Russel is a Human Resources professional with over 25 years of experience in the aerospace & defense sector. He is currently the Vice President of Human Resources for Millennium Space Systems, A Boeing Company, a subsidiary within Boeing’s defense business. Russel previously served as the lead senior HR Business Partner for Boeing’s Space, Intelligence & Weapon Systems Engineering organization, where he led a team of HRBPs that supported over 7,500 employees in over 40 states. In these roles, he collaborates on developing functional business and people objectives that support business vision, direction, and decisions. Russel has worked in various functional and program HR roles across Boeing in Southern California, including serving as the HR leader for Spectrolab, Inc., A Boeing Company. Russel holds a bachelor's degree in management and human resources from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of La Verne. Russ is active in the community through his volunteer activities with several local non-profit organizations.

Gerald, the great-grandson of founder Soji Fukui, graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences in 1975.

Active in the funeral industry since 1970, he is a member of the California Funeral Director's Association and the National Funeral Director's Association.

As a licensed funeral director since 1980, Gerald has carried on Soji's legacy by providing a needed service and supporting the community and its many organizations.

Bruce recently retired from a long career at Deloitte, where he served in many leadership roles both in Japan and the United States, and for many years served as the Managing Partner/Principal for the Los Angeles office’s Risk Advisory practice.

With extensive overseas and cross-border work including many years in Japan and Asia/Pacific, Bruce brought seasoned judgment as a trusted advisor across regulatory, talent, technology and process challenges. His extensive work with Deloitte client’s Boards and their Audit, Risk and Technology committees have led to him being repeatedly called upon as a trusted adviser. Leveraging his MBA and six professional credentials, Bruce has led practices and teams in Digital Risk (AI and other disruptive technologies), International Risk Services in Tokyo, and regional Internal Audit back in the US. Bruce has additionally helped lead two innovative technology start-ups as an Executive and Corporate Officer.

Bruce is also serving as Chairman Emeritus of the American Red Cross’ Los Angeles region and Strategic Advisor to the national organization. Bruce has also served for many years on the Boards of The Asia Society – Southern California and as a founding board member for the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center Board (Health-ISAC, a healthcare industry cybersecurity focused organization bridging the nation’s healthcare organizations with US intelligence agencies, as well as academic and industry thought-leaders).

Coming soon

Bette Hiramatsu is a seasoned turnaround and restructuring consultant who has focused primarily on mid-sized businesses which are underperforming or facing financial and/or operational challenges. Since 1991, Hiramatsu has guided the owners and senior managers of mid-sized manufacturers, wholesalers, retail chains and service companies on finding the path to profitability and positive cash flow through creative problem solving, strategic planning, financial forecasting, current asset management, process improvement, cost cutting and strengthened balance sheet management. Additional areas of expertise include the restructuring of unsecured debt and the re-negotiation of leases. www.bhiramatsu.com

Hiramatsu is also the Director of Finance (reporting to the President) for S.O. Tech/Special Operations Technologies Inc., a former client, whom she successfully turned around. A manufacturer of tactical gear for the military and law enforcement, Hiramatsu has served in this position since 2015. www.sotechtactical.com

Prior to becoming a management consultant, for ten years Hiramatsu was a commercial lender and Vice President with Union Bank and Chemical Bank. Hiramatsu earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Hiramatsu also participated in a one year undergraduate study abroad program at Waseda University, International Division in Tokyo, Japan. She is also a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and a Certified Turnaround Consultant (CTP).

In 2011, Hiramatsu authored two chapters to “The Book on Business From A to Z” published by Build It Backwards Publishing. Her chapter contributions are entitled Turnaround and Underperformance Issues.

A member of the Turnaround Management Association and the Association for Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, Hiramatsu serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Japanese-American Cultural and Community Center (jaccc.org) where she has served on the board since 2016. She has previously served on the board of the local chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants, the Executive Committee of the Apparel Industries for the City of Hope which supports the City of Hope National Medical Center, the board of the Executive MBA Alumni Association at UCLA and on the advisory board of a privately-held, educational service company.

Mr. Iino is the Former Chairman of the Board of Los Angeles-based Pacific Commerce Bank, the only bank in the nation formed by Japanese American shareholders. Mr. Iino was also a former Board member of Southwest Water Company. He also served as Chairman of the US-Japan Council, the largest national network of Japanese-Americans addressing US/Japan matters. He was and remains deeply committed to community service, lending his leadership currently to such organizations as the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, the Japanese American National Museum, Keiro Services, and the Mayor’s Trade Advisory Board.

Mr. Iino was with Deloitte & Touche from 1983 until 2005, during which time he developed an outstanding reputation for personal and professional leadership. He was Partner-in-Charge of Deloitte’s International Practice in the West Region. In addition, he was the past President of both the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the California State Board of Accountancy. He was awarded the William H. van Renssalaer award, given by NASBA for his dedication to improving the regulation of accountancy and leadership. Additionally, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the California Society of CPA’s.

Mr. Iino holds a degree in Accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Glenn T. Inanaga, Esq. is Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel of the Cherng Family Trust (CFT). He is accountable for the leadership and operations of one of the larger family offices in Southern California, leveraging a team of 100 associates with offices in Summerlin, Nevada, and Pasadena, California.

CFT manages the investments, philanthropy, and family governance of Andrew & Peggy Cherng, the founders of Panda Express / Panda Restaurant Group (PRG). CFT’s primary mandate is the investment, acquisition and development of real estate, with a portfolio of 1,500+ properties in the restaurant, retail, office, and residential sectors in more than 45+ states and internationally. CFT also invests in partnerships and private equity from various industry sectors including consumer retail, real estate, restaurant, and hospitality. Glenn is also responsible for managing relationships with business partners in Japan for PRG.

Prior to leading CFT, Glenn served as the Vice President of Corporate Legal at PRG. During this time, Glenn established the Corporate Legal group and formed a team of attorneys and paralegals to manage the corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, international franchise and joint ventures, intellectual property, workplace and employment, commercial contracting, as well as the litigation matters for PRG.

Glenn started as real estate counsel and was later responsible for leading PRG’s Property Management group managing a portfolio (at that time) of more than 1,000 stores and its Due Diligence group resolving legal, title, environmental and survey issues for more than 100 new stores per year.

PRG is an international restaurant company that owns and operates several restaurant brands, including Panda Express, Panda Inn, Hibachi-San, Yakiya, and operates restaurants in partnership with Raising Cane’s and Uncle Tetsu, among others. PRG has approximately 2,500 restaurant locations worldwide with more than 50,000 associates.

Glenn graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles with a dual major in Business Economics & Political Science, and a law degree from the University of Southern California. He is also a member of the California Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA).

With a passion for community service and leadership, Glenn serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim Finance Committee Chair for the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, one of the largest non-profit organizations in the Japanese-American community in Southern California. He is also a Vice-President and Director-at-Large of the Buddhist Churches of America, headquartered in San Francisco, a board member of the Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim, as well as a board member of JABA in Los Angeles. Glenn is married with 3 children.

Jessica Kikuchi is a development executive with over 15 years of experience in nonprofit and higher education fundraising. She is currently the Executive Director of Health Initiatives for USC Advancement, where she works with alumni, parents, and friends to connect their philanthropic goals with the university’s strategic priorities. Prior to joining USC, Jessica served as the Senior Executive Director of Development at the RAND Corporation, building resources for the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Before RAND, Jessica was part of the leadership team at UCLA Samueli Engineering, working as Senior Director of Development, where she led the major gifts program during the University's Centennial Campaign.

Jessica returns to the JACCC as a Board member after beginning her career at the organization nearly 20 years ago. Her work at the JACCC also led her to serving on the JACL Pacific Southwest District Board and as a founding Board member of Kizuna.

A fifth-generation Japanese American, Jessica and her husband are raising their two young children immersed in the Little Tokyo and Japanese American Community.

She earned her B.A. in ethnic studies from University of California, San Diego and her M.P.A., with a focus on nonprofit management, from California State University-Northridge.

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Yutoku Minanogawa is a technology executive with more than 20 years of experience leading enterprise governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance across the United States and Japan. He currently serves as Vice President of Privacy Technology and Operations at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he has held senior leadership roles spanning information security, privacy, and enterprise risk.

Earlier in his career, Yutoku held technology consulting roles at Deloitte in both Los Angeles and Tokyo, leading cybersecurity, technology risk, and regulatory compliance engagements for multinational organizations operating across U.S. and Japanese regulatory environments. He began his career in application engineering at Oracle in Japan, where he built a strong technical foundation supporting global financial and enterprise systems.

With deep cross-border experience and a practitioner’s perspective, Yutoku is recognized for building high-performing global teams and translating complex technical and regulatory challenges into practical, business-aligned solutions. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University and maintains multiple professional certifications, including CISSP and CIPP.

John Murillo is the Market President for Enterprise Bank & Trust in Los Angeles.

He has more than 30 years of accomplishment laden experience in the banking industry, having worked his way from a part-time teller all the way through multiple executive positions.

John prides himself on using a consultative and collaborative approach to help his clients in reaching their financial objectives. He has an extensive background in managing and developing diverse and inclusive teams and a thorough understanding of establishing and growing customer relationships. Leveraging an ever-expanding portfolio of qualifications covering sales, relationship management, and general management core competencies, John has proved time and again his flexibility in responding to challenging market conditions and his ability to “wear many hats” in an effort to meet and exceed corporate goals and challenges.

Beginning his career in the banking industry, John developed an interest in helping people achieve their financial goals and parlayed this interest into a sales position with a leading national bank (Wells Fargo Bank). Demonstrating initiative from the start, John’s passion and commitment to understanding and helping people, delivering superior customer service along with his flexibility, adaptability and dedication to learning, earned him numerous opportunities for growth within the company. He quickly distinguished himself as a leader that afforded him a continuous career growth over his 18 years at Wells Fargo Bank.

John then served as a director of sales at privately held CalNational Bank managing the business sales team and business sales activities. His work in this area was instrumental in growing business banking relationships for the region and developing a positive reputation of business and commercial banking throughout the branch network and peer groups. John is also credited for designing and organizing the structure for branch cluster business development days and calling efforts within regions that was used as the Bank wide standard.

John’s talent and vision led him to ProAmérica Bank, which at the time had one branch location. This marked a big change in his career toward more community-oriented banking. Soon after he was promoted to Commercial Division Manager and as A Division of Pacific Commerce Bank to an Executive Vice President role. Three acquisitions later, he continues that work now in his role with Enterprise, which recently acquired First Choice Bank.

Demonstrating initiative from the start, John’s passion and commitment to understanding and helping people, delivering superior customer service, along with his flexibility, adaptability and dedication to learning, earned him numerous opportunities. He has used this as a means to establish a strong network of contacts in diverse communities with his experience spanning virtually all aspects of banking, as well as team building and leadership, and relationship building.

John’s passion and commitment to helping people has led him to have been active in a variety of civic and cultural organizations including the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA, Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, Westside Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, Junior Achievement; AIDS project Los Angeles, and Habitat for Humanity. Outside of professional interest, he reads, cooks, bicycles and enjoys attending church, spiritual well-being, spending time with family and listening to Mariachi music.

An important aspect of his life is family – his wife, three sons (one is a Professor at a university, the second studying kinesiology & sports medicine, the third with a Masters in Psychology – high school counselor).

Grant Okita is a Creative Director and Executive Producer whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, design, and culture. With more than 20 years of experience in media and creative leadership, he most recently served as Vice President of Motion Branding and Graphics at NBCUniversal, where he guided visual storytelling and branding across NBC Entertainment, shaping motion systems that reached audiences across broadcast and streaming platforms.

In his independent creative practice, Grant partners with broadcasters, streamers, and creative agencies on projects spanning television, film, and commercial storytelling. His work reflects a deep understanding of how creative systems function within both institutional and cultural contexts, balancing artistic integrity with scale and collaboration.

Originally from Hawaiʻi, Grant brings a strong appreciation for place, identity, and community to his work. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and is active within the Japanese American and AAPI community. Grant joins the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center Board of Directors with a commitment to supporting Japanese American voices, artists, and cultural institutions through thoughtful creative leadership and service.

Mayor Eric Garcetti tapped the best and the brightest to head up the City’s new Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) beginning July 1, 2013. Jan Perry possesses the energy, enthusiasm and dedication and a record of accomplishments that make her a standout as Interim General Manager of the new department. As the former Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 9th District, which includes Bunker Hill, Little Tokyo, and South Los Angeles, she was a lightning rod for major changes in the district’s infrastructure. This resulted in quality job development and training, and the development of housing at all income levels.

Over the past decade, Perry supported major redevelopment projects in Downtown Los Angeles that represented more than $15 billion in investment along with $40 million in City tax revenue, and the creation of more than 90,000 full-time jobs. From catalytic developments like LA Live to iconic developments like Our Lady of Angeles Cathedral to major public buildings like the new Police Administrative Building—Perry was at the forefront of ensuring that downtown moved forward to meet its potential as the economic engine for the entire region.

Her record of success led Mayor Garcetti to appoint Ms. Perry for the new role of leading an economic development rebirth of Los Angeles. Perry, along with the Mayor, shares a passion for revitalizing neighborhoods and improving the quality of life for all Angelenos.

In her new position, Ms. Perry will lead a department of approximately 175 individuals, some of whom are well entrenched in economic development, charged with brokering city loans, and bonds. On the workforce side, the Department oversees 18 WorkSource Centers that offer specialized training, resume development, a job bank and a number of career development services. Her success will build on the notion that economic development and employment stimulates growth in a city, a solid tax base, a demand for better housing, goods and services and better schools, parks and solid neighborhoods. This is the type of community where businesses want to locate. It is the cycle of community improvement rather than community despair.

Looking back on her accomplishments, Ms. Perry was all too familiar with the despair of the homeless because high poverty and homelessness made up large swaths of her former Council District. She understood that tackling the challenges of homelessness was an essential part of creating a healthy city for everyone. A champion for the homeless, she successfully kept the city’s emergency shelter program open on a year-round basis and was a strong advocate for the development of affordable housing with supportive services to house chronically homeless individuals, many who had been homeless for decades. The unwavering political will that she exhibited on the issue of housing the homeless resulted in the development of more than 1,000 units of housing with support services on-site, and more were in the pipeline when she left office on June 30, 2013.

Mayor Garcetti has said that Ms. Perry will temporarily oversee the department that is being created to spur business activity. Whether this new assignment is temporary or long term it is a sure bet that it will be a success with Jan Perry at the helm.

Perry earned her bachelor’s degree from the USC School of Journalism, cum laude, and her master’s degree from USC in public administration.

Miwako Reynolds specializes in consumer products, manufacturing, and distribution, as well as employee benefit plans. She serves numerous private equity–backed portfolio companies and has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, including purchase accounting analyses. Her leadership experience spans client relationship management, engagement oversight, and strategic advisory services related to internal controls and accounting practices. Ms. Reynolds also serves as a key advisor to Crowe’s Japanese clients and is fluent in spoken and written Japanese.

Sandy Sakamoto is a community leader who champions the arts, culture and social justice causes. In addition to serving as the Chair of the Board Governance Committee and previously serving as Board Chair of the JACCC, Ms. Sakamoto serves as the Board Chair of PACE (Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment), and General Counsel and Director of Creative Development at The Asian American Education Project. In the past, she served on the Board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice where she was a former Board Chair. She has spent decades supporting organizations and causes that seek to strengthen communities and advance equity.

Ms. Sakamoto recently retired as a partner at LimNexus LLP where her practice included real estate and business transactions and civil litigation. Previously, she was General Attorney and Assistant General Counsel for AT&T where she worked for over 23 years.

Linda Taira is the founder and principal of Taira-Welch Communications, offering strategic, executive communications counsel and support for corporate and non-profit clients, drawing on Linda’s experience in journalism, public broadcasting, public relations and corporate communications.

Linda has worked as a journalist in Honolulu, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and New York City. At CNN and CBS News, she reported on Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. She covered major breaking news, presidential campaigns and international events, including the final U.S.-U.S.S.R. summit meeting in Moscow, the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal and the confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Capitol Hill, she was elected by her peers as chair of the Radio-Television Correspondents Association.

Following her journalism career, she served as senior vice president of media relations at Ketchum Public Relations in Washington, D.C., and as a senior vice president at Hill & Knowlton in D.C., where she led the latter’s national media training practice. At H&K, she managed cross-functional teams for a wide range of clients and initiatives, including the historic merger of The Boeing Company and McDonnell Douglas.

Later, at the national headquarters of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Linda was vice president of station relations -- the official executive liaison to 350 member stations across the U.S. She produced the PBS annual meeting, drawing 1100+ producers, station representatives and other public broadcasting stakeholders, and held the position of PBS corporate secretary on an interim basis.

Linda subsequently worked at Boeing, where she supported CEO and internal communications; managed the news bureau, responsible for reviewing news releases and media interactions; and coordinated Asia-Pacific communications for Boeing’s global defense and space business. Other key assignments during her 14 years at the company were leading employee communications for Boeing’s centennial; co-leading the planning and communications team for delivery of the first next-generation refueling aircraft to the U.S. Air Force; leading the planning and communications for annual executive strategy meetings; and participating on the leadership team and managing communications for Boeing’s global military and commercial satellite manufacturing business headquartered in Southern California.

In 2015, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs selected Linda for its annual Japanese American Leadership Delegation program. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles. Linda received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Hawaii and her master’s in journalism from Columbia University. She has lectured at several colleges, including Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University, and has taught public relations at the Media School of Indiana University.

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Stacy Toyota is a Human Resources executive at Starbucks Coffee Company, where she supports retail leaders in Los Angeles County, Ventura County, and Hawaii in 180 stores with about 4,000 employees. Stacy also serves as the Executive Sponsor for Starbucks’ Los Angeles/Central California region’s employee resource group, the Pan Asian Partner Network. Prior to Starbucks, Stacy spent eight years at NBCUniversal in various HR roles.

A co-founder of Kizuna, Stacy was a board member for eight years and served as Board Chair from 2016-2017. She previously worked at the JACL Pacific Southwest District and the JACCC in programs and development.

Stacy graduated from UC San Diego with a BA in Human Development.