THE KOREA SOCIETY

Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl serves as the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City and is the first woman to lead Central's Reform congregation in its 185-year history. Rabbi Buchdahl first joined Central Synagogue as Senior Cantor in 2006. In 2014, she was chosen by the congregation to be Senior Rabbi. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Rabbi Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America.

Rabbi Buchdahl has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, and she has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the Today Show, NPR, and PBS and was listed as one of Newsweek's "America's 50 Most Influential Rabbis." She serves on the boards of the AJC, the Asia Society, the New York Board of Rabbis, and the Yale University President's Council. Rabbi Buchdahl's memoir, Heart of a Stranger, released in October 2025 became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Kyung B. Yoon is the President and CEO (as well as co-founder) of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF), the first and largest philanthropic organization in the U.S. dedicated to strengthening Korean American communities. Her career in poverty alleviation, development economics, and media encompasses her roles as the Executive Producer of Television at the World Bank Institute and a correspondent for WNYW-Fox Channel 5 where she made history as the first Korean American broadcast reporter in NYC. Kyung is currently a contributing reporter to CUNY-TV's Asian American Life, which is broadcast nationally on PBS stations and for which she received an Emmy nomination. She has previously served as the board chair of Philanthropy New York and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, as a trustee of the New York Foundation, and as a board member of the United Way of New York City.