Lilly Simmering
This year’s JACL National Convention will take place at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel from July 28- Aug. 2. Our theme, “Reigniting Our Purpose and Mission,” was intentionally chosen to focus our attention on defining JACL’s future as it approaches its second century.
It is a timely question for a community that has been part of the American story for even longer, breaking barriers not only for Japanese Americans but also for other AAPI and marginalized communities.
This past weekend, I traveled to JACL headquarters in San Francisco and stopped to read the plaque recognizing those who helped build the headquarters building. I was struck by how many Japanese American names were on it. The plaque represented not only the determination of those who built JACL but also how far the Japanese American community has come. It also raised an important question: What comes next? What is next for the Japanese American community, and what is next for JACL?
JACL Executive Director Lilly Simmering (left) with chapter and board members from the NCWNP District at JACL National Headquarters in San Francisco (Photo: Tomo Hirai)JACL Executive Director Lilly Simmering (left) with chapter and board members from the NCWNP District at JACL National Headquarters in San Francisco (Photo: Tomo Hirai)
JACL has operated without a strategic plan since 2019. While opinions differ on how that has affected the organization, as its new executive director, I believe everything happens for a reason, and there is a reason this moment has arrived now.
Civil rights have changed. In the 1960s, people fought for a dream, as Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned, of a society where equality existed. Today, we are fighting to preserve that progress and make it more complete.
There has never been a more important time for JACL to define the strategic goals, priorities and direction that will guide the organization through its next 100 years, and that work begins at this National Convention.
Times are different now. Politicians are no longer the only influencers shaping public opinion. Social media spreads information instantly, often creating narratives before those at the center of them have the opportunity to respond.
In this new era of public policy and public opinion, who will JACL be? That question can only be answered by defining our purpose and mission before others define them for us.
So, please allow me to take this opportunity to invite all of you to the National Convention and be part of this discussion. Only by listening to a variety of viewpoints and engaging in knowledge-sharing can we build an organization that is poised to be great once again.
Lilly Simmering is executive director of the JACL. She is based in the organization’s Los Angeles office.
Link to past executive director columns here.