Tammy Kim

Tammy Kim (born January 16, 1971) is an American nonprofit leader, community advocate, and politician who currently serves as an at-large member of the Irvine, California|Irvine City Council in California. Kim is an elected member of the Central Committee for the Democratic Party in Orange County representing California's 68th State Assembly district.
== Biography ==
Kim was born in Seoul, Korea|S. Korea and immigrated with her family to the United States as an infant in 1971, eventually settling in Flint, Michigan where she spent her formative years. Her family moved to Baltimore|Baltimore, MD right after her high school graduation. Kim graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities.
Kim moved to Los Angeles in1997 
Kim moved to Orange County, California|Orange County in 2002 while pregnant with her son. They then settled in Irvine in 2005 while he was attending pre-school in Irvine.
== Career ==
=== Early Career ===
After moving to California in 1997, Kim spent the next several years working for Fortune 500 and venture backed technology companies including VMware|VMWare, EMC Corporation and CA Technologies, where she was VP of Global Talent Acquisition. 
=== Nonprofit Work ===
In 2015, Kim founded the Korean American Center, an Irvine based nonprofit organization with a mission to build bridges between intergenerational Korean Americans and the greater community by promoting opportunities for cultural awareness through education, civic engagement and community advocacy. In 2017 Korean American Center began the process of merging with Korean Community Services, becoming one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Orange County serving the most vulnerable in the Asian American Pacific Islander community. In 2018, under Kim's leadership, the Korean American Center received designation as the King Sejong Institute|Irvine King Sejong Institute by the S. Korean government to promote Korean language education and culture. Additionally in the 2018, the organization was awarded a STARTALK (language program)|STARTALK grant by the National Security Agency for teaching Korean, a language critical to national security. 
== Community Advocacy & Political Career ==
Kim has been a leading voice in Orange County on various social issues affecting immigrants, working families, marginalized and under represented linguistically isolated communities. She served as Chair of the Language Access Committee for the Orange County Registrar of Voters, Board Member of the Korean American Democratic Committee, and co-founder of Asian Americans in Action, a political action group to empower and amplify the voice of Asian Americans in the political process. 
Kim competed for one of six open County Central Committee seats for the Democratic Party during the March 2020 Primary Election. With no previous experience on the ballot, Kim placed third out of a crowded field of eighteen candidates. In March 2021 Kim was elected as Southern California Chair for the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus for the California Democratic Party.
=== Irvine City Council Campaign ===
On August 2019 Kim announced her candidacy for the 2020 Irvine City Council race . Kim was one of fourteen candidates competing for one of two full term at-large seats or one partial term at-large seat in a nonpartisan election. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020 as a first time candidate. Kim made history as the highest vote getter for a City Council race in the history of the city. Kim was sworn in on December 8, 2020 and her term ends in 2024. In January 2021, she was appointed by the City Council to serve a year-long term as Vice Mayor.
==== Asian American Advocacy ====
Kim has been a key figure for Asian American political activism in Orange County even before she won her City Council race. Her election coincided with the rise of Anti-Asian hate happening on a national basis. Kim was a vocal advocate bringing awareness to what she called "the intersection of racism and misogyny" after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings|Atlanta spa shootings. 
Kim made global headlines for standing firm against Xenophobic attack that was directed to her at a city council meeting in October 2021. "Xenophobic attack on Vice-Mayor Tammy Kim at a council meeting this week serves as a reminder to politicians of Asian descent of their ongoing struggle to prove their American bona fides." 
== Electoral History ==
==== Irvine City Council - November 3, 2020 ====
General election for Irvine City Council (3 seats)
Candidate 	Votes 	%
✓ Tammy Kim 	43,744	14.8%
✓ Mike Carroll* 	38,615	13.1%
✓ Larry Agran 	38,615	12.9%
Lauren Johnson-Norris	37,931	12.8%
John Park 	32,521	11.0%
Carrie O'Malley 	27,440	9.3%
Mark Newgent 	15,894	5.4%
Diana Jiang 	14,837	5.0%
Laura Bratton 	10.305	3.5%
Dylan Green 	8,813 	3.0%
Christina Dillard 	8,321 	2.8%
Anshul Garg 	6,420 	2.2%
Abigail Pole 	6,406 	2.2%
Hai Yang Liang 	5,944 	2.0%
*Incumbent 
Category:1971 births
Category:American nonprofit executives 
Category:American politicians 
Category:People from Seoul 
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians