Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer immigrant Korean American woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority people of color educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives across various industries, from technology to nonprofits to government agencies to universities. As a lifelong social justice advocate, Michelle has served on a variety of organizations such as the San Francisco LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Advisory Committee, LYRIC nonprofit's Board of Directors, and Build Tech We Trust Coalition. Michelle currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Her work has appeared on platforms such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, the New York Times, and NPR, and she has been named Medium's Top Writer in Diversity three years in a row. Michelle lives in Oakland, California.
An absolute gift. --BookRiot Move from surface-level Diversity and Inclusion to meaningful change. --Forbes Offers sustainable frameworks that guide how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. --BookPal 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 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 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 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 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'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 Michelle 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 Kim's work with our teams. In The Wake Up, Michelle 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