Hi! I’m Michelle MiJung Kim.

I believe all of us have the capacity to transform ourselves and the world.

I am a queer, immigrant, Korean American woman navigating this world as a writer, activist, and entrepreneur. I’m also a speaker, facilitator, and consultant, and I have worked with organizations and leaders across all industries—from tech giants to nonprofits to government agencies to universities—in order to spark lasting and meaningful change.

My work, regardless of its form, is about expanding our collective capacity to transform ourselves and the world in service of social justice. I believe we can do this by learning to be in values-aligned relationships with each other and being willing to drop into discomfort, complexity, and accountability. I believe we need to practice both compassion and criticality—for ourselves and others—to create sustainable change.

I believe all of us are worthy—of safety, dignity, freedom, and joy—for simply being. It is my life’s work to honor this truth and to challenge forces that say otherwise.

Thank you for supporting me and my work, and for being on this journey. I’m so glad you’re here!

In solidarity,

Michelle MiJung Kim

Official Bio

Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is the award winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and leaders from Fortune 500 companies, tech giants, nonprofits, universities and beyond on their equity education journey. Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations such as the San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s Advisory Committee, LYRIC nonprofit’s Board of Directors, and Build Tech We Trust Coalition. She currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Her work has appeared on world-renowned platforms such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, and NPR, and she has been named LinkedIn’s Top Voice in Racial Equity, Fast Company’s Queer 50, and Medium’s Top Writer in Diversity three years in a row. She lives in Oakland, California.

NAUTILUS AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER

PORCHLIGHT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN BEHAVIOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change

As we become more aware of various social injustices in the world, many of us want to be part of the movement toward positive change. But sometimes even our best intentions cause unintended harm, and we fumble despite our earnest efforts. We might feel afraid to say the wrong thing and feel guilt for not doing or knowing enough. Sometimes we might engage in performative allyship rather than thoughtful solidarity, leaving those already marginalized further burdened and exhausted.

The feelings of fear, insecurity, inadequacy are all too common among a wide spectrum of changemakers, and they put many at a crossroads between feeling stuck and giving up, or staying grounded to keep going. Every one of us has an important role to play in shaping our society and finding our way together has never been more urgent. So how can we go beyond performative allyship to creating real change in ourselves and in the world, together?

In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today’s mainstream conversations around “diversity and inclusion” and urges readers to go beyond performative allyship to enacting real transformation within ourselves and in the world. The Wake Up invites readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world.

Michelle MiJung Kim is known for her ability to bring clarity to complex topics without losing nuance, while balancing compassion and criticality. With a mix of in-the-trenches narrative and accessible unpacking of hot button issues--from inclusive language to representation to "cancel culture"--she offers sustainable frameworks that guide us how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. 

The Wake Up is divided into four key parts:

•       Grounding: begin by moving beyond good intentions to interrogating our deeper “why” for committing to social justice and uncovering our "hidden stories."

•       Orienting: establish a shared understanding around our historical and current context and issues we are trying to solve, starting with dismantling white supremacy.

•       Showing Up: learn critical principles to approach any situation with clarity and build our capacity to work through complexity, nuance, conflict, and imperfections.

•       Moving Together: remember the core of this work is about human lives, and commit to prioritizing humanity, healing, and community.

PRAISE

2021 PORCHLIGHT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN BEHAVIOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2021 TOP 5 SHORTLIST BY PORCHLIGHT BOOKS

"An absolute gift" — BookRiot

"The Wake Up is a powerful book that provides practical tips about showing up as our better selves in the fight for justice and equity. Kim's writing embodies years of experience in handling difficult conversations about white supremacy culture, as she exposes truths in a way that activates those with privilege and power to be a part of the solution." — Portland Book Review

"Offers sustainable frameworks that guide how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible" — BookPal

"Move from surface-level Diversity and Inclusion to meaningful change" — Forbes

“A useful meditation on navigating the often-turbulent energies that flow through our moral compasses, our human hearts, our equally human organizations, and the urgent demands of social justice.”—Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother's Hands

“Kim shares valuable ways to elevate our practice in the work of creating equitable, just spaces around us—at work, interpersonally, and within ourselves. In The Wake Up, she deeply and humbly reflects on her own journey and how we can break cycles that perpetuate harm and use our means to build a just, inclusive community."—Candice M. Morgan, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Partner, GV

“Michelle MiJung Kim is a practitioner that truly walks the walk. The Wake Up is a vulnerable exploration of activism, as raw and reflective as she is. I recommend for anyone ready to be pushed from just talking towards responsible action.”—Y-Vonne Hutchinson, CEO of ReadySet

“Our journey to creating connection and belonging has been inextricably linked to Michelle MiJung Kim’s work with our teams. In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim welcomes our imperfection and invites us on a journey to be become our better more awake selves.”—Melissa Thomas-Hunt, former Global Head of Diversity and Belonging, Airbnb; John Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

“Michelle MiJung Kim embodies and practices the entire spectrum of solidarity work and continues to invite and challenges others to join her in deepening our collective work. Michelle MiJung Kim’s approach to the work of liberation is wrathfully compassionate and truly calls us to find our place in this movement.”—Kalaya'an Mendoza [He/Him/Siya], Director of U.S. Programs at Nonviolent Peaceforce

“Challenging, empowering, and purposeful, The Wake Up makes the foundational principles of allyship, equity, and justice accessible to all readers willing to do the work. Michelle MiJung Kim is one of the strongest voices advocating for equity and justice for organizations and individuals." —Aiko Bethea, founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting