Trustee Hannah Seoh Shares How She Was Inspired to Join CofS
Being surrounded by women who support each other is empowering. It’s one of the reasons young women choose to join sororities as part of their college experience. It’s the reason Ginny Carroll founded the Circle of Sisterhood to leverage the influence of this community of women. CofS Trustee, Hannah Seoh, joined a sorority for the strong network and said it is one of the most life-changing and transformative decisions she’s ever made.
“Never in my dreams would I have imagined that I would be able to leverage my identity as a sorority woman to work with other sisters with different letters in such impactful ways across the globe,” Hannah said. “Playing a part in ensuring that young women everywhere can benefit from quality education is a cause that speaks to me and I am proud to support because education and advanced degrees specifically have really propelled my career and quality of living.”
Hannah’s first exposure to CofS was at an Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors Annual Meeting. There she met people who introduced her to the CofS mission. “To be around so many talented and successful women who were so passionate about the cause inspired me to get involved and to try and get others involved as well.”
She started out as a volunteer helping with the grants program and quickly became an ambassador who spread the mission of CofS and created awareness amongst the National Asian Pacific Islander Desi Panhellenic Association (NAPA) community. In fact, it was Hannah’s experience volunteering with the CofS grant program that became some of her most memorable experiences and what solidified her lifelong support.
While volunteering, she became aware of how education is an issue that transcends race, language and geography. As she was able to learn about the grant application process, she noticed that there were many quality applicants, and she wished that we could fund them all. Though she says, “even just knowing that I was part of an organization that was giving back to areas back home and across the Asian diaspora made me feel still connected to my roots and ancestral heritage. My parents sacrificed so much for me and my sister and it felt like I was doing my part to repay those sacrifices by paying it forward and doing what I could to open doors to education for other women.”
When Hannah was given the opportunity to become a CofS Trustee she says, “It was such an honor to be asked to serve as a Trustee and am so ecstatic to be a part of the strategic oversight body of the organization.” From her experiences, she continues to use her leverage to help others through the CofS mission and beyond. Hannah hopes her story will inspire others to get involved with CofS whether it be through giving, volunteering or being an ambassador.
We hope you will join Hannah, the board of trustees, staff, volunteers, and donors in supporting CofS, especially during these difficult times. Please consider supporting our Day of Giving on September 30th. You can donate here. As CofS shares more stories like Hannah’s leading up to its Day of Giving, be sure to join the conversation by tagging CofS on Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter, as well as use #BeHerHero to come together as we work to open doors to opportunity through education.