John Kim

John Kim is Executive director at Advancement Project's California office. Married to Jung Hee Choi. Lives in Los Angeles, California.

Bio

From his profile at Advancement Project:

John Kim is the Executive Director of Advancement Project’s California Office. Since joining Advancement Project in 2002, John has been lifting up the voice and needs of low-income communities of color to transform systems and expand opportunity for all. Through coalition building and by utilizing innovative tools and strategies, he has helped redirect hundreds of millions public and private dollars to the most underserved communities. John most recently oversaw the strategic direction and development of RACE COUNTS, a first of its kind initiative that examines racial disparity, performance, and population impact in each of California’s 58 counties. With John’s visionary leadership, RACE COUNTS engaged hundreds of statewide community stakeholders and was featured in The New York Times, CityLab, The Sacramento Bee and various radio shows.

John joined Advancement Project in 2002 to develop, build, and launch the Healthy City Project, which subsequently grew into one of AP’s largest program areas providing data, research, and mapping support to tens of thousands of service providers and community advocates across the state. He was promoted to Managing Director of the California Office in 2004 before being appointed a Co-Director of the Advancement Project in 2008.

John has made the needs of marginalized communities a priority throughout his tenure at Advancement Project. Over the years, he has developed advocacy and research initiatives on issues such as community health, redistricting, community engagement, voting rights, early care and education, and public finance. Under his leadership, many of these initiatives, have transformed the way that large public institutions allocate funding and provide programs and services to the most underserved communities.

John has a long track record as a coalition-builder and facilitator of multi-stakeholder collaborations, and has established a wide-range of partnerships with community-based organizations, elected officials, governmental agencies, academic researchers, and foundations across the state.

Prior to joining Advancement Project, John started his community-building work as an activist, organizer, and cultural artist in the Bay Area. In 1999, he became the Executive Director of the Korean Community Center of the East Bay, where he was instrumental in launching new programs in the areas of domestic abuse, community development, and community organizing.

His work in the Bay Area was recognized by KQED Channel 9 as the 2001 Local Hero of the Year Award, and by then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown with the proclamation of a “John K. Kim Day.” In 2011, he accepted the Unsung Heroes Award from the California Community Foundation, given for “outstanding excellence in community engagement.” He concluded a term as a member of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles in 2011 and currently serves as a Commissioner for Los Angeles County’s Commission of Children and Families. John has also completed the prestigious Rockwood “Leading from the Inside Out” fellowship in 2012.

Born in Los Angeles, John currently lives in Highland Park with his wife, Jung Hee Choi, and their two children, Naiya and Ellis.

"Pathway to Citizenship"

September 14 2021 Washington, DC — Yesterday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) joined impacted individuals and immigration advocates to call on Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship as part of the budget reconciliation process.

“It’s past time for Congress to deliver the stability and security that immigrant families deserve,” said Senator Padilla. “We have a moral obligation to the millions of DACA recipients, TPS-holders, and essential workers who have risked their own lives every day working during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m proud to stand with the bipartisan majorities across the country that support passing much-needed reforms on immigration now.”

Arisaid Gonzalez Porras, a DACA recipient and DMV Campaigns Manager for United We Dream, joined Sen. Padilla in his call to action.

Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of Immigration Hub: “The House Judiciary Committee has taken a historic step in passing legislation that will provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers, and essential workers.

Greisa Martinez Rosas, United We Dream and United We Dream Action Executive Director: “After decades of inaction, Democrats – President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senate Majority Leader Schumer– can make a meaningful difference in the lives of undocumented people and millions of families across the country".

John Kim, Digital Organizer, NAKASEC: “1 out of every 7 Asian immigrants is undocumented, and we make up over 16% of the undocumented immigrant population. We need permanent solutions NOW. ”

Patrice S. Lawrence, Co-Director, UndocuBlack Network: “Black undocumented community, other advocates and attorneys brought the lifelines (DACA/TPS/DED) as far as we could take them.”

Giev Kashkooli, National Political and Legislative Director, United Farm Workers: "Farm workers feed us. And during the pandemic farm workers did not ask if they were harvesting for Democrats or Republicans – they fed all of us."

The event was held in conjunction with “Inside Out 11M” – a nationwide, participatory art initiative launched by the award-winning artist JR in partnership with Emerson Collective, to create a portrait of America that includes immigrants and the descendants of immigrants alike.

Karen Bass Support

Karen Bass supporters

John Kim took part in a video conference titled "Asian American Leaders Support Karen Bass for Mayor" posted on Karen Bass' Facebook page on May 22 2022. Participants included Jenny Delwood, Jaime Geaga, John Kim, Ted Lieu, Judy Chu, and Karen Bass.

SLAM in Philly

On June 5th 2009 in Philadelphia, Student Liberation Action Movement activists Kazembe Balagun, Lenina Nadal, Jed Brandt, John Kim, and Sasa Ynoa spoke about SLAM’s innovative approach to organizing and why we were fighting for free university education.

This was a combined event called “How do we build radical movements?” with Dan Berger, who (along with Chris Dixon) interviewed people in four revolutionary study groups – Another Politics is Possible (NY), the Activist Study Circles (SF), the LA Crew, and the New York Study Group – talking about leadership, organization, and politics.

National Leading From the Inside Out Alum

John Kim, Co-director, Advancement Project, was a 2011 Rockwood Leadership Institute National Leading From the Inside Out Alum.

Young Progressives Demanding Action Executive Board

YDSA GW May 7, 2017:

We are proud to announce our 2017-2018 Young Progressives Demanding Action Executive Board! Thank you to everyone who applied, we hope to see more passionate students on our action committees next year. We look forward building a community on our campus and fighting for progressive change. — with Josh Cam, Caroline Zagraniczny, Logan Malik, Eden Vitoff, Ann Marie, Erica Jung, John Kim, Alaina Taylor, Alex Schrank, Henry Manning, Ashwin Umapathi and Mark McKibbin.

Lobying against DeVos

YDSA GW January 30, 2017:

Today, members of Young Progressives Demanding Action lobbied against the appointment of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.

During her confirmation hearing, it became painfully clear that she is in no way qualified to hold that position. Her embarrassing unwillingness to elaborate on basic policy ideas highlighted her utter lack of experience.

If her record suggests anything though, it's that she is not a friend to publi... See More — with Tyler Chalfant, Josh Cam, Akaash Kolluri, John Kim, Matthew Zimmer, Eden Vitoff, Gillian Michalowski and Abby Brook.

Comrades

YDSA GW September 6, 2017:

With Ann Marie, Ashwin Umapathi and John Kim.

Keith Ellison connection

YDSA GW February 13, 2017 ·

Speaking with Keith Ellison on a conference call right now!

"There is an unbroken line of political engagement from when I was 18 years old to now at 53 years old... I want to be a part of leveraging [young] talent, and that is my commitment to you." — with Matthew Zimmer, Nino Aspanadze, Tyler Chalfant, Alex Schrank and John Kim.

Rally to Demand Paid Leave and Fair Scheduling

YDSA GW September 20, 2016:

Today, some of our members (Our Revolution) attended the Rally to Demand Paid Leave and Fair Scheduling. The message was clear, #RecessIsOver for the DC Council, it's time to prioritize DC families.

We continue to be inspired by all of the hardy, passionate advocates fighting for crucial policies on the local level. We can't wait to see the Paid Leave campaign gain momentum in the coming weeks and we want to make sure we're harnessing the energy of the student body to support the DC community. We look forward to teaming up with other student orgs to bring these much-needed policies to DC!

1. PaidLeave4DC #JustJobs — with Kyrah Altman, Keiko Tsuboi, Conrad Fox, John Kim and Jacob Roger Anderson-Little.

South Brooklyn DSA Official Closed Group

Members of the South Brooklyn Democratic Socialists of America Official Closed Facebook Group, as of June 17, 2018 included John Kim.

National Party Building Conference

National Party Building Conference Hosted by Communist Party USA and People's World.

Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 12 PM – 6 PM EST

Join Communist Party activists and members in a national conference.

The conference will take place November 11th to 12th to plan our work in the fight against the Trump Administration and its white supremacist ruling class backers. Find information here about how to participate. http://www.cpusa.org/2017-national-party-building-conference-resist-organize-vote-grow/

The conference will be streamed from Chicago to regional meetings in New Haven, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Whether you’re on the East Coast, West Coast, in the MIdwest or the South, you’ll be able to participate.

Those invited on Facebook included John Kim.