|
|
KCCD President Hyepin Im honored by LA City Council President Eric Garcetti at the City Council's 2009 Pioneer Women Ceremony
______________________________________________________________
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2009
Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti today announced that he has selected Ms. Hyepin Im as the Council District 13 Pioneer Woman of 2009. The City of Los Angeles established the Pioneer Woman awards in 1988 to recognize extraordinary women during March, which is National Women's History Month.
"Ms. Im is an outstanding example of the entrepreneurial spirit of a pioneer woman," said Garcetti. "Her work in our communities not only benefits families today, but is laying the foundation for a better quality of life for future generations."
Ms. Im founded and serves as the President of Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD), which has organized more than 4,000 Korean American churches around the country to do economic development work.
Her leadership was integral to the success of KCCD's two conferences with the White House that brought together Asian American leaders to learn about faith-based economic development.
KCCD also reaches out directly to families through innovative initiatives including a Homeownership Initiative that has educated more than 4,000 potential homebuyers, a national database and research study on Korean American Churches, a financial literacy program, and a program for at-risk Asian American youth that is funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
In 2007, Ms. Im was invited by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to be a plenary speaker for its national conference. In September 2000, she was one of the faith leaders invited by then-Secretary Andrew Cuomo to lead a prayer at the opening session of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development economic
development conference.
More recently, Ms. Im was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Presidential appointee to the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal government's largest funder of service and volunteerism.
In addition to her nationally-recognized work, Ms. Im is deeply involved in her local Los Angeles community. She serves as the Chair of former State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas's Interfaith Faith Committee and is a member of Assemblymember Mike Davis's Koreatown advisory board. She served as the President of the Korean American Coalition in 1995 and 1996.
|
|
"I'm quite honored to be receiving this award as a 2009 Pioneer Woman by Council President Eric Garcetti. I would like to recognize the hard work of KCCD staff and board members, and the support of our many partners who have really made this award possible. I also want to express my personal gratitude to Council President Eric Garcetti for this recognition and for his leadership and look forward to working with him in future efforts to serving the community."
-KCCD President Hyepin Im
|
|
