Kelly Kim

Kelly S. Kim is a J.D. Candidate from Honolulu and Los Angeles. She holds a B.A. with Distinction in International Relations and an M.A. in Communication from Stanford University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Delta Pi, and Pi Sigma Alpha.

Kelly’s interests lie at the intersection of national security, diplomacy, and international law. Her master’s thesis examined how ethnic minorities in China use subversive linguistic tactics on digital platforms to resist censorship. She has also conducted research on legal efforts to advance accountability for international human rights violations and mass atrocities through her work at the U.S. Department of Justice and Stanford Law School and supported initiatives to promote ethical AI governance and digital freedom within the federal government through research with the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute.

Following graduation, Kelly served as a national security staffer for Senator Chris Coons, leading the foreign policy and defense portfolios for the Indo-Pacific, Western Hemisphere, and Arctic regions. As the sole Democratic staffer for the Senate Human Rights Caucus, she drafted bicameral, bipartisan legislation and led member- and staff-level discussions on global human rights issues. Most recently, she advised on crisis management strategies to modernize and safeguard U.S. foreign assistance, coordinating across party lines, chambers of Congress, and with democracy building organizations.

At Georgetown, Kelly looks forward to exploring how national security and international law shapes U.S. foreign and defense policy, particularly in the Indo-Pacific theater. She speaks Korean, Spanish, and Mandarin, and is a member of the Foreign Policy for America Next Gen Initiative and the Pacific Forum Young Leaders Program. In her free time, she enjoys junk journaling, crocheting, and cooking.