As the Program Development Manager, Ray Kim coordinates and manages the full range of program-related work: the development of proposals, the management of a program during its operational duration, and the production of deliverables and reporting at their conclusion. Adept in various qualitative research methods and analysis, he applies these skills and the knowledge he gains from conducting research leading up to a proposal’s design to ensuring that the program’s design is directly informed by the contexts in which they will be implemented.

While at ICRD, he has provided support in the delivery of trainings on inclusive curriculum development for Saudi teachers, and provided the qualitative research frame for ICRD’s work in providing pro-social educational content for children in Lebanon. He also currently manages ICRD’s domestic programs that aim to empower and partner with American faith communities to address toxic polarization and rebuild social cohesion in our society.

Ray Kim received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He is a sociologist of religion specializing in contemporary Islam and Christianity who has years of experience conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Korea tracking developments in the halal market and the spread of Islamophobic discourse throughout the country.

His research interests have also led him to collaborate on projects concerning the religious soft-power influences of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, as well as the flight of non-Muslim minorities from the Levantine region. He has also conducted qualitative research observing and interviewing churches in the US that were exploring questions about “calling” and “vocation” as part of a program that was funded by the Lilly Endowment.