Having run for City Council in 2009, Kevin Kim ’88 became the first Korean-American in New York City history to win a primary election. As a first-time candidate, Kevin surprised many in the political establishment by defeating five other Democratic candidates.
His community involvement includes services on the boards of various non-profit organizations, including the American Red Cross – Queens, Friends of Thirteen, Inc., Coalition of Asian-American Children and Families, and the Washington, D.C.-based International Student Conference.
Kevin is also a certified community mediator through his participation in the Black-Korean Mediation Project, a year-long program whose goal was to improve relations between the African-American and Korean-American community in New York City following the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
Until recently, Kevin worked as the deputy director of community affairs for Representative Gary L.
Ackerman, Democrat of New York. His previous professional experiences include working as a federal law clerk for the Hon. Denny Chin, as corporate attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell, and a founding partner of a midtown law firm.
Kevin received his bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from Stanford University and his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a developing editor of the Columbia Law Review.
Kevin and his wife, Clara, personally consider their greatest achievement to be the birth in 2009 of their first child, Beatrice Enny Kim.