Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation welcomes Danielle Kim as Director
December 10, 2021
Boston–The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation today announced that Danielle Kim, Director of Public Policy at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, has been named the Fund’s first-ever Director. Kim will join the Boston Foundation staff on December 20.
“Danielle’s policy and nonprofit experience, and her background as a community activist, make her a perfect selection for the role of Director,” said Paul Lee, Chair of the Asian Community Fund and a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Foundation. “She understands the critical issues Asian Americans in Boston face in racial and social equity, housing, economic empowerment and education, and has the background to bring Asian Americans together in support of the systemic changes needed to strengthen our communities.”
Kim is a second-generation Korean American, whose work at the United Way included organizing state and federal advocacy efforts, stewarding relationships with city and state lawmakers, and overseeing a portfolio of grantmaking. Prior to that time, Kim spent two years at the Scholars Strategy Network, where she shaped messaging, oversaw research and publications, and worked to build greater understanding of the power of data-driven policy advocacy.
In January 2020, Kim was appointed to the Massachusetts Asian American Commission by Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. She serves as Chair of the AAC’s Government Relations Subcommittee and helped to launch the Commission’s inaugural COVID-19 Relief Fund, which distributed micro-grants to 14 AAPI-owned small businesses and nonprofits. She also currently serves as an appointed member of the Chelsea Cultural Council.
A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Smith College, Kim earned a Fulbright Fellowship in South Korea and worked in the New Jersey State Legislature before coming to the Boston area to earn a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She then spent four years at Boston After School & Beyond, overseeing policy and communications for the organization, which has raised millions of dollars to provide valuable out-of-school programming to tens of thousands of Boston Public Schools students each year.
Kim currently lives in Chelsea.