 |
Hyepin Christine Im,
CPA, MBA
Ms. Hyepin Im currently serves as the Founder
and President of Korean Churches for Community
Development (KCCD) whose mission is to help
churches build capacity to do economic development
work on a greater scale. Among KCCD's successes
include organizing and reaching out to the 3300
Korean American churches in the United States
including two conferences with the White House
bringing together a national delegation of Asian
American faith leaders to learn about the
faith-based economic development. In addition,
KCCD also sponsored a historic faith-based
conference held in conjunction with U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Over
350 participants attended this first time
conference with coverage from all major Korean
media.
Under Ms. Im's leadership, KCCD has also
implemented many initiatives including an ongoing
weekly radio program, a historic homeownership
fair in the Korean community that brought over 600
participants, a Home Buyer Center Initiative with
Freddie Mac, a national database and research
study on Korean American churches as well as
ongoing training programs. KCCD also recently
received a national grant through the Corporation
for National and Community Service to place 26
Americorps Vista members in multiple states.
Ms. Im is also a frequently invited speaker at
conferences sponsored by such groups as the
Christian Community Development Association,
National Council of Korean Southern Baptist
Churches, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco,
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Asian Americans for Equality, and the Southern
California Conference of AME Churches. She has
also been featured in many interviews with CNN,
Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and other media
including Korean media. Most recently, she
completed a research study that focused on Korean
American Churches and Domestic Violence. The paper
is titled, Strengthening Families in the
Korean/Asian Immigrant Community and was supported
by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Ms. Im has been involved in various
professional capacities related to faith-based
economic development work including her most
recent work as a venture capitalist for
Renaissance Capital Partners, an affiliation of
First A.M.E. Church and Hancock Park Associates.
In her role, she played a key role in the
establishment of this innovative fund with its
double bottom line approach to creating not only a
financial return but also a social return. Prior
to Renaissance Capital Partners, Hyepin was the
Sponsorship Manager for California Science Center,
a three phase $265 million expansion and
renovation of the California Museum of Science and
Industry. In her position, Hyepin secured
corporate sponsors.
In addition, Hyepin, served as
the Community Gifts Manager at the Science Center,
and was responsible for the institution's
community outreach effort in developing and
implementing strategies that created a sense of
ownership in the new California Science Center
from the members of the community, including the
faith-based community. Her cultivation and
solicitation efforts resulted in gifts and
participation from a broad spectrum of the
community.
Ms. Im is involved in several civic activities
related to faith-based economic development.
Hyepin Im serves on the Steering Committee of
Churches United for Economic Development, a
chamber of commerce for churches involved with
economic development. Most recently, Ms. Im has
been asked to serve as the Chair for the Asian
Faith Commission for Assemblymember Herb Wesson.
Hyepin has been a frequent speaker at numerous
events on leadership, community service,
fundraising, faith-based economic development and
on the Asian American community. In September
2000, Ms. Im was one of the faith leaders invited
to lead a prayer at the opening session with
Andrew Cuomo, past Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, at the HUD sponsored economic
development conference. She was also invited to
address the Southern California AME Conference in
fall 2000.
Ms. Im has also been consulted for
international activities. Ms. Im was responsible
for mobilizing a national and international
support for helping Korean Americans reunite with
their families in North Korea. Through her
leadership, over 140,000 signatures have been
collected online. (www.click2asia.com/reunion)
In addition, in working with members of Congress
and Senate, Ms. Im was successful in having a
related resolution pass unanimously in both
houses. Most recently, Ms. Im was invited by the
South Korean government to be part of the National
Prayer Breakfast and the World Christian
Parliamentarian Association.
Ms. Im also served as the President of the
Korean American Coalition from 1995 1996 and was
instrumental in raising the profile of the
coalition. In 2001, Ms. Im was invited to become a
member of the Pacific Council, the West Coast
Partner for the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms.
Im currently serves on several other boards and
has been recognized for her contribution to the
community. In March 2001, Hyepin was selected to
be a German Marshall Fund American Memorial
Marshall Fellow where she traveled to Europe over
a 23-day period for the purpose of building
transatlantic relationships. Most recently, Hyepin
was selected to take part in the Harvard Divinity
School Summer Leadership Institute to learn about
faith-based initiatives.
In addition, she was a
featured guest on KSCI TV's Our role models Series
in June 2001. In August 2000, Hyepin was appointed
by Governor Gray Davis to the Governor's Office on
Service and Volunteerism which administers an
annual budget of $34 million. In 1995, Hyepin was
also appointed as the youngest member of the
prestigious Advisory Council on the Peaceful and
Democratic Reunification of Korea. Hyepin also
helped to found the Sponsorship Professionals
Association, which garnered the membership of
major institutions in Los Angeles. A graduate of
the Coro Leadership Southern California, Hyepin,
was previously with GTA Consulting Company as Vice
President, and Ernst & Young LLP as Consultant and
Auditor. She received her B.S. from U.C. Berkeley
and her M.B.A. from the University of Southern
California. She is currently pursuing her Master
of Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary.
|