An award winner
By Julie Matuszewski; photos courtesy of Kevin Leung
Kevin and his wife, Shirley, happily hold their Colorado Governor’s Minority Business Award. When Kevin is not serving on the Douglas County School Board, he is a busy successful local business owner of a full-service car wash and auto detailing business.
Kevin Leung, 26-year resident of The Village at Castle Pines was one of this year’s three winners of the Colorado Association of School Board McGuffey Award. The award honors unique members who bring committed and passionate service to their board work.
Leung came to this country with nothing to his name. His parents escaped from Communist China to then British colony, Hong Kong. Leung grew up in public housing with a family of eight who lived in a 150-square-feet apartment. Growing up in extreme poverty and being the son of illiterate parents, Leung was determined and worked hard to earn himself a master’s degree in computer science and business administration from the University of Colorado.
He worked as a civilian contractor for the U.S. Army, and had a successful career in information and technology (IT) in the private sector. Leung was also a professor and taught IT graduate courses at Regis University.
Leung, his wife Shirley, and three children have lived in The Village since 1996. The children attended both public and charter neighborhood schools. The family loves the small-town feel of Castle Pines, its great schools and open space, as well as still being close to Denver.
Kevin and his family love to travel when not volunteering in community service. The Leung family has visited more than 30 states, 500 cities and have covered more than 30% of the world. From left to right: Middle daughter Tanya, oldest daughter Monina (back), youngest daughter Karisma (center), and Kevin and his wife of 30 years, Shirley, visit the sights of Japan with Mt. Fuji in the background.
For nearly 20 years, Leung has served in many rolls within the Douglas County School Board (DCSB). Due, in part to his cultural upbringing, he places a high value on education and has been more than happy to give back to his community through public service. He said he is honored to serve with a great team of dedicated public-school advocates.
In November 2017, Leung was elected to serve on the DCSB as the treasurer. Leung has served as vice-chair in the Rock Canyon High School Advisory Council, on the Rocky Heights Middle School principal selection committee, as a Douglas County School District Accountability Committee member, and on the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education – proving his dedication to public education.
One of Leung’s greatest accomplishments while serving as the board treasurer was the successful 2018 local bond and mill levy override ballot initiatives. This was the first successful local school funding initiative in the past 12 years.
As Colorado’s only Asian-immigrated elected official and named Asian American Heroes of Colorado in 2018, Leung has been invited to several community events to provide inspiration for immigrants and minority students, reaffirming that the U.S. is a land of opportunity. Leung’s parents taught him not to let his economic and social class dictate his fate.
“If my illiterate parents did not teach me to shoot for the stars when I was growing, I would never have dreamed of getting overseas to the land of the opportunity – the U.S.A.,” declared Leung.
