Alex Kam was a real prankster in high school. In a lot of ways, he has never grown up.
But in the course of his career, he has made life better for many others and no doubt is responsible for more than one smile on the faces of people he has helped.
After graduating from Kaimuki, Alex went to the University of Hawaii where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. He then moved on to obtain a Master's Degree in Social Work. He met his wife Jasmine Rose at the UH and he pursued her to the mainland where she eventually agreed to marry him. They lived in Garden Grove California and later moved to Pleasant Hill, California. They have two children and one brand new grandchild. All of whom now live in California.
Alex began his professional career working for the California Department of Health.
From 1975 to 1977, he was a psychological case worker. In 1977 he became a social services consultant. In 1987, he was made a program manager and worked on welfare fraud, prevention of teen pregnancy and welfare reform. His work took him all over the state. From 2001 to 2010, he worked for the California Health and Human Services Agency. In his later years, he became an Operations Chief and eventually was named the Acting Director of the California Health and Human Services Agency for the entire State of California. The Agency oversaw many social services programs. Alex worked to coordinate all of the human services. He worked on implementing programs, electronic information exchange, health privacy, disaster response, special teams to deal with the aftermath of the L.A. riots and San Francisco riots. He worked on mental health assistance for the Elderly and Court supervised persons. He retired in 2010 but he still worked for another two years as a consultant to help the new administration in its transition.
In his spare time, Alex served on the Board of Asian Dance Collective and on the California Teen Pregnancy Prevention Association.
Even though Alex has had heavy responsibilities in his career and had shouldered the burden of many people dependent upon State Social Services, he nevertheless did not let the stresses of his work change him. He still keeps his playful personality. He is the epitome of the saying "Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional."
