen ability to execute plans, analyze issues and develop policies. She is also a well-respected teacher who has the ability to make a difference in one’s life by encouraging, giving hope, and supporting the less fortunate individuals. She developed a several ESL study guide books for Korean American adult learners, to reduce language barrier. She is currently working on interpreting the Gospel of Thomas and the curriculum on the community of gender identity.
Catherine was awarded “in recognition of extraordinary achievements and high standard of excellence” by the Congresswoman, Judy Chu for training and placing the dislocated family members, and by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for exceptional enrollment ranking for Covered CA.
Catherine has a great interest in nature, space, and self-learning. She hopes to travel to the Mar, ride an auto driver car, and communicate with deer someday. She likes gardening and DIY projects.