The Kayasa Foundation was founded when our founders aimed to convert their financial success into an enduring legacy of generosity that provides assistance to the most vulnerable in our society. The name was coined by our co-founder Sa Eun Kim by taking the first letters of Dr. Kim's name, Kim YongShik, to create KaYaSa.

Yongshik Kim was a farmer’s son born in Pyongyang, Korea, and immigrated to the United States in 1959 to study in Boston. There he met his future wife, Sa Eun Hong, and they married in 1960.  

Yongshik received a Master of Sacred Theology from Boston University in 1961, and a Ph.D. in History of Religion from Brigham Young University in 1972. 

After graduating from BU, Yongshik and his family settled in Hawaii. There he worked as a pastor at Wahiawa Korean Christian Church, Pahala and Naalehu United Methodist Churches, as well as teaching philosophy and religion at Leeward Community College. 

In 1971 Yongshik founded the Aiea Korean United Methodist Church (AKUMC), serving as the pastor for 14 years before retiring in 1990. The AKUMC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021 and continues to thrive today.

After retiring from the ministry, Yongshik moved to Plano, Texas where he continued the real estate investing he began in Hawaii. 

After 30 years in Texas, Yongshik and Sa Eun moved to New York to be near their daughter. Yongshik passed away in 2024 at the age of 96.

Sa Eun Hong was born in Seoul, Korea and attended the prestigious Kyunggi high school, later graduating from Ewha University with a degree in English Literature. Following graduation she worked as an interpreter for George Peabody College, of Vanderbilt University, as part of its work with the Korean Ministry of Education improving teacher education. 

She immigrated to the United States to study at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earning a Masters in Education in 1960. 

Sa Eun worked as an elementary school teacher for 28 years, mostly teaching the 5th grade at August Ahrens Elementary School in Waipahu, Hawaii. She used her creative and artistic skills to help create Korean costumes and dances for the annual May Day celebrations at school. In 1977 she authored Chul Soo’s First Day of School, a children’s book published as part of the Hawaiian Bilingual/Bicultural Education Project. 

In 2007, Sa Eun published a memoir The Journey With A Dragon, dedicated to Yongshik for his 80th birthday based on her annual Christmas cards from the prior 16 years. 

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