Stewart Kwoh (born September 16, 1948) is an American attorney, educator, and civil rights leader. Kwoh is the founding President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, formerly known as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC).

Early life and education

Stewart Kwoh was born to American parents teaching in China in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

on September 16, 1948. When Kwoh was two months old, his family moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, then back to America, settling in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Kwoh's mother, Beulah Kwoh (stage name

Beulah Quo Beulah Quo (April 17, 1923 – October 23, 2002) was a Chinese-American actress and activist born in Stockton, California. The spelling of her last name changed from Kwoh to Quo because she was constantly asked if KWOH was a radio station. She s ...

), was a film and television actress whose trailblazing career spanned almost 50 years and included co-founding the Asian American theatre organization

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

in 1965 as well as becoming the first Asian American woman to win a local Emmy. Kwoh's father, Edwin Kwoh, was a businessman who was involved in a number of non-profits, including the

chapter of

Volunteers of America Volunteers of America (VOA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1896 that provides affordable housing and other assistance services primarily to low-income people throughout the United States. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, the organiz ...

. Edwin Kwoh served as a local board member and helped develop the organization's China Project, which led to a number of U.S. volunteers training individuals in China on topics ranging from policing to accounting. Beulah died in 2002, and Edwin died in 2011. Kwoh earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, and his '' Juris Doctor'' from the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

. Kwoh continues to have close ties with UCLA; he teaches at the university's Asian American Studies Department and has been an instructor at UCLA School of Law. He is a past expert in residence at UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, and has two honorary doctorates from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

and Suffolk School of Law.

Personal life

Kwoh is married to Pat Lee and has two sons, Steven and Nathan.

Asian Pacific American Legal Center

In 1983, Kwoh co-founded the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, now the largest legal aid and civil rights organization serving the Asian American and

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

(AAPI) community in the United States. Under Kwoh's leadership, APALC has also opened a nonprofit center as a community resource, acts as a fiscal sponsor for several smaller nonprofit groups and has established a series of educational workshops aimed at nonprofit capacity building.

Organizations

Kwoh is active with foundations and other philanthropic organizations. He has been Chair of the Board of Directors of The California Endowment, which is the largest health foundation in California. He is one of the first Asian Americans to chair the board of a large foundation in the U.S. Kwoh has also been chair of the Methodist Urban Foundation, vice-chair of the California Wellness Foundation, and a trustee of the California Consumer Protection Foundation, The Tang Family Foundation, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and a former Leadership Council member of California Forward. He serves on the boards of the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

of Greater Los Angeles, Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, KCET, and SCPR.

Publications

Kwoh has co-authored two publications: ''Uncommon Common Group: Race and America's Future'' and ''Untold Civil Rights Stories''. ''Untold Civil Rights Stories'' has been described by Los Angeles Mayor

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...

as: "a social milestone that recognizes the unsung contributions of Asian Americans to America's Civil Rights Movement."

Awards

Kwoh has been a recipient of numerous awards recognizing his efforts to build coalitions consisting of all communities of color. Associations that have honored Kwoh include: the L.A. City and County Human Relations Commissions, California Association of Human Relations Organizations, ACLU, Southern Christian Leadership Conference,

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, also known as CHIRLA, is a Los Angeles county-based organization focusing on immigrant rights. While the organization did evolve from a local level, it is now recognized at a national level. The Coaliti ...

, the Los Angeles Urban League, the Martin Luther King Legacy Association and many other Asian American, civil rights, academic and legal organizations. *1998 MacArthur Fellows Program *2001 UCLA Law School Top Alumni of the Year for Public and Community Service" *2007 California State Bar Loren Miller Legal Services Award *2010

Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is Southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A. County, more than 1,400 member companies and more than 722,430 employ ...

Civic Medal of Honor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwoh, Stewart 1948 births American lawyers University of California, Los Angeles alumni UCLA School of Law alumni MacArthur Fellows Living people Members of Committee of 100 People from Los Angeles Writers from Nanjing Educators from Nanjing UCLA School of Law faculty UC Berkeley School of Law faculty