Pictured (from left) are Caroline Winn, Dr. Li-Rong “Lilly” Cheng, Lee Ann Kim, Jerrilyn Takada Malana and Wendy Urushima-Conn. (Photo: Jade Coast Photography)
Females of all ages are honored
at the chapter’s annual fundraising dinner.
By P.C. Staff
When the San Diego JACL chapter puts on its annual awards dinner and fundraiser, wagering against its aplomb and finesse at putting on a well-run, well-produced show would be a fool’s bet — so having it take place on Oct. 7 at the Sycuan Hotel & Casino in El Cajon, Calif., was fitting indeed.
Members of UCSD Asayake Taiko perform. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Attendees look over silent auction items during the San Diego JACL Gala. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Replete with a silent auction and musical performances by Slack Key Ohana and the University of California San Diego’s Asayake Taiko, the event’s production team, led by actor-filmmaker Lane Nishikawa, also displayed its ability to roll with changes.
San Diego JACL Gala producer Lane Nishikawa confers with co-masters of ceremony David Ono and Stephanie Vigil. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
When the slated co-masters of ceremony who have worked the event over the past several galas — Los Angeles TV newsman David Ono of KABC Channel 7 and actor-activist Tamlyn Tomita — needed a late substitution when Tomita had to bow out, Ono was able to call on a former TV news colleague from the early days of their respective careers: Stephanie Vigil.
“She was my co-anchor 30 years ago in Sacramento,” Ono told the audience. “We’ve been superclose friends ever since. She went on and had a brilliant career up in Washington State.” It was a reference to her having recently relocated to the San Diego area after retiring following a quarter-century at KHQ-TV in Spokane, Wash.
With the hosting duties under control, the 2023 edition of the chapter’s annual affair put the spotlight on five honorees — all women — and a re-emphasis on the still-resonant message: stopping Asian Hate. Honored for their service and achievements were:
- Jerrilyn Takada Malana, Civil Rights Leadership Award
- Wendy Urushima-Conn, Community Leadership Award
- Lee Ann Kim, Media Leadership Award
- Caroline Winn, Corporate Leadership Award
- Li-Rong “Lilly” Cheng, Lifetime Achievement Award
But before they received their respective recognitions, the chapter called on educator Rich del Rio to present to former Bishop’s School student Grace Sun its Youth Leadership Award.
Although she was unable to attend in person to accept her award because she was across the continent in Massachusetts as a premed student double-majoring in biochemistry and economics at Wellesley College, Sun addressed the audience via a recorded video, in which she thanked the San Diego JACL.
Kaili Yamashiro (left) displays her Youth Leadership award that was presented by Tamami Yoshida, member of the San Diego JACL chapter’s board of directors. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Slack Key Ohana performs at the event. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Tamami Yoshida, San Diego JACL chapter board of directors member, presented a second Youth Achievement Award that was not on the program to Kaili Yamashiro for having written an essay at age 15 that appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune for the Day of Remembrance.
San Diego JACL board members Joanne Hayakawa and Taiga Takahashi, and Sage Creek High School sophomore Eva Kurima announced a crowdfunding effort to pay for a stone monument at the Miramar National Cemetery dedicated to Japanese Americans who served in World War II. A QR code was shown on the big screens flanking the stage to take audience members to a GoFundMe page located at tinyurl.com/ycku6mjx.
Vigil called on San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan to introduce Civil Rights Leadership Award honoree Jerrilyn Takada Malana, presently the chief deputy district attorney/human resources for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
In her remarks after receiving her award, Malana said, “I really believe it is of utmost importance to all of us that the next generation be civically engaged to ensure that our democracy survives, that it thrives and that it remains vibrant.”
Ono called on Robert Ito, San Diego JACL chapter advisory council member and CEO of Ito Girard & Associates to introduce the next honoree, Wendy Urushima-Conn, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego, who received the Community Leadership Award.
Yujing Sun (left) and Allyne Tachiki welcome gala attendees at the check-in table. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Consul General of Japan Los Angeles Kenko Sone and his wife, Mami Sone, were among the special guests present at gala. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
In her remarks, Urushima-Conn said, “As I reflect back on tonight’s honor, I’m thinking about the people that came before me. I’m thinking of 1942. You’ve heard about the 120,000 interned in camps, and when we talk about ‘never forget,’ those aren’t just numbers. That’s my grandparents, that’s my parents. I called my 87-year-old dad today and I said, ‘What did you remember about camp?’ “And he said, ‘The uncomfortable straw mattresses.’ … I asked my mother what she remembers, and she said, ‘How cold it was with the wind blowing through the slats in the horse stalls.’ Oh, my goodness. So, how do we do better? And how do we move forward?” she said.
Urushima-Conn answered her question by quoting from a children’s book, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”: “And what do you think success is?” asked the boy, and the mole says, ‘To love, no matter our beliefs, or the color of our skin, may we all go forth with more kindness and love.’”
San Diego businessman Louis Song introduced Media Leadership Award honoree — and spouse — Lee Ann Kim, the founding executive director of Pacific Arts Movement, the nonprofit organization behind the San Diego Asian Film Festival and a former news anchor and reporter for ABC affiliate KGTV-10.
Actors Derek Mio and Chris Tashima and Robert Yonemitsu, San Diego JACL chapter advisory committee member (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
“I stand here so lucky that I’m with a man that supported me because I think all of us who do leadership in this community, you absolutely need a partner who is willing to be with you every step of the way,” Kim said. “So, Louis, thank you so much. And I love you.”
Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Dana Makoto Sabraw and Michael Kurima flank Corporate Leadership Award honoree Caroline Winn. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Vigil introduced Dana Makoto Sabraw, chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to bring up the next recipient, San Diego Gas & Electric CEO Caroline Winn, to receive the Corporate Leadership Award. She called back to something Sabraw said in his remarks about their mutual roots in Sacramento, Calif.
“When I was working at the pie shop with Judge Sabraw’s sister back during my high school years, I thought I was making a lot of money. And I’m like, ‘I don’t need to go to college,’” she recalled. “So, thank goodness for my parents who … very strongly suggested I go to college and get my engineering degree.”
The evening’s final honoree was Dr. Li-Rong “Lilly” Cheng, who received the chapter’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Former San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate introduced Cheng, director of the Chinese Cultural Center and former professor at San Diego State University’s School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.
“We are a global community, even though we are in San Diego today. Our job here is to think about the underserved and the unserved,” Cheng told the audience. “Our job here is to think about how we can continue to show our humanity and our humility, to be part of the human race. And I want to thank JACL for acknowledging all of us here tonight — but also to keep going.”
