faculty

Expertise

Leadership, entrepreneurship, negotiation, social enterprise, innovation, business strategy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, robotics, brand building, storytelling, media, podcasting

Experience

Kimberly Jung builds and leads teams from the ground up. While serving in the US Army, Kim was an engineer officer who led a route clearance platoon in Afghanistan in 2010-2011. As a female engagement team member of a provincial reconstruction team, she helped to empower Afghan village women.

In 2014, Kim co-founded Rumi Spice, a social enterprise laying a foundation for peace in Afghanistan through saffron farming. Rumi works with over 300 Afghan farmers and employs thousands of women across three processing facilities. In 2016, Kim and the other co-founders appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, where they negotiated a successful deal with Mark Cuban. Since then, Rumi has graced the tables of Michelin-starred restaurants and sells 12 spice blends nationally through Whole Foods.

She is currently CEO of Blanchard House, a narrative-style nonfiction podcast publishing team made up of former BBC and Economist radio journalists.

Scholarly Work/Publications/Awards/Distinctions

While serving as Rumi Spice’s CEO, Kim received the International Women Associates’ (IWA) Woman Extraordinaire Award in 2017 in conjunction with the YWCA Chicago Outstanding Entrepreneurship Leader. In the same year, Rumi Spice also received the honor of becoming Bunker Labs’ Company of the Year after she and her cofounder Emily Miller were featured on the cover of Vetrepreneur, the official magazine of the National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA). Kim and Emily made #9 in Most Innovative Women in Food & Wine in 2015 and also received the 2016 Specialty Food Association Community Leadership Award. Kim received the Tillman Foundation’s prestigious Make your Mark Award in 2015. Kim holds a Professional Engineering license in Mechanical Engineering from the State of California.

Education

MS, Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts

MBA, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

BS, Mechanical Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York

Organizations

Bunker Labs, Board Member; Alipes, Board Member; Pat Tillman Foundation, Scholar; Service 2 School, Mentor; Det Bozeman, Member; Athena Angels, Founding Member; MIT Emergency Ventilator Project for COVID-19 Response, Executive Officer; Girls Scouts Missouri, Assistant Troop Leader; Hi-Impact Girls Volleyball 14’s Coach

Personal

Kim enjoys yoga, hiking, volleyball, and enjoying good food with friends.