Martha Choe (left) and Estela Ortega

At the Women of Valor Awards, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, with special guests U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, honored individuals who have made a difference in their communities. Read the full story

The University of Washington (UW) Women’s Center is celebrating 100 years of women voting in Washington state by honoring 100 influential women in the state that have broken barriers in various fields. Read the full story

With the highest education rate, why are Asian Americans still relatively behind in their careers?

By Irfan Shariff
Northwest Asian Weekly

Image by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) indicates that a gender wage gap still exists. The median income of women is still 77.9 percent that of men. Read the full story

From left: NAAAP-Seattle Community Service Chair David Eam, NAAAP-Seattle Professional Development Chair Hang-Ping Chen, NAAAP-Seattle member Connie Sugahara, and NAAAP-Seattle President Gil Gido

Dr. Qi Lu (left) and Martha Choe

At the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) National Convention in San Francisco, NAAAP’s Seattle chapter placed second in community service and third in professional development.

Local individuals Martha Choe, chief administrative officer of foundation operations at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Dr. Qi Lu, president of Microsoft’s Online Services Division, were two of NAAAP’s 10 honorees for its NAAAP 100 Program. ♦

(Photos by George Liu/NWAW)

By Steven Cong
Northwest Asian Weekly

“This dinner is not a town hall meeting,” joked Assunta Ng, founder of the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, the event’s organizer, referring to the celebration dinner held at the House of Hong on Dec. 4 honoring Dow Constantine, Martha Choe, Lloyd Hara, Mike McGinn, John Okamoto, and Betty Patu. They were named the 2009 Top Contributors to the Asian Community by the Northwest Asian Weekly. This year’s theme was “Diversity at the Top.” Read the full story

Martha Choe — an established leader

By Nina Huang
Northwest Asian Weekly

Martha Choe

Martha Choe is a jack of all trades. She started out as a high school teacher, moved to commercial banking, then to government services, and now she’s working for the largest global private foundation in the world.

Choe has been sought by former Gov. Gary Locke and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for her firm and effective leadership.

Early life

Choe is the daughter of Korean immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1948 as post-graduate students. Her parents were early immigrant pioneers and settled in New York, where Choe was born. Read the full story