Jungwon Kim is an award-winning writer and cultural worker. She is also a communications leader, organizational strategy consultant, and journalist who has dedicated her professional life to human rights and environmental advocacy. As Head of Creative & Editorial at the Rainforest Alliance, she directed a multimedia team of writers, videographers, and graphic designers. Earlier in her career, she served as the editor of Amnesty International USA’s human rights quarterly that featured the work of award-winning journalists and documentary photographers (circulation 300,000). She began her storytelling career as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and on-air correspondent for nationally syndicated public radio programs. 

Through her consulting practice, Next Wave, she develops tailored impact strategies (social, environmental, narrative), facilitates organizational and team retreats, and provides mindfulness-based leadership coaching to individuals. Jungwon currently serves as the board chair of Peace Is Loud, a nonprofit organization that builds narrative impact in the documentary film sector, and a board member of the Fund for Public Health NYC, which works to build racial and socioeconomic equity in public health outcomes. She did her undergraduate and graduate studies (B.A. Philosophy, dual M.J./M.A. program in Journalism and East Asian Studies) at the University of California, Berkeley, where she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in support of her graduate research on self-censorship in the Hong Kong news media, a Foreign Language Area Fellowship, and a Korea Foundation Fellowship.

Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation. 

Links

Jungwon Website

Laura Instagram

Laura Website

Laura YouTube

Leah Instagram

Leah Substack

Leah YouTube