AILEEN KIM
Secretary
Aileen Kim is the Special Assistant at the U.S. Department of Education where the mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. ED is dedicated to establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds; collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research; focusing national attention on key educational issues; and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
Prior to this post, Aileen worked as a consultant on multi-jurisdictional campaigns at Tusk Strategies and Tusk Philanthropies, providing strategic public affairs guidance and research support grounded in her experience in running issue-based and electoral campaigns.
Before joining Tusk, Aileen was a Senior Associate at Civitas Public Affairs Group, where she helped develop the strategies and coalitions to support national and multi-state advocacy campaigns on issues such as reproductive and economic justice, rape kit reform, youth workforce development, and the opioid crisis. Prior to consulting, Aileen served as District Director for an Illinois State Representative, where she oversaw constituent services and conducted the policy research and analysis needed to further the Representative’s transportation safety agenda. She has previous experience in running local candidate campaigns in Chicago and in national television news production.
A native Chicagoan, Aileen has a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications and East Asian Studies from New York University and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University. She is based in Washington, D.C.