{"id":15405,"date":"2013-05-07T01:05:14","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T01:05:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-05-07T01:05:14","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T01:05:14","slug":"Three-Japanese-Americans-among-those-honored-by-White-House","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=15405","title":{"rendered":"Three Japanese-Americans among those honored by White House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Three Japanese-American women from different fields were among the 15 women of Asian and Pacific Island heritage that were chosen to receive the \u201cChampions of Change\u201d honor by the White House.<\/strong> They were chosen for contributing to make the United States \u201cbigger and brighter again and again\u201d in their chosen fields, from business, sports, education, activism and beyond.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Atsuko Toko Fish was born in Tokyo and became an American citizen in 2008.<\/strong> She was a former advisor to the governor of Massachusetts on tourism and trade and created an executive program for Japanese women to become non-profit leader. She raised almost 1 million dollars for disaster relief operations after the March 2011 disaster in Japan. Not only that, she was one of the first people on ground doing relief work, despite flying in from the US. She also helped start the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund-Boston and encouraged Japanese women to take a leading role in disaster recovery by being the \u201cdriving force behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Natalie Nakase was the first Asian-American basketball player in the National Women\u2019s basketball league when she was playing for UCLA and then became the first female coach in the Japanese professional men\u2019s basketball league.<\/strong> Her dream now is to become the first female coach in the National Basketball Association. Nakase, now the video coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers wants to show people who \u201cthe most unattainable goals can be achieved\u201d and that courage is all it takes to achieve something that hasn\u2019t been done before.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Karen Suyemoto was born to a father who survived being interned during World War II and a mother suffering from mental illness.<\/strong> Her parents\u2019 experience with racism and disability has led her to pursue a life advocating for social justice. She and her team made a study on the correlation between racial and ethnic discrimination experiences with the development and mental health of Asian-Americans. Her academic career has been about improving the lives of Asian-Americans, especially those who are suffering from mental illness.<\/p>\n<p>All the awardees were honored as part of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage month and a presidential proclamation about the honor was quoted by Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama and chair of the White House Council on Woman and Girls. \u201cThese fifteen women represent the strength and diversity of the AAPI community,\u201d she said, adding that they serve as role models for the young women of America.<\/p>\n<p>You can see the entire list of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asiancemagazine.com\/news\/2013\/04\/30\/us-to-honor-asian-americans-as-champions-of-change\">awardees here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>via <a href=\"http:\/\/mainichi.jp\/english\/english\/newsselect\/news\/20130507p2g00m0dm009000c.html\">Mainichi<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<!--break--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three Japanese-American women from different fields were among the 15 women of Asian and Pacific Island heritage that were 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Japanese-American women from different fields were among the 15 women of Asian and Pacific Island heritage that were chosen","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["News"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":120,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/u.jpg",113,170,false],"medium":["https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/u.jpg",113,170,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/u-113x150.jpg",113,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"Admin","author_link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?author=1"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53e6cdc30765aade0129f85e5aeb50124b1d3f5bb9a70373be31e4eb328371e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link 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