It’s finally September and while summer turns to autumn, terms begin anew, and the greens deepen to orange, we also celebrate the rich heritage of East and South East Asia. ESEA Heritage Month is all about highlighting the histories, culture, and unique identities of East and South East Asian communities.
To celebrate, the Asian Leadership Collective and East Asian Girl Gang are hosting an intimate sharing circle at AllBright's Townhouse where you'll get to open up, share your personal experiences, and listen to the incredible journeys of others within the community or learn more about a new culture. Taking place October 4th, don't miss this opportunity to come together, learn from one another, and celebrate the vibrant tapestry of East Asian and South East Asian cultures, RSVP here.
Our wonderful member, Eileen Willett, Co-founder of Cucumber Clothing and Co-host of our East Asian and South East Asian Sharing Circle, has taken the time to share with us 5 East and South East Asian women to watch this month!
Yuhui Choe
Korean dancer Yuhui Choe is a First Soloist of The Royal Ballet. She was a Prix de Lausanne Apprentice with The Royal Ballet in 2002 and joined the Company as an Artist in 2003, promoted to First Artist in 2006 and First Soloist in 2008.
Choe was born in Fukuoka and began dancing aged five. Aged 14 she moved to Paris to train with Daini Kudo and after winning silver in the 2000 Paris International Dance Competition began training with Dominique Khalfouni. In 2002 she won first prize and the contemporary dance prize at the Prix de Lausanne and went on to join The Royal Ballet as an apprentice. Her first major solo role with the Company was Princess Florine (Natalia Makarova’s The Sleeping Beauty) in 2004, and her first role as First Soloist was Nikiya. She has gone on to dance many of the Principal roles.
Choe created roles for Jonathan Watkins in his As One and ‘Diana and Actaeon’ (Metamorphosis: Titian 2012, in collaboration with Will Tuckett and Liam Scarlett). She has also created roles in Infra, Limen, ‘Fire’ (Homage to The Queen) and DGV: Danse à grande vitesse on the main stage and in The Human Edge in the Linbury Studio Theatre, among others. Her awards include Best Female Artist (Classical) at the 2008 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award, and in 2016 she was nominated for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards (Arts and Culture).
How have your roots informed your career routes? Coming from Korean community within Japan, we have strong sense of community and also a sense of being outliers, but because of this I always felt like an international citizen. The ballet world might share French words but our bodies are our language. I’m forever grateful to explore my passion as my profession.
Head shot and stage photo by Andre Uspenski
Amazin LeThi: Igniting Change and Reshaping Narratives
Dive into the world of Amazin LeThi, a powerhouse figure known for her dynamic roles as a moderator, global speaker, LGBTQ advocate, athlete, cultural change and social justice leader. Breaking boundaries, she stands as the only Asian LGBTQ Athlete with multiple LGBTQ sports ambassador roles on a global scale. Her acclaim is far-reaching, acknowledged by 30 esteemed international organizations including Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD. Notably, she's an Honorary Citizen of the State of Georgia and graced Forbes magazine's spotlight during 'Asian Pacific Islander Heritage' month as one of the top six Asian women to watch.
A true luminary in diversity, equity, and inclusion, Amazin LeThi commands attention as a sought-after guest speaker, advisor and consultant for Fortune 500 companies, governments, and global entities. Her influence stretches from the White House to the The Prince’s Trust, where her guidance fuels advocacy across human rights, DEI strategies, sports, and LGBTQ rights. A catalyst for cultural metamorphosis, her compelling dialogues divulge a journey from homelessness to a global LGBTQ icon. Championing both Asian and LGBTQ equality, Amazin LeThi lent her expertise to President Biden's triumphant 'Out For Biden' 2020 campaign. As their digital advisor for LGBTQ and Asian communications, she fortified a message of inclusivity and change.
How have your roots informed your career routes? Being an Asian queer woman played a significant role in shaping my experiences, perspectives, and choices as both an athlete and a global LGBTQ+ advocate. I am able to continually challenge stereotypes and demonstrate that individuals from diverse backgrounds can excel in various fields and be strong advocates for social change.
Jacqueline Chio-Lauri
Jacqueline Chio-Lauri is the anthologist, editor and lead author of WE COOK FILIPINO and its predecessor, the highly acclaimed THE NEW FILIPINO KITCHEN. Together with Dr. Youssef Roman et al., they published an academic paper, Health Disparities of Cardiometabolic Disorders Among Filipino Americans: Implications for Health Equity and Community-Based Genetic Research, to spur on culturally appropriate health promotion, disease prevention strategies, and a personalized approach to health. Jacqueline is also writing for a younger and young-at-heart readers. Her first picture book, MAMI KING: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and a Perfect Bowl of Soup (Millbrook Press) will hit the shelves on April 2, 2024.
How have your roots informed your career routes? Born and raised in the Philippines, I’ve moved to and lived in seven countries where my food and culture are hardly represented. It led to a hunger that I try to satiate by creating mirrors and windows of my (Filipino-Chinese) heritage as an anthologist and author. I collect stories and recipes of trailblazers from the Filipino diaspora around the world. By working together, I hope our voices get amplified and heard better. I also write stories for young readers, which publishers here in the UK still consider as marginal.
Dominique Woolf
Founder of The Woolf's Kitchen and #1 Sunday Times Best Selling author of Dominique's Kitchen .
Half-Thai Dominique Woolf was the Winner of Channel 4’s ‘Jamie’s Great Cookbook Challenge’. She wowed the judges with her simple, accessible Asian recipes, and her book, Dominique’s Kitchen, became a Sunday Times bestseller.
Dominique now contributes recipes to magazines such as BBC Good Food, Ocado Life and Sainsbury’s and has her own food range ‘The Woolf’s Kitchen’ of Asian sauces, chilli oils and pastes inspired by those her Thai auntie used to make. Auntie Dang’s now legendary tamarind sauce was so mind-blowingly good, Dominique had no choice but to create her own version and so ‘The Woolf’s Kitchen’ was born. Starting in the middle of lockdown 2020 with her three young children in tow she began selling to local shops and delis. Her products are now stocked in The Co-op and Selfridges.
Dominique is passionate about sharing her love of big, bold flavours and Asian cuisine. She lives in London with her husband and three little taste testers, and is currently writing her second book of easy Asian-inspired dishes.
How have your roots informed your career routes? My Thai roots have played a fundamental role in my food career. It was my Thai auntie's sauces which sparked my lightbulb moment and made me realise I wanted to start a food business with Asian-inspired products. And my cookbook, Dominique's Kitchen focuses on easy Asian-inspired cooking. I am passionate about the vibrant, big, bold flavours from all types of Asian cuisine and am on a mission to bring them to more people's tables - whether through my products or recipes.
Kitty Liao
Kitty Liao is an entrepreneur, engineer and innovator. She is the founder and CEO of IDEABATIC, an award-winning social enterprise tackling last-mile vaccine-cold chain issues. Kitty was an ex-CERN physicist and engineer working on systems upgrading the Large Hadron Collider. She founded IDEABATIC inspired by a humanitarian hackathon event she participated at CERN in 2014. She invented SMILE SMart last-mILE Cooling System, the only last-mile solution that is fool-proof and reduces vaccine wastage. SMILE has won 17 awards globally and trialled in Africa.
Kitty has 13 years of experience in low-temperature and multi-disciplinary systems, user-centred design, vaccine cold-chain, design for low-resource settings and prototyping. She was awarded an Enterprise Fellow at UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2018 which included a lifetime support. Kitty, most recently seen in Glamour Magazine’s, Three Innovators Changing the World, is a humanitarian and hardware hackathon enthusiast. She has been an ambassador, mentor and coach at The Port Association’s Humanitarian hackathon at CERN since 2014.
IDEABATIC is funded by Expo 2020 Dubai, UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering, InnovateUK, MIT Solve, the Centre for Global Equality and many more.
How have your roots informed your career routes? I have always been someone with strong opinions and I have always followed my interests with a passion. I tend to just ignore what others say, especially those who have tried to dissuade me from doing things I enjoy and that inspire me. It has been a huge challenge in that my East Asian heritage did not encourage me or play a positive role in any of my life choices, including my career choice. In fact, at school, I was discouraged to study what they call 'guys' subjects’! Something which I completely disapproved and disapprove of. In the end I'm glad I ignored those comments and followed my heart and to work on something I enjoy. The best thing is that I left the country and embarked a fantastic journey in places where my talents are appreciated. I hope therefore that ESEA Heritage Month will help create a greater understanding of both the positives and negatives of East Asian culture.
