FOCUS
Helen Gym on the Power of Voice and Perseverance How this progressive councilwoman at–large puts Philadelphians first BY AL ANA BES S
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t’s not every day a politician dedicates herself to her city more than her job title. For Helen Gym (C ‘93), though, that’s her daily reality. Since joining the Philadelphia City Council in 2016, Gym’s main focus has been improving Philadelphia as a whole, starting with implementing policies regarding quality education, affordable housing, and environmen-
Emily White
tal protection. Her driving spark can be traced back to her childhood years growing up in Columbus, Ohio. The daughter of Korean immigrants, Gym grew up in a community that gave her as much as it could. She utilized any and all resources available to her, from public libraries to recreation centers and everything in between. “I went to a great public school, and it really instilled in me an understanding of the importance of what society can and should be bringing to people,” she says. From a young age, Gym recognized her duty to fulfill her
end of the “constant social contract” between people and society: a mutual giving. The feeling lasted for a while. Until it didn’t. “I landed in a very complicated city,” she says of her decision to attend Penn for her undergraduate years. A short while after graduating with a history degree, Gym worked as a public school teacher at Lowell Elementary School, which was a huge wake up call for her. “I couldn’t imagine [that] a nation, country, society, or city could leave young people behind in schools that lack air conditioning, libraries, modern books, research, science labs, [and] enough mentors,” she recalls. “That really ended this idea that the social contract was a given, but it’s something that is actually fought for, and most importantly, organized towards.” Unless people went out for themselves to demand what they deserved, nothing would be delivered. Once Gym understood the power of her voice, she refused to relent. “I had the chance for more than two decades to organize alongside a group of teachers, storytellers, artists, activists, and parents who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and who are determined to see the city do something different and be bigger and better than it had been before,” she says. “And they weren’t going to wait.” Political moments are fragile, and people’s trust in what’s possible can easily be broken. Everything Gym does is “fueled by the understanding that what we lost yesterday is the drive that brings us to the urgen-