dinoue[at]jacl.org

Mr. David Inoue was appointed Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League in July 2017. He previously served for ten years as the administrative director for a medical shelter for homeless men in Washington, DC. Mr. Inoue worked for several years in health care policy with the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and with the federal government at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He completed a dual bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and Asian studies at Cornell University, and obtained master's degrees in public health and health administration from The Ohio State University.

A DC resident since 2001, Mr. Inoue has served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and served one year as chair of the commission. He currently serves on the boards of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. He is raising two children with his wife, Kaori Kawakubo Inoue.

pwada[at]jacl.org

Patty Wada is a native San Franciscan. The local Japantown community nurtured her identity and values through church, athletics, dance, music, food, friendships and engagement. She has served on the board of directors of Kimochi Senior Services, Nihonmachi Little Friends preschool, the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California, and worked with the Aids Project of the Japanese Community Youth Council.

Her volunteerism and advocacy in Japantown led to her work with the JACL. In addition to JACL NCWNP District & Chapter support and Japantown preservation & coalition work, she has staffed JACL's hate crimes program, teacher training workshops, social justice program, National Youth/Student Council, the Biennial Youth Conference, the Bridging Communities Program, the National scholarship program, the JACL-Meiji Gakuin International Scholarship, the Youth Legacy Project, the archival project , state legislation and the Legacy Fund Grants program.

pozaki[at]jacl.org

Phillip Saburo Ozaki, MBA, is the Director of Development and Membership at JACL. He passionately focuses on growing JACL’s fundraising infrastructure to create social change and justice in the world. In 2021, JACL launched its ambitious Centennial Education Fund to extend its leadership in educating America about the World War II incarceration and stopping AAPI hate.

Mr. Ozaki has been educating audiences about the WWII incarceration for over 20 years. His hero and Grandfather, Sam “Saburo” Ozaki, was incarcerated during WWII, fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), and became the first Asian American high school principal in Chicago. In 2010, Mr. Ozaki was JACL’s advocacy leader for the 2010 Congressional Gold Medal legislation that honored the 442nd RCT, MIS, and 100th Battalion.

Mr. Ozaki holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from ESADE Business School in Spain. He has worked as a fundraiser in the LGBTQ rights movement and at tech companies in Germany and India. He enjoys traveling, bicycling, and spending time with his son and co-parent.

abucher[at]jacl.org

Ashley Bucher is the current Membership Manager for the Japanese American Citizens League based remotely in Orange County, CA. After completing her Master's in Health and Strategic Communication, Ashley gained valuable marketing, project management, and writing eperience at marketing agencies for healthcare and non-profit clients. Since joining JACL in early 2022, she has streamlined the membership program and become an efficient grants manager and writer. Ashley has a strong connection to our mission – she is a 4th and 5th generation Japanese American whose grandparents and relatives were incarcerated during World War II, and deeply believes that sharing these stories is important. She was also the Executive Director of Jodaiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble at UC Irvine, where she coordinated and performed at events, including for JACL.

mweisbly[at]jacl.org

Matthew Weisbly is the current Education Programs Manager for the Japanese American Citizens League in Los Angeles, CA. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in Japanese and Japanese American history, and a double minor in East Asian Languages and Cultures, and cinematic arts. His senior honors thesis explored demographic data and oral histories of Nisei soldiers with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In school, he was formerly the President of his school's Nikkei Student Union, Vice-President of the Mixed Race Student Community, and was part of the collegiate taiko group, Kazan Taiko. All while working part-time for the Asian Pacific American Student Services office on campus. A long-time JACL member, he also served as the Youth Representative for the Arizona Chapter and as the inaugural Ted T. Namba fellow for the Pacific Southwest District and as the former Daniel K. Inouye Fellow in Washington, D.C.

ccheng[at]jacl.org

Cheyenne Cheng is the current Youth and Programs Director for the Japanese American Citizens League. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, she graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. During her time at UF, she led a task force in support of Asian American studies and co-founded the Asian American Oral History Project which seeks to collect narratives of Asian Americans at UF and in the greater South. Cheyenne has served on the national board for the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) where she educated Asian American & Pacific Islander students across the East Coast through advocacy-based workshops and initiatives. Currently, she also works with the Yappie — the only publication dedicated to tracking Asian American and Pacific Islander politics and activism.

aimamoto[at]jacl.org

Ariel is a fifth generation Japanese American who graduated from California State University Fullerton with a degree in accounting. While working in corporate accounting, Ariel was heavily involved in the Southern California Japanese American community. While in college, her passion for community led her to take roles as the President of CSUF’s Nikkei Student Union and the Vice President of the Intercollegiate Nikkei Council. This is where she realized the importance of cultural identity and first began to explore the significance our Japanese American history has to the larger American population.

After seven years of corporate accounting and a self-reflection period post 2020, Ariel realized she wanted to serve a purpose greater than herself by pursuing a career that combined her passion for community organizing with her background in business/accounting. Ariel embraces any opportunity to hear stories and create connections that will lead to great collaboration. In addition to her background in business, Ariel brings several years of event planning, fundraising experience, and youth development. Most recently, Ariel has dedicated her time on the Rising Stars Youth Leadership Program’s planning committee and as a Go For Broke National Education Center’s Torchbearer. Ariel has also been a member of the San Fernando Valley JACL since college.

While she will miss the beaches and mountains of Southern California, Ariel is excited to work with the JACL Policy Team and connect with the broader Nikkei and Asian American communities.

jshimabukuro[at]jacl.org

Jack Shimabukuro is a 4th generation Japanese-American, organizer, and young professional aspiring to make concrete and positive change for disadvantaged communities. His grandparents and their stories about incarceration were his initial inspirations to get involved with advocacy work.

Jack is also a 2023 graduate of Washington University in Saint Louis, where he studied international affairs and legal studies. He brings experience in campaigns, organizing, and legislative affairs. Most recently, Jack interned with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), where they gained an in-depth understanding of Congress and served his community. As the current Daniel K. Inouye Fellow, he tracks federal legislation toward the advancement of JACL’s policy initiatives, coordinates with stakeholders, and collaborates with national advocacy groups.

Having lived most of his life in the Midwest before the fellowship, Jack is acclimating to life on the East Coast. While he misses his beloved deep-dish pizza, he has come to love D.C., especially for its diverse collection of cuisines. Jack looks forward to continuing to advocate for his communities in the nation’s capital while enjoying some tasty D.C. spots.

tfernandez[at]jacl.org

Tom Fernandez, MSA, is the Director of Finance, CFO at JACL. He is passionate about working in the non-profit space and being of service for the local community. Tom has been working in accounting since 2004 where he started at a public accounting firm Armanino LLP. He moved from public accounting to help his parents when they purchased an automotive repair company. Tom shifted the company from a paper driven process to a fully integrated system and found a number of process improvements. This business was sold and Tom shifted into the non-profit industry - specifically healthcare where he quickly moved up to Controller. He found a love of being of service and later migrated to NorthBay Healthcare during Covid. Tom decided to shift away from the healthcare industry and into civil rights organizations to help provide support to the groups that are upholding our rights.

Tomiko Ismail has served as the Membership and Database Administrator at JACL for over 20 years. She reliably and consistently has handled membership payments, database input, and other critical tasks as part of the backbone of JACL. She welcomes and gives gratitude to ALL of our supporters.

Please reach out to Tomiko should you have any membership questions or updates such as change of address, phone, email etc. Tomiko is available by phone at the JACL Headquarters (415) 921-JACL (5225) ext. 26 on Tuesdays and Fridays between 8:00AM and 4:00PM Pacific Time and during the workweek at tismail at JACL dot org.

Allison Haramoto is the Executive Editor of the Pacific Citizen newspaper, serving in her current position since 2012. A double-major graduate in English and communications with an emphasis in print journalism from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., Ms. Haramoto began her journalism career at the Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles, immediately following her college graduation.

At the Hollywood Reporter, the entertainment industry’s leading daily trade newspaper, Ms. Haramoto worked in its Special Issues department, writing, copy editing and editing feature articles and special content for such issues as its annual Women in Entertainment, Cannes Film Festival, Academy Awards, Next Generation, Golden Globe Awards and salutes to many TV series’ 100th Episode Special Tributes.

Ms. Haramoto then served as THR’s copy chief, where she managed the newspaper’s Special Issues copy editing team while working with its editors and production layout staff for more than 10 years, before leaving her position to work as a freelance editor and then eventually joining the Pacific Citizen.

A lifelong resident of Southern California, Ms. Haramoto resides with her husband, Nathan, and their three children, each of whom participated in Japanese American youth basketball and baseball leagues, as well as Boy and Girl Scout Troops in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

George Toshio Johnston is Pacific Citizen’s senior editor of digital and social media. As a journalist, he has won three first-place awards from the Los Angeles Press Club for his writing and reporting. He began his print journalism career at the Pacific Citizen and returned to the P.C. in 2017 after working for outlets such as Daily Journal Corp., Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Orange County Register, Hollywood Reporter and Investor’s Business Daily. He also contributed a column to Rafu Shimpo from 1992-2017. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder, which is where he also earned a master’s degree in journalism entrepreneurship. Johnston lives in Culver City, Calif.

Susan has nearly 40 years of experience in small business management with an emphasis on recruitment, personnel policy, and procedures. Her bookkeeping experience stems from the first computerized accounting programs to the current Quickbooks program used by the Pacific Citizen.

Her first major accomplishment involved spearheading the opening of a Japanese employment agency’s Los Angeles headquarters, a New York office for Executive Recruiting, and establishing a satellite office for their Temp agency. She also created the office procedures and marketing schedule for all three offices and helped with their hiring.

Serving on several fundraising golf tournaments and community executive boards, she’s especially proud of being part of the inaugural ”Go For Broke Gala” and the annual Nisei Week Festival. The golf tournaments allowed her to work with beautiful courses like Coto De Caza and Dove Canyon.

She was also the Executive Director of “Konnichiwa Little Tokyo”, an organization that gave tours around Little Tokyo, introducing the culture and the foods to foster children in Los Angeles.

Her prior newspaper experience involved working at the Rafu Shimpo newspaper, where she consulted on personnel, then as a marketing/sales consultant, and was an intrinsic part of the L.A. Times/Rafu Shimpo partnership.

Susan resides in Downtown L.A. with her husband, Gregg, her daughter Kara and their two bunnies, Tabi and Doc.