We’re thrilled to present a new series that shines a spotlight on the dynamic individuals who make up the heart of our Community Engagement Network (CEN). As we continue to foster collaboration, learning, and community-building within the sphere of community engagement at UBC, it’s our pleasure to share the stories and insights of those who drive this essential work forward.
Meet Holly Kim!
In our inaugural feature, we’re proud to introduce Holly Kim, the Operations and Program Manager at UBC Community Engagement. Holly’s journey, spanning from her previous role as a bank manager to her current pivotal position on our team, exemplifies the essence of reciprocal community engagement. Her insights offer a glimpse into the mechanisms that underpin successful partnerships and fair compensation in the realm of community-university engagement.
Dive into Holly’s interview, available in both video and written formats below.
How do you support community-university engagement?
I support community engagement in a less direct way. I’m usually a behind-the-scenes person providing practical support for our community partners, particularly for our funding programs that promote community-university engagement, and also for equitable and fair compensation for our community partners.
How did you get started in community engagement work?
Even before I joined UBC Community Engagement, my career had always had components of community engagement. In my previous career as a bank manager, I was the community liaison between the bank and the local Korean community and helped strengthen the bank’s support for the Korean community and the Korean Heritage Day Festival, which happens every summer. For this work, I was honored to receive the Community Champion Award from the bank.
So, when I joined the UBC Community Engagement team a number of years ago, it was a natural fit. Since then, I got to see our work expand and influence the wider university community and it’s been very rewarding.
Can you share an example of reciprocal community-university engagement?
A practical way to support reciprocal engagement is by managing financial resources. We hear from our community partners all the time that one of the best ways to help them is to share resources that we have, especially financial resources. And I get to support that in a small way. I help administer our funding programs to make sure our community partners receive funds in a timely manner. And I also process honoraria so that our community partners are compensated fairly and equitably.
We have two funding programs. One is called the Community-University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund, which awards up to $25,000. And the second one is a smaller fund called the Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund, which awards up to $1,500. The purpose of these funds is to remove financial barriers so that more underserved, marginalized, and excluded communities can build partnerships with UBC students, faculty, and staff.
What is a challenge you face working in community engagement?
We have funded hundreds of projects by now, and these projects truly exemplify reciprocal community engagement. We often work with our community partners on programs and events, and in some partnerships, it is very important to honor people’s time and expertise with a token of appreciation or an honorarium.
It’s been challenging because UBC doesn’t have a very clear, explicit guideline on processing honorarium, so it’s been quite a trial-and-error process to figure out what’s the best way to compensate our partners. And so, we’ve learned that from our mistakes. And now we have developed our own internal process which has been working really well.
What advice do you have for others to work through these challenges?
My most important piece of advice for compensating community partners is to start the process early. It takes quite a long time for the partners to receive honoraria, so start talking about it early, have a transparent conversation about what is fair, and set a clear expectation on the process and the timeline.
Can you share a resource for others in the Community Engagement Network?
The resource I’d like to share is the Indigenous Finance Guidelines. It’s been around for a few years now, but I don’t think many folks are aware of it or using it. It’s been super helpful in compensating our Indigenous community partners and I would strongly recommend reviewing the guidelines. There’s tons of useful information and tips, so please read the whole thing, not just the last few pages of practical numbers and forms.
If you’d like to find out more about UBC Community Engagement’s funding programs and connect with Holly directly, visit Our Team page on our website.
Stay tuned for more inspiring profiles and interviews as part of our “Meet the CEN” series.