By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — Former City Council candidate Jin “PJ” Kim has a new political gig.
Starting next week, Kim will lead the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The nonprofit think tank is based in the Financial District and focuses on economic and social justice issues nationwide. Its first executive director was Fernando Ferrer, who left to challenge Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005.
The job could be a similar springboard for Kim, who last fall was one of four candidates to challenge incumbent Councilmember Alan Gerson in Lower Manhattan’s First District. Kim came in third, behind winner Margaret Chin and Gerson.
Kim developed a reputation as a calm consensus-builder during the debates and netted several large endorsements, including the Times and the New York Daily News.
A first generation Korean immigrant, Kim, 31, has a background in consulting and social service nonprofits. He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and two master’s degrees, in business and public administration, from Harvard University.
As for his own political ambitions, Kim is staying quiet for now.
“I’m totally focused right now on making sure that DMI becomes the premier national urban progressive think tank, and I think it will be a multiyear effort to be successful,” Kim told the Times. “Then we’ll see what the future holds."
