About Us

Who are we?

Founded in 2018, Woori Center is a grassroots organization based in Greater Philadelphia. Woori Center empowers and mobilizes our community around the issues of the most vulnerable community members, including the low-income, recent immigrant, limited English proficient, undocumented, women, seniors and young people. Meaning “us” or “we” in Korean, Woori Center facilitates access to services for immigrants, organizes community members for immigrant rights advocacy, develops youth leadership, leads civic engagement campaigns and provides arts & culture programs.

Woori Center is an affiliate of National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC).

Our Vision

Woori Center aims to empower the Korean and Asian American communities in Greater Philadelphia and beyond and to contribute to building a society where everyone thrives together based on mutual understanding and respect.

Our Mission Statement

Woori Center’s mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans towards social, racial and economic justice.

Our History

Woori Center was founded in 2018, but our roots began in the early 1990s when many of our founding members participated in the establishment of Korean American Community Center (KACC) and National Korean American Service and Education Center (NAKASEC). In response to the increasingly restrictive immigration policies introduced in the late 2010s, former KACC and current Woori Center leaders began organizing information sessions and other educational and cultural programs for the Korean American community in Greater Philadelphia

Our Values

Live Right

Live Strong

Know Your Roots

Live Together

Woori Center shares its mission and values with NAKASEC: Live Right (바르게 살자), Live Strong (굳세게 살자), Know Your Roots (뿌리를 알자), and Live Together (더불어 살자). These were the original organizing principles that the founders of NAKASEC developed and are the core values that NAKASEC and its affiliates, including Woori Center, use to guide our work today. 

To read more about the meaning(s) of our values, visit nakasec.org/values.