Kim Desmond was born and raised in the Five Points neighborhood in Denver, Colorado where she graduated from Manual High School. Kim has over 15 years of experience in the non-profit, local, and quasi-government sector within the areas of diversity, inclusion, racial equity, and addressing systemic racism.

Kim holds multiple degrees, including a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Fort Hays State University, a Master’s in Community Counseling from Fort Hays State University, a Master’s in Education Administration and Policy Studies from the University of Denver, and an Early Childhood Leadership certification from the University of Denver.

She is currently the Chief of Race and Equity for the City of San Diego, leading the Office of Race and Equity for Mayor Todd Gloria. Prior to this appointment, Kim served as the Director and Interim Chief Equity Officer for Mayor Michael B. Hancock, overseeing the Mayor’s Office of Social Equity and Innovation within the City and County of Denver.

Kim has an extensive background operationalizing racial equity into local government programs, budget allocations, and policies through building equitable outcomes with a targeted focus on eliminating systemic racism.

Kim’s areas of experience include:

· Policy and Operations: Improving policy, service delivery and equitable distribution of resources to ensure that priorities of equity are integrated in key programs, practices, and budget decisions.

· Implementation: Coordinating and developing city-wide Race and Equity offices through normalizing racial equity tools and social justice practices across two large local government systems comprised of over 11,000 employees.

· Learning and Development: Designing curriculum and facilitating training on racial equity and inclusion that contextualizes historic oppression, systemic racism, and implicit/explicit biases to guide departments on building equitable outcomes.

· Evaluation, Assessment and Process Improvement: Creating infrastructure and systems to evaluate equitable outcomes and integrate Racial Equity Tools.

Hobbies including: Playing basketball, traveling, spending time with family/friends and exploring San Diego beaches.