Kim Chua, Communications Apprentice

Kim Chua Feb 19, 2022 Bio – Apprentice – Past Apprentices 0 comments

National Leadership Program, Spring 2022

Kim Chua

Kim Chua (she/they) is a Communications Apprentice in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Spring 2022. RespectAbility is a national nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

Chua was born in Inglewood, California but most of her upbringing was in Lawndale (all within the South Bay Area of Los Angeles). While the two cities are relatively neighbors, Chua became all too familiar with how policy and community dictated quality of life and unfortunate crime rates. The starkly ignored inequalities led her to a path of empowering others through advocacy and design.

Chua studied Public Health Policy at the University of California, Irvine, though her professional background instead ranged from data entry to barista work. Presented with opportunities to travel across state and country lines, Chua toured with her DSLR to various landscapes and held working holiday visas in New Zealand and Australia. She recently pursued graphic design as a career, after years of volunteering for nonprofits. Grateful for all the support she received as a volunteer, she plans to actively engage and help those who aspire to design on a professional level.

As someone who is all too familiar with depression, Chua fights to reconstruct societal perceptions to prevent others from struggling in their own depths alone. She works with her depression and disassociation through creative means to destigmatize mental health among Asian identities.

With the support of RespectAbility staff, Chua will strive to champion accessible design. She will start with her advocacy work before consulting the design world of pathways and solutions regarding accessibility.

JOIN OUR TEAM!

RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for and with people with disabilities. Learn more about the National Leadership Program and apply for the next cohort! Contact [email protected] for more information.