Point Reyes Light - August 10, 2000
Daughter of Valley grocer named White House fellow
The Hongs, owners of The Little Store in Forest Knolls, are a proud family these days. Their daughter, Katie Hong, has been selected from among several hundred applicants to serve as a White House Fellow.
Starting in September she will begin working fulltime in the Office of the US Chief of Staff, along with 15 other fellows. Hong, who lives in Seattle, is the only female Asian American from the Northwest to become a White House fellow.
Most recently, Hong has been working as an executive policy advisor for Washington Gov. Gary Locke. As part of her job she advised the governor on community and economic development issues and chaired the Sub-Cabinet on Farm Worker Housing. Additionally, she worked with a leadership program for girls from low-income households.
Her father, Seong Bom Hong (known as Steve), told The Light last week that "Katie always wanted to be a lawyer or a politician and work with poor people to help them."
Katie Hong entered the working world at the age of eight, helping her parents at the Little Store. People who came in the store were always amazed at how well and how quickly she had picked up English.
On weekends and holidays, Katie worked the cash register and stocked shelves, and when things got slow "she was always studying in the store."
Professionally, Katie Hong takes after her father. He studied and practiced law in Seoul, Korea before moving to Novato with his family in 1980 at the age of 42 He immediately opened a liquor store in Oakland and three years later bought the Little Store in Knolls because he "liked the area."
This weekend Katie will be back in Forest Knolls and. Said her happy father, "Maybe she will work with me again on Saturday or Sunday morning."