Im Ja Choi is committed to ensuring that all Asian American senior citizens with language barriers are informed of and offered appropriate health care services. Applying her own experience of caring for her mother with cancer, she founded Penn Asian Senior Services, a nonprofit home health agency. It now serves 495 clients including 18% non-Asian elderly, and offers 11 different Asian languages and English. She also established a vocational school for entry-level health care workers and recently added an adult day care service.

Im Ja has been active in educational, civic, and community organizations including the Temple University College for Health Professionals, Montgomery County Community College, Diversity Council of the PA Department of Aging, and Philadelphia Asian American Women’s Coalition. She received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Community Health Leader Award. She graduated from Korea University and received her master’s degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.