Kim Johnson (she/her) is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, she is from the Bird clan and Tallahassee band. She is also a descendent of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma. Kim has worked within the field of Indian Child Welfare since 2007. She has spent several years working for a nonprofit in the metro Denver area providing case management services and Indian Child Welfare Advocacy (ICWA) advocacy. Within Kim’s work experience, she has been qualified to provide Expert Witness testimony in Child Welfare, Indian Child Welfare and Social Work. While in Denver Kim established and maintained relationships with a multitude of tribes to ensure that culturally responsive services and ICWA advocacy is provided on behalf of tribal children and families. Kim later began her career with the Chickasaw Nation as a child protective services worker, adoption manager, permanency manager and senior manager; she previously served as a director of the child welfare services program. Her career path also led her to serve as a Leadership Development Coach and eventually a Program Manager with the Center for Workforce Equity and Leadership. Kim presently provides consulting work focused on elevating tribal sovereignty and the necessity to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act.
She holds a her associate’s of art degree in social work from Haskell Indian Nations University, a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University.
Kim’s hobbies include: cooking, watching football, kayaking, hiking, traveling to new places and spending time with her family. Kim is an accomplished beadwork artist, she has placed 1st in the 2018 and 2019 Te’Ata Fisher Chickasaw Nation Employee Art Show for beaded jewelry and beadwork. Kim was raised in a Maskoke language home. Her grandmother was a monolingual speaker and her mother is bilingual. Kim’s cultural upbringing has heavily influenced her determination to ensure that tribal children and families are connected to their culture and tribal community. She firmly believes that these components are essential to strengthening identity for Tribal children and contribute to the health and well-being of their families and tribal communities.