Soo-Young Chin, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Senior Partner

Soo’s core strength is research design, knowing how to match methods to inquiry by pulling from a variety of practices. Her work focuses on improving systems, experiences and products through understanding of the lives of real people.

Soo serves as an expert witness on civil and criminal cases complicated by culture (e.g., religious beliefs, business practices, social norms). Prior to co-founding Ethnoworks in 2010, she served as Lead Partner of Practical Ethnographics at Ascension’s internal innovation group. She is drawn to nonprofit organizations for their missions, and served as Director of Development at the KHEIR Center, an LA-based community clinic, for four years.

Soo is a published author, and was on faculty at the University of Southern California and San Jose State University. She conducted her fieldwork in San Francisco and Seoul for her doctorate in cultural gerontology from UCSF.