NAAAP-ing amid the cherry blossoms

This past weekend (April 16-18), twenty NAAAP members swilled unlimited supplies of Seattle's Best Coffee, listened to Taeko drums and watched kites fly, and learned about the intricacies of Japanese culture and history as they volunteered at the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival at the Seattle Center.

"I worked at the Information booth and helped with the stage and the kite games," said Cody Li. “This event sent a message to people who don't know a lot of Japanese culture: Learn & explore Japanese culture. We should do this more often."

Mayor Mike McGinn and Consul General of Japan Kiyokazu Ota spoke at the Opening ceremony. Bob Hasegawa, Harold Taniguchi, and Sharon Tomika Santos were also in attendance.

The Festival was manned by a corps of dedicated volunteers who brought homemade meals to keep each other energized throughout the three-day affair.

Community Service Chair David Eam said, “Everyone on the committee was so kind, helpful, and very humble. It was great working with them.”

On the last day of the Festival, many NAAAP members came out to visit their friends in volunteer-i-tude.

Tazue Sasaki, the chair of the Festival, acknowledged NAAAP’s service to the event.

"I would like to thank the volunteers, especially NAAAP,” said Sasaki. “You all came through, not just doing what you were asked to do, but going beyond the call of duty. We really appreciate that.”

To find out about NAAAP-Seattle volunteer opportunities and/or become a part of the community service committee, please email david.eam@naaapseattle.org

Where are they now? Li Tan, NAAAP Seattle President 2005 - 2006

Hello, my name is Li Tan. I served on the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for four years: two as treasurer and two as President. During my term as President, we hosted the NAAAP National Convention. The time and effort that we put into planning and fundraising for the convention was equivalent to a full time job, but it was worth it in the end. Our co-chairs, Joneil Custodio, Janet Ung and Charles Wu did a great job of taking charge and ensuring that the convention was a huge success. By now, most of us have currently moved on to other boards. This year, I became the President of the Asian Counseling and Referral Services board (ACRS) and am serving my second term on it, and Charles (full disclosure: he is my husband) is currently the President of the International Community Health Services (ICHS) Foundation. Without the experience and relationships that I had developed while being involved with NAAAP, I don’t think that I would have the opportunities that I have today.

One of the great challenges of being involved in NAAAP is working with people from many cultural backgrounds. When I refer to culture, I am not limiting myself to ethnicity but am including work experiences, types of jobs people hold, and where we grow up. I think that all of these things contribute to who we are and how we behave. In my profession, I work with many like-minded individuals, so it was nice to be in an environment with many different types of thinkers which is what NAAAP provided. This type of environment allowed me to further develop my leadership skills and appreciate how hard work and collaboration can significantly pay off. The best example that I can use for this is the convention. We had 3 co-chairs, while Asian on the outside, came with differing perspectives. I brought these three individuals together and discussed with them their interests and strengths and used this discussion to determine what types of responsibilities and subcommittees they would lead. With this structure, we were able to meet our fundraising goals and offer two days of relevant programming to our participants and sponsors. The feedback that I received from one of the co-chairs was that she appreciated that I did not micromanage and allowed her to take the lead for her subcommittee.

As a result of my experience with NAAAP, how did I end up on the ACRS Board? One of our convention volunteers was a former Development Director for ACRS who nominated me to serve on their Board. Without the opportunities to use and further develop my leadership skills outside of my profession and the relationships that I developed, I wouldn’t have had the exposure to the Asian and Asian American community and the honor of serving on another board. I highly encourage Asians and Asian Americans to become fully engaged with NAAAP. Don’t expect that you will magically be presented with opportunities when you join. As my story shows, these opportunities were presented to me through hard work and dedication.

Regards,
Li Tan
NAAAP Seattle
President 2005 -2006

Learning to become better leaders from one another

Sometimes the best kind of leadership training comes from sitting around with our peers, sharing our personal trials and tribulations, and learning how to become better leaders from one another.

Last Thursday (4/8) at the architecture firm Mithun, Professional Development Chair Hang Chen lead a roundtable discussion on lessons learned from leading and working with volunteer-based organizations, such as the South Puget Sound Chapter of the Boeing Asian American Professional Association (BAAPA) and NAAAP-Seattle.

With the roundtable format, the 20 some participants shared ideas on effective communication, personal branding, authenticity, inspiring others, and mentoring.

Ki Kim, past NAAAP-Seattle president, stressed the value of consistency in leading others while delivering results.

Lora Lee, vice president of The Fearey Group, discussed the role of accountability and following through on one's commitments.

She also appreciated the format of this professional development event.

“It was a great way to connect with other professionals and share our experiences in an informal setting,” said Lee. “I’m looking forward to attending other NAAAP-Seattle events in the future.”

For questions about this and future NAAAP-Seattle Professional Development activities, please contact Hang Chen at hang.chen@naaapseattle.org. Coming up is a special “Speak to Persuade” with renown speaking coach Vanna Novak on April 23, 6-9pm.