KIM TO

A Chaos Muppet who can fake being an Order Muppet so real, it’s beyond fake.
Likes: travelling, hiking - just long walks in general, paying attention, curiosity and love of learning, meaningful small moments.
Dislikes: packing, horror movies.
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Kim's current left-brain job as a Policy and Budget Analyst for the Oregon Legislature and MBA from Lynchburg College are offset by her right-brain undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and English Literature with a minor in Psychology from Oberlin College. Kim started her work-life developing and teaching reading enrichment courses to under-served elementary school students, and job search and interviewing skills to at-risk high school students in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of an AmeriCorps VISTA program. From there, Kim spent four years in Athens, Greece, helping to set up, and serving as the Assistant Director for, an archaeological science laboratory supporting excavations and academic researchers. Since then, Kim has worked in a number of diverse jobs and industries including stints at: AARP coordinating legislative advocacy activities; Eastman Kodak supporting brand and market extension initiatives; CentraHealth (a non-profit system of hospitals, nursing homes and treatment facilities in Virginia) teaching performance and leadership development classes to healthcare employees; and four years with the City of Lynchburg, Virginia, as a policy and budget analyst. Kim’s community involvement has included serving on the United Way of Central Virginia Fund Distribution Committee, the Finance and Investment Committee of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation and serving as a volunteer mentor for the ASPIRE program.

Kim was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, in a city that has since been re-named, in a country that no longer exists politically. Kim grew up near the Kansas and Missouri border in Kansas City. In her adult life, she has lived as an immigrant/transplant/expat in Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Ireland, and Greece. In all the places she has lived, she has always found friends who make her feel a sense of belonging, and those people are her tribe. Living a nomadic life in a mercurial world has taught her that real connections and community are expansive and portable. Some relationships give us what we need in a specific place and time. Some relationships grow and change with us wherever we find ourselves. All relationships leave imprints and inform who we are.

Kim, her husband Scott, and two kiddos [Avery (22) and Braque (19)] have lived in Salem, Oregon, since 2005 - the longest time Kim has lived in one place. As her children have grown and flown, she is looking forward to having more time for new adventures and pursuits serving with purposeful organizations such as Salem Angels where she sits on the board as Treasurer.