Women’s History Month Profile | Min Sun Kim, Edyth Bush Institute

When Min Sun Kim relocated to Central Florida from Texas as a young girl, she grew up in Azalea Park. She studied at the University of Central Florida with a plan to become a math educator and eventually open a tutoring school. But when she stepped into her first classroom to teach, she realized it was not for her. Fortunately, she had always been involved in nonprofit work, and this would ultimately become her true calling.

“I actually wasn’t very engaged with nonprofit missions in our community,” explained Kim, executive director, Edyth Bush Institute for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership at Rollins College (EBI). “I visited with a mentor of mine who sat on the advisory board at a local organization, and he asked me if I would be interested in working there. I eventually joined the organization as a development assistant.”

Kim quickly became proficient at connecting with donors, connecting mission with purpose, campaigning, marketing and branding. Ultimately, she wanted to get her business degree, so she moved to a technology company that could help her reach her goals. Her journey led her to the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business.

In 2015, EBI was looking for a program manager, and this is where her professional journey took shape. Today, as executive director for the Institute that is the premier source for nonprofit training, certificates and custom programming, Kim is responsible for ensuring the Institute is financially sound and that the nonprofit sector has access to education and management assistance.

“Nonprofits are part of the community’s economic engine, and they’re also the creative solution to improve this economic engine,” she asserted. “Our organizations are helping people in many ways, and their missions are very diverse. Government and business accomplish good things in the community, but nonprofits address big challenges and fill voids. It’s critical nonprofit leadership and vision is sound, and that’s where we come in.”

Recently, EBI and Orange County announced a three-year training partnership called Empowering Good: A Nonprofit Capacity Building Project, which provides training, coaching and learning experiences to small and diverse nonprofits. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the program offers training in five key areas: impact measurement, storytelling, financial management, fundraising and risk management.

Kim also works with the Orange County Citizens’ Commission for Children, which solicits proposals from nonprofits for children’s services. These proposals are reviewed and evaluated by the Citizen’s Review Panel for Human Services Advisory Board; a volunteer board appointed by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners for the purpose of making funding recommendations for the allocation of human service dollars to local nonprofits.

Kim admits she often asks herself how she can do her job in a way that respects and honors the long-history of the Institute, and the only way she can do this is to steward the position. She considers how many people have come to EBI over the years for guidance and training and who are now serving as coaches, instructors, and mentors.

“The army of people who have benefited from EBI has benefited the community as a whole,” she said. “To have a resource like EBI allows us all to ensure the nonprofit sector continues to enhance quality of life for the people who live in this community.”

For more, go to the Edyth Bush Institute for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership.