The Japanese American National Museum Announces Ten New Board Members

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has announced ten new members to its board of trustees and board of governors.

Kristine Nishiyama and Dennis Sugino have been named trustees. Jennifer Hirano, Akemi Kondo Dalvi, Yuko Kaifu, Masatoshi Komoriya, David Mineta, Michele Miyakawa, Josh Morey, and Christopher Yang were named governors.

“Our new board members bring a wealth of diversity and experience to JANM’s leadership. We are grateful for their commitment and dedication to sustaining JANM in the years to come. I look forward to working with them to strengthen our mission and work towards a more just future for all,” said Bill Fujioka, Chair, Board of Trustees.

Kristine Nishiyama is a senior vice president and senior counsel with the Capital Group in Los Angeles, California, and has been with the company for over twenty-five years. She also serves in various capacities for Capital Group subsidiaries and affiliates, including as chairman of the board and general counsel, Capital Bank and Trust Company, and principal executive officer of the American Funds Fixed Income Funds. She received her BA from the University of Oregon and her JD from Southwestern University School of Law. Nishiyama also serves on the board of trustees for the Westside Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House and volunteers with various child advocacy programs.

Dennis Sugino is the founder and CEO of Kansa Advisory LLC. He was formerly a chief investment officer for the City of Los Angeles, co-founder and president of Cliffwater LLC and managing director of Wilshire Associates. He was also a partner and executive committee member of Aristotle Capital Management. In addition to serving on the board of JANM, he is a board member of the Japan House Foundation (Los Angeles).  He previously served as a board vice chair of the U.S.-Japan Council, board member of Keiro, board member of The Investment Fund for Foundations, and investment committee member of Mercy Health System. He earned his BS from California State University, Dominguez Hills and his MA from the University of California, Los Angeles. He grew up in Gardena, California.

Akemi Kondo Dalvi is the president and CEO of Kondo Wealth Advisors (KWA), an independent and professional wealth management practice in Los Angeles, California that focuses on the Asian American community. She provides comprehensive financial planning services, incorporating investment management, tax planning, estate planning, charitable gifting strategies, and risk management services to individuals and small businesses. Dalvi received her BS in Accounting from the University of Southern California. Dedicated to financial education and empowerment, Dalvi has served as a long-time columnist for the Rafu Shimpo and East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center. She is the co-author of Retiring Upstream: Finding Happiness & Security in the Transition of a Lifetime. 

Jennifer Hirano is a business development analyst for Alphabet, Inc., identifying development opportunities within the Google suite of products. Before joining Alphabet, she spent nearly ten years in digital publishing, first in product development with Reed-Elsevier, Inc. and later in digital media. She received her BA from Tufts University in International Relations and MBA from Columbia Business School. In addition to the JANM Board of Governors, she serves on the board of councilors for the U.S.-Japan Council and the board of trustees for K9 Youth Alliance, a small nonprofit based in Los Angeles.

Yuko Kaifu is the president of Japan House Los Angeles, a public diplomacy initiative launched by the Japanese government. Prior to joining Japan House in January 2016, she was managing director of the corporate communications department at MUFG Union Bank. She started her career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. During her service with the Ministry, she was the official interpreter for Her Majesty the Empress, Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister of Japan. After she served as the consul at the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2007, she left the government to serve as the vice president of JANM, where she was charged with US-Japan programs until she joined MUFG Union Bank in 2009. Kaifu currently serves on the board of directors for the US-Japan Council, one of the most important organizations to her. She received a BA from Nara Women’s University and an MA from Queen’s University in Canada.

Masatoshi Komoriya is the deputy chief operating officer – international (Deputy COO-I) and deputy chief executive of the Global Commercial Banking Business Group (GCB). He assumed these New York-based positions in April 2022. Mr. Komoriya is also a member of the Boards of MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and MUFG Union Bank, N.A. Komoriya graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo with a BA in Law, and earned LLM degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and New York University School of Law.

David K. Mineta has been the president and CEO of Momentum for Health since August 2015. From 2010 to 2015, he was the deputy director of Demand Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the White House Drug Policy Office. In 1996, he worked with Asian American Recovery Services and was named deputy director in 2007. He served twice as board president for the Jefferson Union High School District Board of Trustees. He received a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSW from San Jose State University.

Michele Miyakawa is a co-founder and managing director of Moelis & Company. She specializes in advising high growth consumer companies regarding capital raises and strategic alternatives including mergers and acquisitions. Miyakawa has more than twenty years of experience in the finance industry as both a banker and an executive, leading multiple banking and management roles at Moelis & Company including COO of Global Advisory. Miyakawa holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard University. She served on the board of directors of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp and as a board member of the Hollywood Hills West Council.

Joshua Morey is the chairperson of Ori-gen and president of The J Morey Company Inc. Ori-gen amplifies the voice of diverse communities throughout America by providing resources, services, and perpetuation planning for independent agents and brokers from diverse backgrounds. Morey serves on the board of directors for the U.S.-Japan Council, JANM, the Little Tokyo Community Council, and the Japanese Evangelical Mission Society. He was recently featured on the cover of Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America’s national magazine. He is co-founder of KODO Insurance Services (Insuretech) and chairman of the board of Arrowood Insurance Services. He has a BA in Business Economics, from Wheaton College and a MA in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. In his free time he loves playing baseball and spending time with his wife and three kids.

Christopher Yang is the group vice president of Business Development and the deputy general counsel for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), and the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Toyota Connected North America. Yang is an engaged mobility executive with extensive experience leading and developing new business initiatives and ventures for Toyota, and is currently leading the creation of Toyota's electric vehicle charging and battery life cycle ecosystem. In his role as deputy general counsel, Yang leads the transactional legal practice at TMNA and provides executive leadership and counsel on global legal matters around the world. Yang is a second-generation Japanese-Chinese American and is fluent in Japanese, earning his BA in Political Science with high distinction from the University of California, Berkeley, and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. In his free time, Yang is a devoted practitioner of the martial art of kendo for over thirty-five years and holds a 7th degree black belt—and has led the US to two silver medals and three bronze medals at the World Kendo Championships during his eighteen-year tenure on the US National Kendo Team. 

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories and strives to provide a voice for Japanese Americans as well as a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite while traveling 17 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.