The Power of
Knocking.

I lost my mother at two years old, and never knew my father. I have spent thirty years knocking, and I have not stopped telling people what I found.

See Speaking Programs Read My Story

Not a story about leaving. A story about arriving.

Who She Is

Not a survivor just giving a talk. A survivor giving a way through.

Kim Delevett is a refugee whose life became the curriculum. She fled Saigon as a toddler as part of Operation Babylift. She lost her mother and motherland. She navigated decades of identity erasure, rediscovered her roots as an adult, and built a 24-year career without losing herself in the process.

She spent thirty years walking back into rooms — K–12 grade classrooms, college student workshops, national conventions, veteran gatherings — to tell that story directly.

The proof is in the testimonials. Young adults who went back to Vietnam. Students who finally talked to their fathers. Grandchildren who came home and asked grandpa what really happened in the war. Veterans who found inner peace and healing through witnessing her journey.

Book a Conversation
Click to read full bio
Kim Delevett in yellow áo dài

Kim Delevett

Speaker · Author · Mrs. Global Ambassador

Full Biography

Kim Delevett dedicated over 24 years to Southwest Airlines, building community with nonprofit, business, and civic organizations across the diverse communities Southwest serves. As a face of Southwest's community engagement, she championed education, economic development, disaster response, and human trafficking initiatives, forging authentic relationships that earned loyalty and recognition as a trusted global citizen.

Kim launched her career at Southwest in 1996 and moved through a variety of roles. Through her grassroots efforts, Kim contributed to the airline's successful efforts to repeal the federal Wright Amendment, earning one of the company's highest honors from Southwest's president. She also played a key role in securing the company's continued presence at Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport, where Southwest is the dominant air carrier.

Kim was the company's first corporate affairs manager focused on the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. From spearheading aid to devastated Southeast Asian fishermen following the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill, to leading a delegation to meet children in Vietnam whose heart surgeries the company helped fund, to laying the foundation for Southwest's expansion to Hawaii, Kim championed the needs of more than 100 AANHPI organizations. Kim's work has earned her recognition within Southwest and throughout the community, and she has been profiled frequently in mainstream and ethnic media. As a member of the company's official blog team, the company was twice named "Best Blog" by PR News, and she wrote and edited articles for internal and external publications including the inflight magazine. Through mentoring and public speaking, she is especially passionate about encouraging future leaders to become civically engaged and take pride in their heritage and identity. She has served on multiple nonprofit boards including OCA–Asian Pacific Americans, Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Women in Government, San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County, among others. She enjoys her continued advisory and volunteer work with the Asian American Institute for Congressional Studies and the San Jose Ao Dai Festival.

Kim was born in Saigon, Vietnam. As part of Operation Babylift, she fled in April 1975 at age two. She and her brother were raised by a Florida adoptive family. Kim is not a speaker who talks about the refugee experience, but is a refugee whose life became the curriculum. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, her immigrant story was chronicled in a joint project with StoryCorps and PBS called First Days. Kim received a History Channel award for an oral history she created on her refugee experience and was one of a handful of immigrants profiled in a nationwide curriculum developed for schoolchildren. In 2025, Kim's efforts to thank Vietnam Veterans, former military personnel and volunteers were featured in local and national media to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Kim recently participated in Virgelia Productions' multicultural pageant and was awarded the Mrs. Global Ambassador title.

Kim graduated cum laude with a B.A. in communications and a minor in political science from Loyola University of New Orleans. Based in San Jose, CA, Kim is a busy mother and is currently working on a memoir to foster intergenerational healing.

The Work

Rooted & Rising

Identity, Resilience, and the Courage to Knock — tailored to the room, never watered down. From school assemblies to corporate stages, this is the story that changes people.

Kim speaks to anyone who has quietly wished to be someone else. She draws from more than 50 years of lived experience to help people embrace who they are and never give up on themselves. She creates a space where those who have ever felt unseen, different, or not enough finally feel understood. Through radical honesty and unguarded storytelling, Kim goes where most speakers won't — into the real, uncomfortable truth of what it means to be human. She encourages people to explore their family history, build centered resilience, and find the courage to knock on doors that can change and even save their lives. Her story gives the audience a feeling of hope and the courage to open a door that may lead to their own healing.

She brings into the room what no textbook can replicate: the human weight of war, identity, displacement, and belonging. Her presentation can be paired with the Emmy-winning ABC 20/20 documentary: Operation Babylift: The 50 Year Journey, connecting personal narrative with living history.

The Communities I Serve

For Students

You already know the feeling. You're showing up every day as a version of yourself that doesn't quite fit, navigating family pressure, financial stress, and the quiet exhaustion of trying to close the gap between who you are and who you feel you have to be. Kim has lived that. As a Vietnamese refugee and adoptee, she didn't just survive that tension. With little emotional or financial support, she made choices that propelled her life forward, and her presentations bring you into that story. You will leave with a deeper understanding that mental health matters and that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. You will also carry a renewed sense of self-worth, a stronger feeling of belonging, and a lasting reminder that your life and your story matter.

For Educators

The words you choose matter longer than you will ever know. Kim's talk shines a light on how an educator's wrong choice of words or actions, even once, can shape or diminish a child for a lifetime. But it also shows what becomes possible when a teacher chooses to see a student fully, and leaves you with the awareness and intention to be that teacher. For your students, they get customized presentations thoughtfully adapted by age level and aligned with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) frameworks.

For Veterans

You showed up in 1975. You processed refugees, loaded aircraft, ran and volunteered in the camps, and changed lives. Most of you were never properly thanked. Kim was one of the children you helped save. Fifty years later, she has been knocking on doors to find the people who made her life possible. For many veterans, military personnel, and volunteers, the Vietnam War has lived in a private place, too heavy to carry into conversation and too significant to set down. Intergenerational healing starts at home. Kim has dedicated over 25 years to working with veterans and families. In hearing her story, you receive what decades of silence left unfinished: the gratitude that your sacrifice mattered, that she made it, and that true healing can begin.

For Families

Adoption is often framed as a gift. As an adoptee herself, Kim's story brings firsthand insight to the questions that don't always have easy answers — about identity, belonging, and what it means to love a child whose story began before you. Her presentation is an invitation for families touched by foster care and adoption to look honestly at the gap between intention and impact, and to ask whether the love in their home is the kind that holds without conditions. You will leave with a deeper opening into what adopted children can carry and encouragement to show up for them for the rest of their lives.

Building authentic relationships across cultures and communities is harder than it looks — and Kim knows firsthand. As Southwest Airlines' first corporate community affairs manager dedicated to the AANHPI community, she spent 24 years navigating the intersection of corporate priorities and community expectations, creating a career grounded in identity, purpose, and trust.

Whether your organization is deepening its D&I strategy, strengthening partnerships, or building a culture where every voice is valued, Kim delivers both story and framework. Drawing on her expertise in corporate social responsibility, public affairs, and marketing, attendees leave with a proven model for cultivating mutually beneficial relationships — long before any ask is made — and the conviction that the most enduring connections are built person to person, not program to program.

Women today are stretched thin trying to do it all: balancing careers, caregiving, relationships, and the relentless pressure to prove themselves. Many spend years code-switching, overachieving, and hiding parts of themselves to fit in rooms not built for them. Kim's journey from hiding on a bathroom floor ashamed of her identity to becoming the face of Southwest Airlines for the AANHPI community gives women something deeply personal and powerful: permission to show up fully as themselves and succeed.

Her presentation is not a motivation session. It is a mirror. Through vulnerability, earned wisdom, and the kind of humor that only comes from having lived the hard version of the story, Kim helps women see that the qualities they have been apologizing for may be their organization's greatest strengths. Women leave feeling more confident and comfortable in their own skin, reminded that they are already enough. They leave better equipped to seek and offer mentorship with intention, build relationships before they need them, and have the courage to knock for new opportunities — or reinvention — to become who they were always meant to be. Kim challenges every woman in the room to claim her invisible crown and own her yellow.

"Her courage planted the seed of healing that, ten years later, allowed me to build a heartfelt relationship with my dad before he passed."
— Anthony Le, Entrepreneur and Life Empowerment Practitioner
and former Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute Deputy Director
From the Field

The words that keep Kim knocking.

Her pain became her purpose, and she used it to lift me up when I needed it most. She didn't just support me through a difficult season; she helped reshape how I see myself and what I believe is possible for my life. Her presence was both a refuge and a catalyst for growth.

I am who I am today, in large part, because Kim chose to care the way she did. And I know I'm not the only one whose life she's changed."

— Tanvi Varma, Animal Lawyer & Television Journalist · Mentee

"When Kim spoke about identity and finding her relatives in Vietnam, my heart pounded — because here was someone reaching toward family across an ocean while I felt neither American nor Vietnamese enough to even face my own home. Her courage planted the seed of healing that, ten years later, allowed me to build a heartfelt relationship with my dad before he passed."

— Anthony Le, Entrepreneur and Life Empowerment Practitioner
and former Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute Deputy Director

"For decades, I carried the stress of those grueling 16-hour days and a lingering worry about whether we had done enough. Seeing everyone's incredible success and feeling their genuine acceptance at the reunion finally settled those old anxieties, replacing fifty years of uncertainty with a profound sense of peace. I immensely thank Kim for the incredible care she put in to make this healing experience happen."

— Terry Heptinstall, PsyD, LMFT · Former Air Force Airman First Class, Eglin AFB 1975
Operation Eglin Vietnam Refugees Reunion

"Kim, you're family. I'm so pleased you led the 50th reunion of former Eglin camp refugees, military personnel and volunteers and helped document my service there for posterity. You've given me a once-in-a-lifetime appreciation of joy from an unexpected relationship that epitomizes the best of America."

— Retired United States Air Force Col. Ray Beery · Commander, “New Arrivals Task Force” Vietnam Refugee Center, Eglin AFB, 1975

"I believe God has led you through this entire process; you are the little girl that dad has adopted into his heart. Thank you for honoring my father and making a difference in our lives!"

— Susan Beery Buck · Daughter of Retired USAF Col. Ray Beery
Kim with USAF Col. (Ret.) Ray Beery

"Meeting Kim, almost 49-years after we helped her board our military aircraft, instantly returned me to the historic event, and I relived the moment we loaded our precious cargo on her flight to safety and life. I was overwhelmed with intense emotion, to see her, to hold her hand, and to embrace her. Knowing she flourished in life, with a wonderful family, filled my heart with joy, and gave me inner peace."

— Retired United States Air Force Staff Sgt. Miguel “Mike” Lechuga
Kim with Miguel — 50th Anniversary Reunion

"I invited Kim to speak at our youth conference at UNLV, where she shared her story with young Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students. It was one of the most powerful and memorable presentations I had ever experienced. Many of the students had never heard such a personal story about sacrifice, resilience, and the immigrant journey behind success in America. Her words helped them better understand what their own parents and families may have endured."

— Vida Lin, President & Founder, Asian Community Development Council (ACDC), Las Vegas, NV

"After learning Kim's refugee story, I invited her to co-facilitate an identity workshop at the annual OCA National Convention for two consecutive years. Collaborating on Perspectives on APA Identity & Self-Awareness nearly 16 years ago was more than just a conversation — it was a formative experience for me both personally and professionally. The inclusive space we created for honest dialogue around identity, belonging, and self-awareness continues to influence how I approach leadership, advocacy, and community-centered work today."

— Victoria Rumsey Barros, Director of Communications & Stewardship, The Bedford Falls Foundation · Former Director of Development, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates

"I was the Indian-American girl who talked about what a struggle it has been for me to accept my identity and find community. You are one of those people who really impacted me and made me think a lot about my life. This summer really, really changed me — I grew so much more than I did in any of the past 3 years in college. You have no idea how much your life has touched me and helped me heal."

— Krupa · University of Illinois at Chicago, 2011 OCA National Convention

"Ms. Delevett was so incredibly helpful to me both as a role model and just as a person to talk to. Her presentation allowed me to understand and process my identity as an Asian American woman in ways I hadn't thought of before. In having a conversation with her, I realized that the experiences I've had in the past are what have helped me grow into the person I am today. Ms. Delevett was so inspiring to me, and it was amazing to see a fellow AAPI woman truly shine so bright. I really, really believe that Ms. Delevett should give more presentations, especially to high school students such as myself who are looking for a voice in the world."

— Leila R., 17 years old

"Ms. Delevett came to our school to do a chapel talk later in the year. The themes of mental health that she talked about really resonated with me. At the end of the talk, she gave us a chance to go talk to her in a more private space with a small group or one on one. Getting to talk to her directly about both her experiences and mine left a lasting impact on me. Normally we don't get to talk much with our chapel speakers, so knowing that she was willing to not only share her stories but listen to ours and connect with us meant a lot."

— Aspen (he/they), 15 years old

"I was adopted when I was eight days old, and years later, I found my biological mother, Sandol. She asked me to help find her father, James T. Smith, and her brother. After learning about Kim's search for her sponsor Jim Smith, Kim and I connected. She helped Jamie Smith and me finally make contact. It was an incredible moment, because Sandol had always known she had a brother, but had never known his name or anything else about him. Finding Uncle Jamie was a blessing. What began as a search for answers became a journey that expanded my family in ways I never expected."

— Krista Page, Fort Worth, TX

"Krista and I formed a bond immediately, and talked almost nightly for hours sharing stories, and realizing how much we have in common, as well as Sandol my sister. I will never forget, or be able to put into words just how much Kim and her family changed my life. I will forever be grateful and cherish the relationship we formed during our searches."

— James Smith, Syracuse, NY
A Personal Statement

Owning Yellow

After a long identity journey and more than five decades of life, I am proud to affirm:

I am Vietnamese American. I am different. I am comfortable in my skin and appreciate how it turns caramel brown after the sun. I am grateful for the loving community that has supported me, then and now. I embrace yellow.

I believe a dress can truly be transformative — owning yellow is now part of my legacy.

Shop the Collection

Owning Yellow

Shop Now →
Book Kim

Let's make it happen.

Fill out the form below and Kim's team will be in touch within 48 hours.

Schools & Universities

Mentorship and speaking engagements centered on identity, resilience, and belonging — customized by age level and aligned with SEL frameworks.

Veterans & Families

Speaking engagements, oral history collaborations, and nonprofit partnership work centered on family, identity, and healing.

Women

Speaking engagements, women's leadership programs, and panel discussions that center the voices and experiences of women at every stage of life.

Corporations & Communities

Speaking engagements, consulting, and partnership work with corporations and community organizations ready to build the kind of relationships that last.

Memoir & Media

Interview requests, podcast appearances, and media inquiries welcome.

So. Let's knock.

The right door is the one you've been standing in front of.

Book Kim Now