CA Fwd has named Hyepin Im, founder of Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD), a Forward Thinker for her work building bridges between immigrant communities with policymakers, opinion leaders and companies that may impact them.
KCCD is a non-profit, faith-based organization that serves as a bridge between Korean-Americans and the community at large by connecting and creating private and public collaborations.
“From the beginning, we knew that it made sense to work with churches, because 75% of the Korean community here is connected to their church,” said Im. “At KCCD, we work through churches to provide access to services for newly arrived and not-so-newly arrived immigrants. Immigrants often see their church as a haven that supports them in so many ways.”
KCCD is involved in such issues as housing, leadership and capacity building, economic and community development, family strengthening, and environmental issues.
“Nonprofits meet a very important need by building bridges between decision-makers and communities,” said Im. She notes that while the Korean-American community represents a sizeable portion of California’s population, there are very few elected officials from their community.
To read Hyepin’s full profile, go to our Forward Thinkers page. You may also tell us about a Forward Thinker you know in your community.
