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MS. YMAN VIEN
Co-Founder
Yman Huang Vien, a Chicago Chinese-American leader from Vietnam, is the president of the financial & real estate services company Lotus Financial Partners, Inc., the first female president of the 120 year-old Chicago Chinese Benevolent Association (CCBA), a co-founder & board member of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) and trustee of Ravenswood Health Care Foundation.
In 1978, Ms. Vien arrived in Chicago as a Chinese refugee from Vietnam and enrolled as an English as a Secondary Language (ESL) student. While working full-time for Jewish Vocational Services where she helped hundreds Vietnamese refugees find employment in Chicago, Ms. Vien also attended Loyola University at the same time, where she successfully earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and later completed the Graduate School of Banking at University of Madison.
Since 1988, Ms. Vien has worked her way up in the banking industry staff as accountant, auditor and then as president & chief executive officer with local Chicago community banks. Ms. Vien was recognized by the American Bankers Association for her efforts in executing outreach to unbanked and underbanked markets while serving the immigrant community in Chicago. Along with her father, Duc Huang, Ms. Vien helped founded the Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) in 1981. Ms. Vien has been actively involved with CMAA since its inception and served as the executive director from 1994-1998 where CMAA received a number of awards due to two nationally known crossed ethnic collaborations under Ms. Vien’s initiative. Under Ms. Vien’s direction, CMAA continues her father’s vision in helping thousands of immigrants.
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As CCBA’s current president, Ms. Vien is leading the organization in planning to build a 92-unit senior housing and new service center in Chicago. Due to Ms. Vien’s exceptional leadership, she has received a number of awards including the top “100 Women Making a Difference” in Today’s Chicago Woman, the Athena Award, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Horatio Alger Award, the Found Asian Award from the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, the Damen Award from Loyola University and a Business Leader in Colors Award from Chicago United.
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Yman Vien’s story was featured in a June 2024 episode of The Rundown Podcast:
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