Helen Gym

Helen Gym

Councilperson-At-Large Helen Gym
Philadelphia City councilperson
Assumed office
January 2016[1]
Preceded by Jim Kenney
Member of the Philadelphia City Council from the At-Large District
Personal details
Born

c. 1968 (age 47–48)

[2]
Seattle, Washington, United States

Political party Democratic

Helen Gym (born c. 1968)[2] is a Philadelphia City councilperson, the first Asian American woman to hold that position.[3] A second-generation Korean, Gym is also a community organizer, journalist, former school teacher, and is on the board of Asian Americans United, a racial-justice and advocacy group.

Personal life

Gym was born in Seattle, Washington then raised in Ohio near Columbus. Her parents were born in Korea, who in the 1960s, immigrated to the United States. Her father was a computer engineer working for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.[2] Her mother worked in the food services department at Ohio State University. Gym has a younger sister. Growing up, the family attended the Protestant Korean Church.[3]

In 1993, Gym graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in history. After leaving college, she went back to Ohio and worked for the Mansfield News Journal as a reporter.

Around 1994, she worked as a school teacher.

In 1995, she married Bret Flaherty, a lawyer. They now have three children.

In 1996, Gym completed her language acquisition master's degree at University of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia City Council

In January 2016, Gym replaced Jim Kenney as a democratic member of the Philadelphia City Council on a platform of housing reform and education. As councilperson, she intends to ensure that Philadelphia's communities have an equal voice to wealthy entities and lobbyists.[4] She plans to fight for a decent quality of life, especially for schoolchildren, workers, and those who are struggling, to combat hunger, lack of housing, and poverty.[1]

Work in the community

Gym has been a grassroots community organizer in Philadelphia has been involved in education reform there since 2006. Around that year, she co-founded the Parents United for Public Education.[2][5] She is a member of the editorial board of Rethinking Schools[5][6] and one of the founders of The Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a nonprofit, independent, free news service. She also co-founded a charter school in Chinatown called the Folk Art Cultural Treasures School.[3]

In 2000, Gym led a campaign called the "Stadium Out of Chinatown Coalition" against the construction of a baseball stadium north of Chinatown, due to the fear that it may result in gentrification of the area.[2][3][7]

She has also led other campaigns. In 2008, she fought against the establishment of the proposed Foxwoods Casino planned near Philadelphia's Chinatown because of the concern that unchecked development would compel longtime residents of that area to move away. She has also organized in opposition to state-sponsored, predatory gambling.[2][5]

United States Commission on Civil Rights case

Around 2009, she worked on a successful federal civil rights case to help stop the bullying and harassment of Asian American students in South Philadelphia High School.[4][6][8] The case came about partially due to a series of assaults at the school on December 3, 2009 when as many as thirty Asian immigrant students were attacked and beaten by large groups of African-American students. In her testimony, she called for the commission to require the school and district officials bear responsibility for not addressing the problem, to differentiate bias-based harassment and generalized violence, and take a different approach for each, and to develop effective anti-harassment policies and procedures.[9] One result of the case was the 2014 creation of the AAPI Bullying Prevention Task Force. ("AAPI" is an acronym for Asian American Pacific Islanders.)[10]

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1 2 MacDonald, Tom. "Councilwoman-elect vows to work for education, 'quality life' for all Philadelphians — NewsWorks".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Helen Gym: Agitator for School Reform". 27 December 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "A national honor for Philadelphia activist Helen Gym".
  4. 1 2 "Helen Gym, First Asian-American Woman on Philadelphia City Council, Touts Community Investment".
  5. 1 2 3 "Helen gym".
  6. 1 2 "Alum Helen Gym champions housing and education reform in her run for City Council".
  7. ↑ "Citizens Bank Park: A Decade in the Stadium We Didn't Want - News - Philadelphia Magazine". 8 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Philadelphia Story: Voices of Asian American Bullying Victims - New America Media".
  9. ↑ http://www.eusccr.com/14.%20Helen%20Gym,%20Asian%20Americans%20United.pdf
  10. ↑ "Strengthening the AAPI Community Through New Bullying Prevention Efforts".
  11. ↑ "Parent activist Helen Gym receives Eddy Award".
  12. ↑ "César E. Chávez Champions of Change".
  13. ↑ "Helen Gym Draws National Attention in New Role". 5 January 2016.
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