Program Aims to Deepen Long-Term Relationship Between Japan and Japanese Americans
WASHINGTON, DC – Ten Japanese American leaders will travel to Japan from March 3 to 11 for the 2023 Japanese American Leadership Delegation (JALD) program. This trip to Tokyo and Shizuoka aims to build people-to-people relationships with prominent Japanese leaders and exchange ideas on how to further strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship.
Since its inception in 2000, the JALD program has sought to strengthen the long-term relationship between Japanese Americans and their motherland and expand the role they play in U.S.-Japan relations. JALD is sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organized by the U.S.-Japan Council.
Selected in 2019 for their accomplishments as Japanese American leaders, the delegates’ program was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the 20th JALD delegation to visit Japan.
The 2023 delegates are:
- Frederick H. Katayama (New York, NY), Executive Vice President, U.S.-Japan Council
- George Kobayashi (Chicago, IL), President, Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd.
- Jeffrey Maloney (Alhambra, CA), Chief Counsel, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
- Kara Miyagishima (Denver, CO), Acting Superintendent, Amache National Historic Site, National Park Service
- Mark Okada (Dallas, TX), Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Sycamore Tree Capital Partners L.P.
- Christine Pilcavage (Cambridge, MA), Managing Director, MIT Japan Program, MIT International Science & Technology Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Calvin Terada (Seattle, WA), Director-Superfund and Emergency Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-Region 10
- Lori Teranishi (Honolulu, HI), Founder and CEO, iQ 360
- Kenta Washington (Great Falls, VA), Program Manager, Boeing Company
- Audrey Yamamoto (San Francisco, CA), Chief Operating Officer, The Asian American Foundation
“Being part of the 20th delegation of Japanese American leaders is both an honor and a responsibility,” said Lori Teranishi, CEO of iQ 360. “I am grateful for the opportunity to exchange ideas with Japanese leaders at the highest levels of business, government and society, and form connections between our two countries that will allow us to not only continue to build partnerships between our two countries but one- on-one friendships that enrich our lives and our organizations.”
Select delegates will participate in a panel titled “Reflections from Japanese Americans On Today’s Drive For Diversity and Inclusion.” Dr. Curtiss Takada Rooks (Loyola Marymount University, JALD ‘04) will give the keynote speech about solidarity between Japanese Americans and other minority communities and their roles, and a panel discussion will offer perspectives on the current state of American society and spaces for the Japanese American community within it.
To learn more about media opportunities, please contact Alison Aadland, Senior Communications Manager at [email protected] or (202)-223-6843. For more information regarding the program or to read the full biographies of the ten delegates, please click here.
About the U.S.-Japan Council (USJC)
The U.S.-Japan Council develops and connects global leaders to create a stronger U.S.-Japan relationship. It is an organization whose members believe people-to-people relationships are a powerful way to bring together leaders in the U.S. and Japan to address and create solutions to mutual concerns. The Council is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit educational organization that was founded by a group of Japanese American leaders in 2008, and in 2012, the U.S.-Japan Council (Japan) was created and in 2013, it became a Public Interest Corporation (koeki zaidan hojin).
Washington, DC Headquarters
Alison Aadland
Senior Communications Manager
[email protected]
202-223-6843
Japan Office
Chieko Tashiro
Marketing Communications Manager, U.S.-Japan Council (Japan)
[email protected]
+81-3-4510-3401