By Miyoko “Miko” Sawamura, VP of General Operations
Happy New Year JACL members and friends! May 2015 bring you good health, happiness and prosperity! Thank you for your support and commitment to JACL.
I continue to envision JACL’s future as a diverse, dynamic and financially stable organization. I also envision JACL’s continued success as a major leader in the fight for civil rights and historical/cultural preservation. I foresee JACL engaging diverse youth and enhancing our youth activities.
The 2015 National Convention will be held in Las Vegas, Nev., from July 13-16 at the Monte Carlo Las Vegas Resort and Casino. The JACL staff is hard at work preparing for our National Convention. We hope you will be able to join us. For more information, please visit the JACL website. The 2015 National Convention Committee Chairs are as follows: Ron Yoshino, chair of credentials; Debbie Ikeda, chair of program for action; Dale Ikeda, chair of constitution and bylaws, and Paul Uyehara, chair of resolutions. Thank you to these chairs for their commitment to JACL. If you are interested in becoming a committee member, please contact me as soon as possible.
The 2016 National Convention will also be held at the Monte Carlo Las Vegas Resort and Casino from July 11-14. In conjunction with National JACL staff, I will be reviewing options for the 2017 National Convention. The 2017 convention recommendations will be presented to the National Board in the near future.
The Personnel Committee will continue to address personnel/operational matters, including policies and procedures and other health/personnel benefits. Another area of interest for 2015 is to review the organizational structure of National JACL. The review should also include personnel positions (current and future), strategic planning, budgets and a fund development plan.
I want to again thank Wayne Tanda, 2014 Convention chair; Leon Kimura, president, San Jose JACL Chapter; Sharon Uyeda, San Jose JACL Chapter; Priscilla Ouchida, executive director; and Karen Yoshitomi, National JACL staff, for the 2014 National Convention’s huge success. There were, of course, many additional volunteers, committee members and National JACL staff involved in the success of the convention as well. Thank you to everyone!
I would also like to thank the Personnel Committee members for their hard work to update the 2005 JACL Personnel Manual and addressing other issues such as health benefits. The Personnel Committee included David Lin, president; Priscilla Ouchida, executive director; Floyd Shimomura, legal counsel; David Unruhe, chair, Governor’s Caucus; Carol Kawamoto, Pacific Citizen board chair; Stephanie Nitahara and Annie Noguchi, National JACL Staff; Jenny Hanold, member-at-large; and Gary Mayeda, member-at-large. I want to specially thank Gary for his expertise in tracking the many edits and versions of the personnel manual for us. We would not have an updated personnel manual without him.
I am honored to be reappointed as the vp for general operations and appreciate the support from the National Board. I am very lucky to work with a diverse group of extremely dedicated individuals. If you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact me at msawamura@jacl.org.
