[中文版本]
On October 13th, 2023, the Gold Lantern Awards were held at the Kennedy Center, honoring notable Chinese Americans. Among those honored included Bel Leong-Hong, the founder, president, and CEO of Knowledge Advantage Inc, who has a career in the federal government spanning three decades.
Bel cites her reason for advancing into high level positions in the federal government as wanting to pave the way for future generations’ prosperity and success in the industry. “When I started work, here in the United States…and I didn’t see too many people like me, that could show me the way. And when I got to the Department of Defense… I didn’t see too many people like me in senior positions. That’s when I decided I needed to do something,” Bel commented. When asked about her goals, she said, “It is my life’s passion to make sure that the next generation and the generation after that continue to flourish in this country.” She wanted “to make sure that [future] generations can have role models, and they [can] have ways to go up.”
Bel’s company Knowledge Advantage Inc was created in 1999 to solve the knowledge management challenges facing commercial and government decision-makers. As KAI approaches the midpoint of its third decade, Bel provided insights on where the company will continue to expand in the future. Bel believes KAI will expand into knowledge management and start working with data analytics. “More importantly, I also have a very strong component of growing leadership, and that’s where I’ve been focusing a lot on,” she adds.
Bel has served as the elected Chair of the Democratic National Council and organized AAPI communities across the country since 2005 to increase AAPI awareness and opportunities. She believes the best way for the AAPI community to become more involved in the political process and be empowered is simply “to step up, be involved, and help each other.” She ended the interview by stating “If you help each other, then you can succeed.” CAPA JRC was very grateful to Bel Leong-Hong for allowing the JRC to interview her. The JRC looks forward to what Bel will accomplish in the future.
