JANM Announces New Board Members

Editors please note: JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus and at other locations at janm.org/OnTheGo. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) is pleased to welcome new board members to its Board of Governors and Honorary Board. Diana Abouali, Anthea M. Hartig, Hiroshi Kawano, Erika Moritsugu, and Jay Shiba joined the Board of Governors. US Representative Jimmy Gomez and US Senator Adam Schiff joined the Honorary Board. 

Board of Governors

Diana Abouali is the director of the Arab American National Museum (AANM). She has worked in higher education and in the museum and cultural heritage sectors in the United States, Palestine and Jordan. Previously, she was an assistant professor at Dartmouth College, where she taught courses in Arab-Islamic civilization, gender studies and the social and cultural history of the Middle East. She also served as the head of Research and Collections at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, Palestine and director of Education, Outreach and Awareness at the Petra National Trust in Amman, Jordan. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received an MA in Middle Eastern Studies and a PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University.

Anthea M. Hartig is the Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the first woman to hold the position since the museum opened in 1964. Currently, she is leading a vibrant new strategic plan to take the museum through the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026 and beyond. She oversees a budget over $48 million and a collection that includes nearly 2 million objects.Previously she served as the the executive director and CEO of the California Historical Society and as the director of the Western Region for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. An award-winning public historian and cultural heritage expert, she earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in history at the University of California, Riverside, and her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hiroshi Kawano is the Executive Chairman of MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and the Deputy Regional Executive for the Americas. Previously he served as the head of Japanese Corporate Banking for the Americas, and held the roles of executive officer and managing director roles for the Global Planning and Corporate Planning Division in Tokyo, Japan. He also served as the MUFG’s head of Global Planning, where he was responsible for planning and overseeing the MUFG operations outside of the home market. MUFG is one of the ten largest global financial institutions. He earned his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his BA in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.

Erika Moritsugu served as deputy assistant to the President and Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander senior liaison during the Biden Administration. She supported the administration on a wide array of the President’s priorities and engaged with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities and leaders on important issues such as advancing safety, justice, inclusion, and opportunity through a holistic governmental approach to racial justice. Previously, she served as the assistant secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and was the first Senate deputy legislative director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is a proud graduate of the University Laboratory School in Honolulu Hawaiʻi and attended Brandeis University, the College of William and Mary, and George Washington University Law School.

Jay A. Shiba is a third generation Japanese American originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, and a JANM Charter Member. He served in a variety of positions of increasing responsibility at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation, retiring from the role of vice president, Supply Chain Management in 2013. He earned his BA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1978 and his JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1983. 

Honorary Board

Congressman Jimmy Gomez represents California’s 34th Congressional District—one of the nation’s most diverse and culturally rich areas—including Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Chinatown, Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, and more. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, he helped draft the expanded Child Tax Credit, which reduced poverty among Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander children by 37% from 2021–2022. He also cosponsored the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was signed into law, to improve reporting and provide resources in response to increased anti-Asian hate. In 2022, he established the Congressional Task Force to Stop Anti-Asian Hate and Violence in his district to combat rising anti-Asian rhetoric and crimes.

US Senator Adam Schiff represents the state of California in the US Senate. In 2000 he was elected to the US House of Representatives. He serves on the Senate committees on the Judiciary; Environment and Public Works; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In 1996, he was elected to the California State Senate. When his term began, he was the Senate’s youngest member. In 2000, he was elected to the US House of Representatives, and in 2024 he was elected to the US Senate. He is committed to making the economy work for everyone; championing the environment and clean energy, as well as investments in infrastructure and mass transit; and upholding and strengthening America’s democracy and the rule of law. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School.

“The Japanese American National Museum is a critical institution that continues to preserve and celebrate the rich culture of Japanese Americans. As the author of legislation passed to honor the Go For Broke regiments and MIS with the Congressional Gold Medal, I am thrilled to be tapped to serve on the honorary board and further its mission,” said Senator Schiff.

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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 center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over one hundred exhibitions onsite while traveling forty 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. JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus, throughout Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Southern California, and beyond from early January 2025 through late 2026. For more information, visit janm.org/OnTheGo or follow us on social media @jamuseum.