Tim Huey was born and raised
in Walnut Creek, CA and attended Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA. He has worked
with the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium,
Kollaboration SF Bay Area, KAYA Filipino Americans for Progress, and the
Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education. Currently, he is working
with the Asian Law Caucus as a communications associate and community advocate
for the Criminal Justice Reform program. He has contributed to their
immigration reform efforts by collecting immigrant stories and educating the
community. “I’ve always been drawn to connecting the past and the present,” Tim
said. “Immigration reform is the issue of the day, seeing how history can
repeat itself. It’s something I’m very passionate about.”

This summer, Tim will have
the opportunity to express his passion by learning about his family and their history by traveling to China for the first time. Tim will be part of a group
participating in the Him Mark Lai Family History Project to
research and discover their family genealogy and history, bringing them closer
to their families and communities. “They call the experience ‘rooting’,” Tim
said. “I did a family history project in high school, which got me really
interested in learning more about my family.” One of the more fascinating
discoveries he had come across was the history
of his grandfather while visiting the national archives in San Bruno. Tim found his grandfather’s ship manifest and learned about his grandfather’s
life as a “paper son” during the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Tim is also passionate about dancing, especially hip-hop, and sees it as an important outlet for self-expression. His parents say
that Tim began developing his craft at the age of two, when he danced on a
table at a wedding. While in D.C., Tim was
involved with Soulcial Justice, a group dedicated to progressive change through
dance. “We don’t have to be ashamed of wanting to dance as a form of
expression,” Tim said. “We should be excited about it and enjoy ourselves.”

Above all, Tim has great
compassion for the diversity of the API community. For him, Mr. Hyphen is about
self-love, integrity, and community relationships. “One thing that
people should take away from the competition this year is that there are a lot
of great causes out there,” Tim said. “It’s just really important to stand for
something, to believe in something, and to do something about it.”

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The 7th Annual Mr. Hyphen Competition is Saturday, April 27th in San Francisco. For more info and tickets, go here.