Pearl S. Buck International Honors 2025 Woman of Influence

Pearl S. Buck International will honor Korean singer and humanitarian Kim In-soon, known
professionally as Insooni, as the 2025 Woman of Influence at an award dinner and ceremony
on Thursday, August 21.

About The Award

Each year the Woman of Influence Award honors our founder, Pearl S. Buck, by recognizing
women who continue in her humanitarian, cross-cultural, and advocacy footsteps. Originally
established in 1978 as the Woman of the Year Award, the Woman of Influence Award honors
a woman each year, who like Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author, activist, and
humanitarian Pearl S. Buck, have distinguished themselves through activism, education, and
humanitarianism, who shines a light on the work being done for the rights of all people, and
who advocates for those without a voice facing discrimination and inequity.

About The Recipient

Kim In-Soon, known professionally as Insooni, is an award-winning R&B and Gospel singer
as well as a humanitarian and an advocate for young people of mixed race and multicultural
backgrounds. Born to a South Korean mother and African-American father following the
Korean War, she was raised by her mother, who received assistance from Pearl S. Buck
International’s child sponsorship program.

In addition to her longstanding first-hand connection to the work and mission of Pearl S. Buck
International, Insooni also embodies the humanitarian, cross-cultural, and advocacy legacy of
Pearl S. Buck. She overcame deep societal racial discrimination to become a success in the
music industry and a household name in her home country. She founded and operates
Haemil School, a tuition-free residential alternative school in Hongcheon, South Korea, for
multiethnic and biracial students—embodying the very spirit of coexistence envisioned by
Pearl S. Buck. In 2023, she was appointed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to the
Multicultural Youth Families Support Council as an advocate for multicultural and mixed-race
middle and high school students. Insooni currently serves as a board member for Pearl S.
Buck Foundation Korea, an affiliate of Pearl S. Buck International.

About Pearl Buck

Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for her novel, The Good Earth, and
the Nobel Prize in Literature for her body of work. Buck used the spotlight on her to shine a
light on the plight of marginalized people everywhere and to advocate for the civil rights
movement in the U.S. She also founded Welcome House (the world’s first international
biracial adoption agency) and established The Pearl S. Buck Foundation (now Pearl S. Buck
International) over 60 years ago to provide international humanitarian aid. 

Ms. Buck’s groundbreaking words and work paved the way for greater international and
intercultural understanding. They also provided life-changing aid for countless impoverished
children. 

Event Details

Insooni will be honored at a dinner and award ceremony on Thursday, August 21, at 6:30 pm
at the historic Pearl S. Buck Estate, 520 Dublin Road, Perkasie, PA 18944. Insooni will be in
attendance to receive the award and will perform and speak at the event. Event sponsorship
opportunities and tickets are available now at https://pearlsbuck.org/woman-of-influence/.
Tickets are limited for this event and are expected to sell out quickly.

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Pearl S. Buck International ® provides opportunities to explore and appreciate other cultures, builds
better lives for children around the globe and promotes the legacy of our founder by preserving and
interpreting her National Historic Landmark Home.

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