Serving as chairperson of the Gateway Korea Foundation for the past seven years, Young Hie Kromm has elevated a young not-for-profit organization, founded in 2012, to a well-established volunteer-based organization. Her knowledge and passion for the beauty of Korean arts and culture, accompanied by her devotion and commitment to the organization, reached the heart and soul of many people in the heartland community, helping them better understand and appreciate Korean culture. Young Hie Kromm expressed, “It was an incredible journey for me to serve a community that has been so open to cross-cultural communication. Knowing that the organization we worked so hard to establish is in the good hands of the next generation of leadership also is important to me.”  We are grateful Young Hie will continue to serve the Gateway Korea Foundation this year as a vice-chairperson.

Now the Gateway Korea Foundation is under the new leadership of Dr. Seungwon You. Currently working as Director of the Global Leadership and Asian Scholarship Program at the University of Missouri-Columbia, he will bring immense experience in working with diverse groups on cross cultural communications for the GKF.  He not only has extensive knowledge of Korean culture and history, but he is also known for serving others in his community through work in various organizations. During the GKF Leadership Transition Celebration, Dr. You expressed that he would like to be a servant rather than a leader.  He further shared that "Our vision is a heartland community in which more people have access to a better understanding of Korean history, society, culture, and art, so they may become global citizens with improved cross-cultural communications. To achieve this, GKF will continue to offer various Korean activities and educational events including seminars and guest lecturers, as well as cultural and art festivals such as Dano and Chuseok." GKF is thrilled to have Dr. You who has knowledge and experience, passion, vision, and deep commitment to the GKF’s mission. Please meet Dr. You, our new GKF chairperson, pictured below. He (center) is joined by our two new board members, Mark Carlie (right) and Kathy Hawkinson (left). Bios of these two and all board members can be found by clicking their names at https://www.gateway-korea.org/people .

The GKF is a unique organization joined by people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. One thing that binds these people is their appreciation for and passion about Korean culture. Below is how Richard Stevenson became involved as a GKF board member.

I was privileged to live in Korea for four years, three of them in the rural countryside.  I first gained appreciation for the people there:  always hard-working, cheerful and confident, and supportive and kind to the naïve and ignorant person I was among them at that time.  Over time as I traveled, I learned to love their gorgeous countryside and fine architecture, from the humblest farmers’ homes, to temples in the mountains, and to the grandest palaces of the ruling class.  That piqued my interest in their history – five thousand years! – their arts, and culture, all so fascinating.  Returning home, I retained that appreciation, but for years it was only my own, unshared, seemingly unshareable.  For most people here back then, Korea was still not much more than a frozen mountaintop during a bitter war.  Then came GKF!  I was asked to join their board.  I liked their mission.  I enjoyed their Korean arts and cultural education programming.  I had experienced a career working for various not-for-profit organizations.  Perhaps I had something to offer this one, to help GKF strengthen, prosper and grow.  My privilege was renewed, in a fresh and interesting way.