awards. Kang’s accomplishments have also been acknowledged by other national organizations—in 2011, he was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 40 minority lawyers under the age of 40. Kang’s work in public service
was not inspired by chance. Kang attributes his commitment to public service to his parents. He is the son of South Korean immigrants who were both very active in fighting for dis- ability rights in South Korea and the U.S. From his parents, he learned the importance of public service and policy, and the influence it can have on a people or country. In addition, his parents’ disability advocacy work led to the appointment of Kang’s father to the National Council on Disability by President George W. Bush.
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THE FOUNDER Asim Rehman is corporate counsel at MetLife, a Fortune 500 company with 64,000 employees serving 90 million clients around the world. What makes him stand out? He also co-founded and helps run the Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY). MuBANY is a volunteer-run bar association represent-
ing the interests of Muslim attorneys in the New York City metro area. Rehman co-founded MuBANY to address the needs of a growing number of Muslim lawyers in New York. “We saw the important services that other minority bar associations were able to provide to their members, and we realized that we needed the same. Moreover, we started MuBANY because Muslims in America were coming under intense scrutiny in the years following 9/11, and we believed that lawyers were uniquely poised to provide support to the larger Muslim community and to build awareness within our own legal profession,” said Rehman. Since establish- ing MuBANY, Rehman has given testimonies at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and other agencies regarding anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-South Asian sentiment in the U.S. post-9/11. Rehman has managed his busy career and community
commitments through a supportive work environment. “Running a bar association is a serious time commitment, but it is made much easier when you have a workplace that encour- ages and celebrates lawyers who get involved in diversity initia- tives inside and outside the company. Further, being in-house allows me to bring a unique perspective to MuBANY’s work.”
MR. DO-IT-ALL Not only was Christopher Javillonar honored as a BU40, he was also the co-chair of the local host committee that brought the NAPABA Convention to Kansas City. Trough a two-year planning process, he committed countless
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
“ I WAS MOTIVATED TO WORK WITH THE ASIAN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY AFTER SEEING THE EXPERIENCES THAT MY PARENTS FACED IMMIGRATING TO THE U.S.” – BETTY SONG
hours in helping plan, direct, and execute NAPABA’s 25th Annual Convention. Aside from volunteering his time to plan a convention, Javillonar focuses on complex commercial litigation as a partner at the Kansas City office of Bryan Cave LLP. Javillonar’s extracurricular
activities are hard to match. He
was an at-large member of the NAPABA board, and also served on the boards of Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, and Asian American Bar Association of Kansas City. Te underlying denominators in much of his extracurricular accomplish- ments are: diversity and Kansas City. Javillonar is deeply committed to promoting diversity in his city and welcoming others who may otherwise overlook the city, to experience it. Javillonar accomplished this feat when over 1200 APA lawyers changed Kansas City’s demographics for four days.
THE COMMUNITY LEADER Betty Song’s career is built on community. As supervis- ing attorney for the legal services unit at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles (formerly Asian Pacific America Legal Center), Song found her passion in commu- nity work because of her own life and familial experiences. “I was motivated to work with the Asian immigrant com- munity after seeing the experiences that my parents faced immigrating to the U.S.,” Song said. “Like so many immi- grants, they struggled with learning a new language and understanding a new culture, and they faced discrimination and racism. Advancing Justice-LA is the kind of place I wish my parents had been able to contact after coming to the U.S.” Song uses her parents’ struggles as immigrants as a backdrop to her own work providing legal services to low- income immigrant communities in the Los Angeles area. For Song, being aware of one’s own personal immigrant experiences is a valuable tool to underserved community members. “It’s so important to have people from the com- munity, working for and with the community.” Javillonar, Kang, Rehman, Song and their fellow 2013
BU40 honorees join a distinguished group of NAPABA members who have gone on to establish and continue remarkable careers both within and outside the legal world. Tey have followed those before them and have blazed trails for those to follow after them. In the 25 years of NAPABA and 13 years of the BU40 Award, we have seen progress in remarkable ways—both through the accomplishments of individual members and as a commu- nity working together to break various glass ceilings. As we celebrate these accomplishments, we are also reminded that there is still much more work to be done, and we must keep the momentum going.
MCCA.COM
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