Speaker · Author · Operation Babylift Survivor

The Power of
Knocking.

I lost my mother at two and a half years old. I have spent thirty years knocking. I have never stopped telling people what I found.

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I help people find the courage to knock. On the doors they were told to leave closed. On the conversations they were taught to avoid. On the parts of themselves they buried to belong. I lost mine at two and a half years old. I have spent thirty years knocking. I have never stopped telling people what I found.

Who She Is

Not a speaker who talks about the refugee experience.

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

Then she spent thirty years walking back into rooms — K–12 students, college audiences, corporate stages, 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.

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Kim Delevett

Kim Delevett

Speaker · Author · Mrs. Global Ambassador

Kim Delevett

Full Biography

Kim Delevett dedicated over 24 years to Southwest Airlines, building relationships with nonprofit, business, and civic leaders to support education, economic development, disaster response and human trafficking initiatives.

Kim was the company's first corporate affairs manager focused on the AANHPI community. From spearheading aid to Southeast Asian fishermen following the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill, to leading delegations 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.

As part of Operation Babylift, she fled Vietnam in April 1975 at age two. She is not a speaker who talks about the refugee experience — she is a refugee whose life became the curriculum. Her immigrant story was chronicled in a joint project with StoryCorps and PBS. She received a History Channel award for her oral history.

In 2025, Kim's efforts to thank Vietnam Veterans were featured in local and national media. She received the "Mrs. Global Ambassador" title and graduated cum laude from Loyola University of New Orleans. Based in San Jose, CA, she is currently writing a memoir to foster intergenerational healing.

The Work

Rooted and 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 — not because something is wrong with them, but because no one has shown them the power of owning their own story.

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-nominated ABC 20/20 documentary for the 50th anniversary of Operation Babylift, connecting personal narrative with living history.

Grades K–12 College & University Corporate Veterans & Community

Who it reaches

01
Young Adults & Students

Those navigating family pressure, cultural expectation, and the exhaustion of performing a self that doesn't match the one inside.

02
Veterans & Volunteers

Those who showed up in 1975 and have never been properly thanked — the unsung heroes who processed refugees and changed lives.

03
Families Across Generations

Families who love each other but have never found language to talk about what the war, displacement, or silence did to them.

04
Educators & Schools

Teachers who shape children at formative ages and have never been shown what the wrong word at the wrong moment costs a kid over a lifetime.

"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 & Life Empowerment Practitioner
From the Field

The words that keep Kim knocking.

"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 & Life Empowerment Practitioner, former APALI 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

"You made me want to go talk to my grandpa about the Vietnam War."

— High school student, Rooted and Rising assembly
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K12

Schools & Universities

K–12 assemblies, college keynotes, and SEL-aligned workshops tailored to your student community.

KEY

Conferences & Galas

Keynotes and panel appearances for community organizations, nonprofits, and corporate events.

VET

Veterans & Community Events

A deeply personal thank-you from one of the people your service made possible.

MED

Memoir & Media

Interview requests, podcast appearances, and media inquiries welcome.

Kim Delevett at Pensacola Beach in yellow couture gown
A Personal Statement

Owning Yellow

After more than five decades of life, I am proud to affirm: I am Vietnamese American. I am different. I embrace yellow.

A few months before the multicultural pageant I participated in, I met global fashion designer Kenneth Barlis in Los Angeles. He selected a yellow couture gown for my photo shoot — and I immediately had reservations.

My photographer and I rushed to catch the sunset on Pensacola Beach — the same place I first experienced racism as a child. Standing there in yellow, I couldn't fully comprehend the surreal, full-circle moment unfolding around me.

I smiled from my soul and hugged the hidden little girl. Owning yellow is now part of my legacy.

So. Let's knock.

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

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