Protected: Kathy Im

Kathy Im oversees the Foundation’s Journalism and Media program as director, which supports the foremost institutions of public service journalism, documentary storytelling, and participatory civic media. During her tenure, MacArthur has contributed to numerous impactful and award-winning investigative reports and documentary films. She also led the Journalism and Media program work to center racial equity and dramatically increase the number of grants awarded to organizations led by and serving communities of color.

In the Fall of 2014, Im took a sabbatical from the Foundation to be a Visiting Fellow at MIT’s Open Documentary Lab, where she explored the intersection of interactive documentaries and digital journalism and laid the groundwork for new collaborations between interactive media makers and major news organizations.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Im worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bank of America Foundation. Im is a member of the Peabody Award Board of Jurors, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Harris Council at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and the advisory board of UC Berkeley School of Journalism. In 2021, President Biden nominated Im to serve on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Previously, she was a board member of Media Impact Funders and the Center for Asian American Media, and board chair of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. In 2007, Im was named a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, which recognizes Chicago’s civic leaders. 

Im earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Smith College and her master’s in public policy degree from the Harris School at the University of Chicago.