Panel Discussion: The Legacy of Local Korean American Entrepreneurship

Date: Saturday, June 28th, 2025, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab
$10 / Free for members 

Join us for a special panel discussion exploring the profound impact of Korean American entrepreneurship on the cultural and economic landscape of the United States. This conversation will focus on the essential role of convenience stores and grocery markets as cornerstones of immigrant resilience, innovation, and community-building.

Our panelists are experts, entrepreneurs, and community leaders and will discuss the significance of Korean American-owned businesses in shaping DC and Greater Washington’s  economies, food culture, and the broader immigrant narrative. This is a unique opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue about heritage, perseverance, and the future of Korean American entrepreneurship in our area.

Panelists:
Sojin Kim is a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, a research and education department that collaborates with communities in the U.S. and around the world on cultural heritage policy and cultural sustainability issues. She works on projects focusing on migration, music, and public history—with particular attention to the production of collective memory through performance, archives/collections, and the use of public space. She was co-curator of the following Smithsonian Folklife Festival programs: D.C.: The Social Power of Music (2019), On the Move: Migration Across Generations (2017), Sounds of California (2016), and China: Tradition and the Art of Living (2014).
Sojin holds a Ph.D. in folklore and mythology from UCLA. She previously worked as a curator at the Japanese American National Museum and the Natural History Museum of LA County; and as a coordinator for the LA Central Library’s "Shades of LA" project. She serves on the boards of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP) and HumanitiesDC.

Tae Strain has spent the last 16 years cooking around the country and beyond in Baltimore, NYC, San Francisco, France, Thailand, and DC. Most notably, he was the Executive Chef of David Changs flagship restaurant in DC, Momofuku CCDC, where he led the restaurants rebrand and resurgence with a 3 star Washington Post review, a number 29 spot on Washingtonian Best Restaurants, Eater Essential 38, and nomination for Eater DC Chef of the Year in 2018. Previously, he served as Chef De Cuisine for Chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krazinski at The Progress SF (Food & Wine Best New Restaurant - James Beard Best New Restaurant Finalist - Bon Appetit Top 50), where he helped them achieve a Michelin Star in his first year. He has also held positions of Executive Chef at Demi Restaurant in Baltimore, Sous Chef at the 1 star Michelin/James Beard award winning restaurant, PUBLIC (AvroKO Hospitality) in NYC, and Head of Culinary/Corporate Executive Chef at Foxtrot Markets. Currently he is focusing on his personal project, ggoma supper club

Grace Dahye Kwon is a PhD student at the University of Maryland in American Studies. Her work centers on Asian American ethnic entrepreneurs, foodways and reparative narratives/storytelling. Her research focuses on the DMV Asian American diaspora and the ways in which food and its production has played a part in the development of our community and in the continued activism and resistance to the redevelopment of ethnoburbs through food culture. As a child of immigrant entrepreneurs and having grown up in the DMV area, her goal is to shine a light on the continued impact that Asian Americans have made on the DC metropolitan landscape and to examine how food has been and still is central to our community. Grace also holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and MA in Literature and previously worked as a curatorial assistant at the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.