I, Jonathan Kim, president of the Jin Duck & Kyung Sik Kim Foundation and the 32nd president of the San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center (SFBAKC), declare as follows:
San Francisco and the greater Bay Area holds great geopolitical significance to Koreans living in Korea and abroad and especially for Korean Americans who call it home. In 1905, Dosan Ahn Chang-ho established the Public Associatio
n and in 1909, he established the Korean National Association, the United States’s first Korean Association. In 1908, In-Hwan Jang and Myeong-Woon Jeon announced the beginning of the resistance movement against Japanese imperialism. I am inspired by the work begun by these and other Korean-American trailblazers. Twelve years ago, I established the Jin Duck & Kyung Sik Kim Foundation to help the people in the Peninsula Bay Area. Since its creation, the foundation has provided scholarships, tackled the issue of Dokdo and installed the Comfort Women Monuments in San Francisco, Seoul, and Nanjing. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed many of the foundation's normal activities. During 2020, the foundation shifted its focus to PPE and supplying masks first to Korea then to the community. The pandemic also took a toll on the Korean American community in Northern California. As the 32nd president of San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center, I hope to reinvigorate SFBAKC activities with a four-part action, as follows:
First, I will do my best to complete the repair of the San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center(SF Han In Hweh) as soon as possible. The reason this is a top priority for me is because SF Han In Hweh can provide opportunities for exchange and recreation in a safe, inclusive environment. The faster we complete the construction, the faster the senior citizens' associations and many other groups can begin to use it. Second, the San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center must strive for transparency. We will publish all board meeting minutes and financial reports on SFBAKC’s website. I will create and implement a calendar system in which any group can request use of the SF Han In Hweh’s facilities. This way, the San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center can serve the needs of the entire community. Third, the San Francisco & Bay Area Korea Center will assist and encourage its members and community at large to participate in elections. Actively participating in the democratic process will allow our community to vote for leaders to represent us, our ideas, and our interests. Lastly, during my tenure as 32nd president of SFBAKC, I will increase the number of volunteers in my executive team. Increased participation will create more diversity and inclusiveness which will lead to better decision making and problem solving and bring greater opportunity for the maximum amount of people. Thank you.
