About the WBC Director

Judi Rhee Alloway, Director

Women's Business Center of the Empowerment Group

 

@JudiRheeAlloway: Director of a SBA-funded Women’s Business Center @WomensBizCenter at the Empowerment Group; Lead Coach, Imagine Leadership, LLC @ImagineLeaders; and Founding National Director of Women in NAAAP! @WomeninNAAAP, an international Asian women’s leadership program covered in Forbes Women.

Judi Rhee Alloway is the Director of the Women's Business Center at the Empowerment Group. With 15 years of experience in creative economic environments, Judi has started and managed successful small businesses, programs, and international non-profit organizations managing over 75+ people and $6 million dollars in revenue. Her public media appearances include The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philly Daily News, El Dia, The Epoch Times, Nickelodeon, and Fox News. Her transformative life story is featured in two books: The Height of Power: Petite Women Speak of Stature with Donna Shalala and Dan Chloe by Huffington Post columnist Suzette Martinez Stranding, and The Coaches Journey.

Judi began her work in empowering communities when she started Huesoul Foundation in Mongolia to build communities through sustainable agriculture. Coming back to America, she had a successful career in asset management at Morgan Stanley until struck with debilitating chronic pain which completely changed her life ”from a wheelchair to health is wealth.” 

With a new lease on life, Judi trained as Certified Professional Coach at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, where she discovered her passion to encourage “everyday leaders” and created the “Shift Now!” movement across the country generating $100k in revenues in 3 months. In 2010, Ms. Alloway organized the Philadelphia Asian American community through a new website, events, and speaker as the consultant for the Mayor's Commission on Asian American Affairs (MCAAA). She was the founding Professional Development Chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) and the founding National Director of Women in NAAAP!, an international Asian women's leadership program in 10 metropolitan cities across North America covered by Forbes Women. 

Chosen by the Women’s Bureau of the US Department of Labor in 2011, Ms. Alloway was honored to be placed in the pool of top women innovators to represent the United States by the US State Department. She currently serves on the Steering Committee of Count Me In, coaching 1000 women small business owners to become millionaires, and the Founding Boards of Asian Americans in Energy, Environment, and Commerce (AE2C), and Korean Americans for Obama – Philadelphia, influencing the presidential election by 5 points. Judi speaks at international events for Korean Women International Network (KOWIN) supported by the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and International Korean Adoptees Services (INKAS) at international conferences and at the Korean Embassy and has participated in organizing national events through Korean Inauguration Committee and Korean Coalition in Civic Participation at the U.S. White House.

Ms. Alloway currently serves as the Director of SBA-funded Women's Business Center at the Empowerment Group where she played an integral role in rebranding the organization. In partnership with the University of the Arts' Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, she increased the number of minority women-owned businesses in Philadelphia by 10%. A graduate from the George Washington University with a B.A. in International Affairs and a concentration in Politics/Economics specializing in Russian Languages and Literatures, and post graduate studies at Moscow State University and Seoul National University, Judi speaks around the world as a social entrepreneur, a community leader, and a multicultural women's leadership expert as one of the top “Asian American influencers.”