Bonnie M. Youn

Before joining The RMN Agency, Bonnie was a successful immigration attorney for nearly two decades. She was a partner in a boutique Atlanta law firm before founding her own practice. She began her legal career as a Staff Attorney with the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, which she joined when she moved to Atlanta in 1994.

Ethnically Korean and born in the Philippines, Bonnie’s commitment to civic engagement is centered on giving back to Atlanta’s Asian American and other diverse communities. She is a long-time Board Member, Programming Chair and Past President of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association (GAPABA), and currently serves as Co-Chair of its non-profit charitable arm, the GAPABA Law Foundation. Organizing hundreds of legal programs and activities, she has been an integral part of planning the annual GAPABA Gala – attended by dozens of general counsel, judges and elected leaders. She is a tireless mentor to law students, often conducting mock interviews and law resume reviews for various bar associations including the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association (GHBA) and the Korean American Bar Association of Georgia (KABA-GA), where she served as a former Board Member. She also has been on the Board of ArtsATL since 2019, a non-profit online media platform providing critical coverage of the arts in metro-Atlanta.

Bonnie’s civic impact and leadership have earned her local and national recognition, including receiving the GAPABA Han C. Choi Mentor Award (2019) for her mentorship of attorneys and law students; and the Heart of GAPABA Award (2015) for her years of service and contributions to GAPABA. The Georgia Asian Times included Bonnie among its Top 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia (2013). In 2012, she was named a White House Cesar Chavez Community Champion of Change for her contributions to immigrant communities. Bonnie has led civic groups that have organized multiple March 16th Remembrance events at the  Georgia Capitol, marking the anniversary of the Atlanta mass AAPI spa shootings, and organizing several Georgia AAPI Legislative Days. She also worked closely with the White House Initiative on AAPIs to organize the first Southeast Regional Action Summit.

Bonnie received her JD from Boston University School of Law and her B.A. in English and American Literature from Brown University. In 2012, Brown University named Bonnie among its Outstanding Asian American Alumni. A resident of Atlanta since 1994, she’s a fan of Atlanta United soccer and is often in the stands cheering loudly with her husband Frank McDonald, an organic chemistry professor at Emory University.

Bonnie’s Career Advice for Lawyers

Bonnie counsels that too often, the enemy of career advancement is self-doubt. “Don’t fall for imposter syndrome. Being humble is an amazing quality, but not when it holds you back from your dream job,” she says. “We each carry the weight of our personal stories, experiences and life challenges. Stay light on your feet and chase your legal career and life dreams. We’re here to help you.”