Diversity is celebrated at Seattle City Hall

(l to r) Gil Gido, president , National Association of Asian American Professionals-Seattle Chapter; Mazvita Maraire, coordinator, Garfield Community Center; Moderator: Bruce Harrell, Seattle City Council; Fern Renville, executive director, Red Eagle Soaring; and Ricardo Sanchez, vice-president of communications, SeaMar Community Health Centers

Seattle, Wa - Before a diverse audience in the Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall, a panel reflecting the mulitcultural essence of Seattle assembled to celebrate Black History Month responding to questions about their careers, leadership characteristics, achieving goals and offering their perspectives on leadership because in the everchanging world, leadership today is essential, not only in one's career but in the community. This event gave everyone an opportunity to share experiences and perspectives.

Seattle Council member, Bruce Harrell moderated for nearly two hours having the audience engaged in the conversation. At the end of it all, everyone's leadership and appreciation for diversity expanded. Here are a couple of the questions asked to panelists and not surprising, many of the answers are alive in each community.

• As you reflect on your career, what personal traits or characteristics have helped you become a successful leader?
• Answer: Passion, self awareness, being a team player, integrity and communication. These are all learned skills that you can master with a little bit of practice. Pick two and see what difference it makes in your career.

• What have been your greatest challenges toward doing your job and achieving your goals in the workplace? 
• Answer: Being different can be percieved as a challenge, but realizing that it can be a career asset will not only make you valuable, but also helps in the enjoyment of your career and for those around you, so embrace your differences and express them.

• What advice would you give on surviving in multicultural environment?
• Answer: Part of all of our jobs in the workplace is to educate. While it may seem that everyone knows about you, they really don't. Share and be open. It will only create inclusiveness and demystify assumptions, which most often create conflict.

Thank you to the African American Affinity Group of the Seattle Public Utilities for organizing and hosting this event.

Volunteers take pride in helping keep the International District clean

August 29, 10am--a team of 17 NAAAP-Seattle volunteers hit the streets to clean the organization’s adopted streets. Their efforts were especially needed because the International District Night Market took place the night before.

NAAAP-Seattle have adopted King and Jackson streets, between 5th and 12th Avenues, under City of Seattle-Seattle Public Utilities’ Adopt-A-Street Program. Every few months, Community Service Chair David Eam organizes volunteers to clean up the streets.

Eam said, “We wish to keep the streets clean to make the ID experience more enjoyable.”

Those walking by thanked the cleaning crews as they picked their way down King St. and Jackson St. Although many businesses do take the time to clean the streets, the ID accumulates a lot of litter because of the high number of transients and careless litterers.

Former NAAAP-Seattle President Ki Kim and current NAAAP-Seattle Vice-President Jen Phang were among the volunteers. The volunteers included: David Eam, Heng Sun, Lily Liao, Ki Kim, Jen Phang, Katie Phan, Andrew Liu, Jimmy Wong, Mikii Liu, Keith Couilliard, Sherwin Tsao, Ron Warkentin, Homan Leung, Amy Hsieh, and Angela Phan.

Of the 17 volunteers, nine were first-time NAAAP-Seattle volunteers.

Although Jimmy Wong has attended NAAAP-Seattle social events, the ID Clean-up was his first time participating in NAAAP-Seattle’s Community Service program.

Wong said, “I wanted to participate because I wanted to give back to my community and to join and help out some close friends who are passionate in helping others out.”

It made him appreciate the service NAAAP-Seattle provides to the community.

“The ID Cleanup event was a very needed event,” said Wong. “King Street from 12th Ave to 5th Ave was very dirty.”

First-time volunteers said they would get their hands dirty again to help out their community.

“I would like to volunteer again, it was great event,” Wong added. “The people that you volunteer with makes the event enjoyable.”

Another first-time volunteer, Katie Phan, said, “The event was so much fun. It was a great experience and I'm so happy I did it.”

“It was a great opportunity to help clean up Seattle and meet new people,” said Phan. “I enjoy volunteering, and I wanted to give back to the community, and meet other volunteers. I would like to volunteer again. Not only did I enjoy volunteering but it was nice that so many people stopped and thanked us for our hard work.”

The fun didn’t stop with picking up garbage though. The majority of volunteers continued to socialize over dim sum in the neighborhood. They washed their hands before eating.

Want to participate or lead a community service project? Contact David Eam at david.eam@naaapseattle.org.