Duluth, August 23, 2025 — Framed by the bustling downtown she now calls home, Sarah Park stood not just as a small business owner, but as a product of this city’s evolving story. On Friday, the longtime community leader and bridge-builder announced her independent candidacy for the Duluth City Council, Post 1, launching a campaign built on a lifetime of forging consensus in a region often defined by its diversity.
For Park, the race is a homecoming in the deepest sense. Her journey to this moment began 26 years ago when she arrived in Duluth as an immigrant child from Korea—a experience that would become the foundation for a career spent weaving together the disparate threads of community.
“Duluth is my hometown, and also my home,” Park said, her statement reflecting the intimate, hard-won connection of someone who has navigated its systems as a working mother, a caregiver for an aging parent, and now, a entrepreneur. “I understand the challenges our families face every day because I have lived them.”
Park’s candidacy is less a pivot into politics than a continuation of work she has done for over a decade, often behind the scenes, in moments of both celebration and profound crisis.
Her capacity for leadership was forged in fire in 2021, when the Atlanta spa shootings sent shockwaves of grief and fear through the Asian American community. While others reeled, Park organized. She convened vigils that became powerful, unexpected tapestries of solidarity, drawing together not only Asian Americans but also Black, Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities for collective healing. She worked with a coalition of faith leaders to support victims’ families, standing as a steadying force of unity in a time of fractious division.
That work was an extension of her role as president of the Korean American Coalition, a position she has held for 14 years, where she has consistently mediated between generations of immigrants, adoptees, young professionals and established power brokers across Metro Atlanta.
“I’ve built my career on listening to different perspectives and finding solutions that work for everyone,” Park said. “Whether I'm working with county commissioners, nonprofit leaders, or business owners, I know how to bring people together around shared goals.”
Her resume reads as a masterclass in civic engagement. A six-year stint within Gwinnett County government gave her an insider’s knowledge of municipal mechanics—“how the gears turn, and how to make them turn better for people,” she explained. She helped facilitate the complex redevelopment planning for Gwinnett Place Mall, a project that required balancing the visions of developers, officials and residents.
For over a decade, her voice has been a trusted fixture in thousands of homes as co-host of Atlanta Radio Korea’s Thursday morning show, where she has translated critical information on everything from healthcare access to civic engagement for the broader Korean-speaking community.
Now, as co-owner of Alchemist on the Divide in downtown Duluth, she contends with the practical challenges of licensing, regulations, and economic vitality daily. That firsthand experience, coupled with her service on the Duluth Board of Ethics and the Board of Directors at Northside Hospital, provides a unique lens on the intersection of governance, business and community health.
It is this blend of the personal and the professional that defines her campaign. With two young children and an elderly parent relying on her, Park said her focus is on building a city government that is responsive, pragmatic and relentlessly focused on the well-being of families.
“I will always put people before politics and build consensus rather than division,” she vowed.
The race for City Council will test Duluth’s appetite for an independent voice, one promising to translate a lifetime of community building into actionable policy. For Sarah Park, it is the logical next step in a long conversation with the city that raised her.
“Duluth has given my family so much,” she said. “Now I want to give back by ensuring it remains a place where every family, regardless of background, can build their dreams and feel truly at home.” – Georgia Asian Times
