Kim-Khánh Van

Chair: Transportation Committee
Vice-Chair: Public Safety Committee
Member: Finance Committee

Councilmember Kim-Khánh Văn is a lifelong optimist and believer in people. She learned at an early age that by working hard, being humble and thrifty, and trying to make a difference, you can affect someone else’s life. She is willing to dig in and be a part of the solution.

Kim-Khánh was born in Vietnam, raised by a mother who took her four children and left a dangerous country when Kim-Khánh was six years old and fled to a refugee camp in the Philippines. Eventually her family received sponsorship from a wonderful church, and civic and charitable organizations in the Seattle area.  When she was able, she took advantage of leadership and tutoring programs made possible by non-profit organizations and worked throughout high school and college.

As the primary translator for her family, Councilmember Văn learned how the human services system was designed to help families and this led to her interest in law. After attending the University of Washington, she became the first in her family to graduate from a four-year-university.  She then attended and graduated from the University of Dayton, School of Law.  Her upbringing, combined with the kindness and generosity of charitable organizations has developed in her a passion for justice and “paying-it-forward”.

Since moving to Renton with her husband and their two children, Kim-Khánh has been an active member of the Mayor’s Inclusion Task Force, Renton Rotary, Northwest Immigrant’s Rights Project, Seattle Stand Down veteran’s group, Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment, Washington State Association for Justice and the American Immigration Lawyers Association among others.

Councilmember Văn’s priorities include working hard to keep Renton’s neighborhoods safe for all, efforts to lessen the burden for small businesses, as she sees them as the driving force of our local economy, and she would like to ensure that city policies and ordinances reflect Renton’s diverse population.

She states, “We are ‘Becoming Renton’ but we are not done. Even though you may see prosperity around you, all of us have a civic duty to bring out the best in our neighbors to continue to make Renton a great place to live, work, play and learn.”

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