Kim Carter

Kim Carter is the Founder and Executive Director of Time for Change Foundation. Certified in accounting with an emphasis on not-for-profits, Kim was inspired to leave the corporate world in 2002 to start Time for Change Foundation. Motivated by her own experiences as a formerly incarcerated woman, Kim made it her mission to help women and children make the transition from homelessness and recidivism to self-sufficiency. Today, she is a powerful voice for women who bear the scars of poverty, homelessness, and incarceration. It is Kim’s belief that by providing these women with training and the opportunity to develop life skills, in a nurturing and supportive environment, they will become independent, active, participants in their communities. She aspires to the work of her idol, Harriet Tubman, by lighting a path and leading others to freedom from addiction and incarceration. Her motto is that “a lit candle loses nothing when it lights another.”

Publications: Kim is the author of "Invisible Bars: Barriers to Women’s Health and Well-Being During and After Incarceration." This report provides a public-health based analysis of the needs of incarcerated women and provides an in-depth look at the disparities in health care and other critical services available to formerly incarcerated women in San Bernardino County.

Board Memberships and Commissions: Kim current serves on the Editorial Board for the San Bernardino Sun newspaper.. She is the only former client of Cedar House Rehabilitation Center to come back and serve on the Board of Directors as the Finance Chair and on the Executive Board as the Treasurer. In 2007, she was appointed by the Secretary of Corrections as a Commissioner for the Gender Responsive Strategies Commission, during which time she worked with the female institution’s wardens, chief medical officers and various criminologists to create a female-reform plan with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Kim also served as the secretary for The League of Women Voters. Currently she is on several Advisory Boards and is a founding member of Forever Free Alumni Association, which is comprised of 1,450 formerly incarcerated women who are successfully maintaining their freedom, their sobriety, and are taking active leadership roles in their communities. Currently serves on the Advisory board for the San Bernardino Sun Newspaper.


Fellowships: In 2005, Kim was one of 24 women selected from across California to participate in the Women’s Policy Institute Fellowship, where she learned how to successfully develop policies necessary to advance the causes of women and girls in California.

Awards and Recognition: Kim is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including:

2011 Citizen of the Month Recognition – City Council of San Bernardino
2010: Women of Distinction Award – Assemblymember Bill Emmerson
2009: Venny Newman Humanitarian Award, Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino
2008: Hometown Hero Award, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation
2007: Citizens Achievement Award, League of Women Voters
2006: Local Hero Award, Bank of America
2005: Unsung Hero Award, KCET/Washington Mutual
2004: Community Pioneer Award for Social Justice, N.A.A.C.P.