In her role as Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development, Jessica Ku Kim provides strategic direction and leads LAEDC’s collaborative efforts with business, education, and the workforce ecosystem to support a growing, equitable, sustainable and resilient economy. Leveraging her expertise in convening and engaging businesses leaders to understand and meet their operations and labor needs, Jessica leads one of the most effective small business assistance programs in the nation that has attracted, retained or helped create more than 250,000 direct jobs for LA County residents in firms directly assisted by LAEDC. Aligned with her passion for and experience in providing direct community services for over 15 years, she also directs LAEDC’s Together for LA Small Business Program including an online information and referral resource and technical assistance team created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and dedicated to aggressively outreach to small businesses, nonprofits, and micro-enterprises and provide resources and assistance. Jessica also leads LAEDC’s strategic initiatives that includes industry cluster development in aerospace, advanced transportation, digital media and entertainment and bioscience. Lastly, Jessica oversees LAEDC’s workforce initiatives, including the Center for a Competitive Workforce partnership with our region’s 19 community colleges, to strengthen the alignment of LA County’s workforce and education ecosystem to meet our changing labor market demands and strengthen pathways for all communities into family-sustaining and in-demand careers.
Jessica has intimate knowledge of programs funded on state and national levels including WIOA, California State Workforce Development Board, U.S. Department of Labor, and California Employment Training Panel. She has demonstrated success in developing, implementing, and managing workforce development programs for target populations including incumbent workers, new hires, disadvantaged youth, veterans, homeless, individuals with disabilities, and re-entry. In addition, she is experienced in developing innovative job training programs, pre-apprenticeships, and/or apprenticeships in partnership with businesses in the construction trades, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, utility and other in-demand industries.
Jessica is a proud Angeleno and honored to be a Commissioner on the Los Angeles City Workforce Development Board and Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board. Prior to LAEDC, Jessica served as the Special Projects Manager at the South Bay Workforce Investment Board. In this capacity, she provided sound, innovative and strategic leadership through program development and administration for one of the most innovative workforce development boards in the nation. Jessica has also served as the Director of Operations for ACCORD Community First that provided workforce development services across seven counties in Southern California where she led the Green Skills=Green Jobs initiative in partnership with the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO. She received her Master of Public Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills and her Bachelor of Arts in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine.