Jae Yeon Kim
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jaeyeonkim.bsky.social
Jae Yeon Kim
@jaeyeonkim.bsky.social
incoming asst prof of public policy @UNC Chapel Hill | ex-data science @codeforamerica | Data for Good Roundtables co-founder

https://jaeyk.github.io
Pinned
📢 Prospective Public Policy PhD Students

I’m accepting students for the 2026 application cycle in the UNC Public Policy PhD program.
Ph.D. FAQs - Public Policy
When are applications due? The Fall 2026 application deadline is December 2, 2025. Helpful Links: Do I have to submit a partial transcript if I am currently enrolled in classes […]
publicpolicy.unc.edu
📢 Prospective Public Policy PhD Students

I’m accepting students for the 2026 application cycle in the UNC Public Policy PhD program.
Ph.D. FAQs - Public Policy
When are applications due? The Fall 2026 application deadline is December 2, 2025. Helpful Links: Do I have to submit a partial transcript if I am currently enrolled in classes […]
publicpolicy.unc.edu
November 11, 2025 at 4:02 AM
My brief reflection on attending this year’s GovAI Coalition Summit as one of the few academics:

Bridging the Gap:
Why Policy Scholars Should Attend Practitioner Conferences

jaeyeonkim.substack.com/p/bridging-t...
Bridging the Gap: Why Policy Scholars Should Attend Practitioner Conferences
This week I attended the GovAI Coalition Summit, a gathering of local governments across the U.S.
jaeyeonkim.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Fellow policy scholars attending APPAM next week: If you work on language accessibility and AI translation/interpretation at the local level, I would love to discuss. You can reach out to me via jaeyeonkim@hks.harvard.edu
November 7, 2025 at 6:03 PM
📅 Excited to share my next week's APPAM schedule!

Fellow social and tech policy scholars: I’ll be presenting and discussing research on administrative burden, AI, and tech governance across four sessions next week in Seattle:
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
2nd day at the GovAI Coalition Summit
November 6, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Working paper alert 📢
Link: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I was very fortunate to be part of this impactful research on the science of protest. This is one of those projects where the sum truly feels greater than its parts.
Race, Violence, and the Effectiveness of Protest
<p><span>Protests constitute a primary way that members of the public express their preferences and seek to change public policy. Focusing on policy protests in
papers.ssrn.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Here at the GovAI Coalition Summit until this Friday
November 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
APPAM is next week. It's definitely one of my favorite communities, academic or otherwise. This year marks the 47th APPAM research conference. In this post, I share what Duncan MacRae Jr. wrote about his experience at the very first one, held in 1979 in Chicago: substack.com/home/post/p-...
APPAM at 47: A Community Where Policy Science Thrives
Duncan MacRae Jr., my department’s institutional founder at UNC, received his PhD from Harvard’s Department of Social Relations, which was later disaggregated into separate departments.
substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:26 AM
This Thursday, I shared what my postdoc (or post-PhD) experience was like and how I used that time to bridge my dissertation work with my long-term research direction.
November 1, 2025 at 3:48 AM
GovAI Coalition Summit is next week, and I’m looking forward to connecting with procurement professionals and researchers working to make the process smarter, more effective, and more accountable. I see procurement as both a key bottleneck and al lever for enabling government innovation.
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I wrote a short reflection on my appreciation for my mom. I came from a working-class background, but she made the difference: jaeyeonkim.substack.com/p/dear-mama?...
Dear Mama
I came from a working-class family.
jaeyeonkim.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Jae Yeon Kim
Upturn is hiring a new Executive Director: www.upturn.org/join/executi...
Upturn Seeks an Executive Director
Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.
www.upturn.org
October 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by Jae Yeon Kim
Cornell (NYC and Ithaca) is recruiting AI postdocs, apply by Nov 20, 2025! If you're interested in working with me on technical approaches to responsible AI (e.g., personalization, fairness), please email me.

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30971
Cornell University, Empire AI Fellows Program
Job #AJO30971, Postdoctoral Fellow, Empire AI Fellows Program, Cornell University, New York, New York, US
academicjobsonline.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This week's reading list. Some of these are rereads. One of them, When Care Is Conditional, is by Dani Carrillo, an old friend from my graduate school years. I was in political science, and Dani was in sociology, but we were both part of the Interdisciplinary Immigration Workshop (IIW).
October 28, 2025 at 7:07 PM
It was an absolute pleasure and honor to give a talk at the PRIISM seminar today at NYU: steinhardt.nyu.edu/events/ident...

Many thanks to Klint Kanopka and Ravi Shroff, and it was wonderful to see you Alex Chohlas-Wood!
PRIISM | Identifying and Reducing Administrative Burden Using Design and Data
Join PRIISM and Dr. Jae Yeon Kim to learn how human-centered design and experimentation can be used to identify and reduce administrative burdens in government support programs.
steinhardt.nyu.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I’m giving a virtual talk this Wednesday at NYU (PRIISM Seminar) on how we can improve government services through design and data, in ways that advance an agency’s mission. You can register here and I would like to learn from you: steinhardt.nyu.edu/events/ident...
PRIISM | Identifying and Reducing Administrative Burden Using Design and Data
Join PRIISM and Dr. Jae Yeon Kim to learn how human-centered design and experimentation can be used to identify and reduce administrative burdens in government support programs.
steinhardt.nyu.edu
October 20, 2025 at 3:53 PM
New from me: Data Scientists Don’t Have Power But May Have Influence. You could replace “researchers” with “data scientists,” but I think the lessons still hold.

open.substack.com/pub/jaeyeonk...
Data Scientists Don’t Have Power But May Have Influence
There was a time when people called data science “the sexiest job of the 21st century,” a phrase popularized by Thomas H.
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:54 AM
jaeyeonkim.substack.com/p/the-contra...

Based on my talk at SAIS in DC today, I updated my post on The Contracting State and AI Policy. I hope it’s useful. I’m also very grateful to the many students who signed up and attended despite midterm exams, and for their thoughtful questions.
The Contracting State and AI Policy
Today, I gave a talk at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, on how governments procure and govern AI technologies as part of the Tech and Innovation Speakers Series.
jaeyeonkim.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:59 PM
14번째 더나은미래 칼럼입니다.

보이지 않는 가난, 어떻게 보이게 할 것인가: futurechosun.com/archives/132...

복지가 필요한 이유는 특정한 사람이 문제가 아니라, 특정한 상황이 문제이기 때문이다.
[공익이 이끄는 데이터 과학] 보이지 않는 가난, 어떻게 보이게 할 것인가 - 더나은미래
김재연 미국의 공공 영역 데이터 과학자 복지가 필요한 이유는 특정한 사람이 문제가 아니라, 특정한 상황이 문제이기 때문이다.  필자는 2023년, 미국 시빅테크 단체 ‘코드 포 아메리카(Code for America)’에서 데이터 과학자로 일하면서 '우리에게는 다른
futurechosun.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:36 AM
My first book review of the year: Maraam Dwidar’s Power to the Partners: Organizational Coalitions in Social Justice Advocacy (University of Chicago Press, 2025).

jaeyeonkim.substack.com/p/book-revie...
Book Review: Power to the Partners (2025) by Maraam Dwidar
My New Year’s resolution is to write regular book reviews, and I am starting with one for Power to the Partners by Maraam Dwidar, published this year by the University of Chicago Press.
jaeyeonkim.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:15 PM
New from me: I’ll be giving a talk on this topic (though under a different title) at SAIS in D.C. this Wednesday.

open.substack.com/pub/jaeyeonk...
The Contracting State and AI Policy
I am excited to give a talk on how governments procure and govern AI technologies, drawing on both my professional experience and academic research, this Wednesday at SAIS in Washington, DC.
open.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:27 AM