Vice Mayor Tammy Kim is a mother, a nonprofit leader, educator, community advocate, small-business owner, and former corporate executive who has lived,worked, and raised her son in Orange County, California, USA for the past two decades. She was elected to the Irvine City Council in November 2020 in a historic win, beating out 13 other candidates to take first place. She won her seat with more than 43,700 votes, the highest vote count for any City Council candidate in the City’s history. She is the first Korean American woman to be elected to the City Council.
Born in Korea, Tammy’s family immigrated to America as an infant and went on to a successful career as a business executive in Fortune 500 and venture-backed technology start-ups resolving highly complex business and management issues managing multinational teams.
Raised in difficult economic circumstances, Tammy has always been driven by a desire to help others improve their circumstances. After a successful corporate career,Tammy created an Irvine-based nonprofit to serve the local immigrant community as the founder and Managing Director of the nonprofit Korean American Center, which later merged with KCS Inc. Now one of the largest social service providers serving the Asian American community throughout Orange County. Tammy is a well-respected civic and community leader.