King County Executive Zahilay recently named his new Chief Operating Officer, Hyeok Kim, and highlighted her achievements on LinkedIn, saying:

I’m excited to welcome an exceptional addition to our King County Executive Office as we continue to build out the strong collaborative team that is working hard to deliver meaningful results to all King County residents.

Hyeok Kim will serve as our Chief Operating Officer. She will play a vital role on my senior leadership team and is responsible for directing and supporting day-to-day operations across all King County Cabinet agencies.

She has an extensive background in public service at all levels of government. She served as Deputy Mayor for the City of Seattle from 2014 – 2017. In doing so, she became the first Asian American woman to hold such a role in the city’s history. Prior to her work at City Hall, she was the Executive Director of InterimCDA, a nonprofit housing development organization, and she also worked for nine years in the Washington State Legislature. Since 2020, she’s worked as an independent consultant on a wide range of topics from children’s advocacy, childcare and early learning to enterprise cloud solutions and affordable housing.

Hyeok also brings extensive experience as a volunteer and civic leader. She is a former Commissioner on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a former Marshall Memorial Fellow and she was a Casey Fellow with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Please join me in welcoming Hyeok to my administration. I look forward to working with her and watching her expertise in action as we continue to deliver on a county government dedicated to serving our residents well.