Throughout her career, the Foundation’s General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, Kiko Yee, has been passionate about empowering women and minorities, particularly in spaces where they are pushed to the margins. For her efforts in spearheading opportunities for women in leadership and her dedication to propelling women forward, Yee is a 2025 Women WELDing the Way Calendar Honoree, a recognition bestowed by the Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD) Columbus chapter.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized by an organization whose ideals align so closely with my own,” Yee said. “Supporting women in leadership and empowering communities are causes I have always been passionate about, and it’s truly gratifying to be among a cohort of amazing women who share in this vision.”
Yee has a long history of championing women in leadership that stemmed from her own experiences. In 2013, upon her transition from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Yee felt there was a lack of opportunity for women in government to connect and support each other. That changed when the Ohio Women’s Bar Foundation (OWBF) selected her as a 2015-2016 Leadership Institute (LI) member. Deeply impacted by the support and connections afforded to her by the LI, Yee went on to serve on the OWBF Board.
Through her OWBF Board service, Yee advocated for several opportunities for women in the legal field, including developing two scholarships – the LI Diversity Scholarship and the Law Student Diversity Scholarship.
“One of my favorite quotes is ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world,’” Yee said. “That sentiment informed the OWBF initiatives I was so proud to have had a hand in creating.”
In addition to her efforts with OWBF, Yee has mentored new attorneys through the Ohio Supreme Court Mentoring Program and the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association Mentoring Network at the OSU Moritz College of Law.
The 2025 theme for Women WELDing the Way is “Igniting the Sponsorship Connection.” For Yee, who will be honored in a ceremony this November and featured in a monthly calendar along with 11 other WELD awardees, being a good sponsor is about creating spaces at the table for women who otherwise wouldn’t have a way to be there.
“I made it to where I am today because of the support of people along the way who believed in me and what I stood for,” Yee said. “Now I get to be a sponsor who makes connections and is willing to turn back around and pull the next person up.”
The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation is the largest funder of civil legal services in Ohio. A gift to the Foundation supports legal aid’s work.