Chinese American Bar Association

Justice Laura C. Liu Lifetime Achievement Award

Rachel Huan Kao

Rachel Huan Kao is an attorney licensed to practice in Illinois, with a solo practice dedicated to immigration law. She serves AILA Chicago Chapter on various committees. She also serves Chinese American Bar Association - Chicago on the Board of Directors. She is a past board member and Treasurer of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, past Treasurer of Chinese American Bar Association – Chicago, and past board member of Asian American Bar Association – Chicago. Ms, Kao is actively involved in the ISBA Minority Bar Association CLE program, enforcement of the Unauthorized Practice of Law, and has often spoken on immigration issues to the community.

Distinguished Service in Law Award

Grace B. Hou

Grace B. Hou has served under Governor JB Pritzker as the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) since March 2019. She also previously served as the Assistant Secretary at IDHS from 2003 to 2012, and during that time she was an architect of Illinois’ Immigrant Integration New American’s Gubernatorial Executive Order which was nationally recognized.
Grace has dedicated her career to advancing social justice by working in the non-profit and public sectors systems for change improvement through public policy development and implementation, social services provision, community organizing and engagement, and philanthropy. 
Early in her career, she was the Executive Director of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) and has been a vocal advocate for immigrants’ rights. She is the board chair of the Healthy Communities Foundation, a 2001 Leadership Greater Chicago fellow, a member of The Chicago Network and The Commercial Club, and a German Marshall fellow.

Rising Star Award

Jianing Xie

Jianing Xie is a Staff Attorney at the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern, where she represents wrongfully convicted women and non-binary people. She is passionate about supporting families impacted by the criminal legal system, and creating a racially just society for communities of color. She regularly volunteers with the Chinatown Pro Bono Clinic, and is a member of i2i Chicago. Ms. Xie is a graduate of Harvard Law School, '19 and Duke University, '13. As a law student, she served as the Executive Director of Harvard Defenders and a student attorney in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau’s family practice.

Presidential Leadership Award

Ivy Lee

Ivy Lee is an Assistant General Counsel at CompTIA, Inc. Prior to CompTIA, she worked as an attorney at Hlustik, Huizenga, Williams & Vander Woude Ltd., where she served as outside general counsel for middle market companies. Her practice includes commercial contracts, corporate governance, M&A, real estate, and counseling U.S. businesses on cross-border transactions. She is a regular volunteer at the Chinatown Pro Bono Clinic, where she provides free legal consultation related to landlord tenant, wills & trusts, divorce, and immigration.