Introducing JACL National Board Candidates

Elections are set to take place Aug. 1
at the organization’s annual National Convention.

The Nominations Committee reports the following candidates for National Office: Sheldon Arakaki, president; Ronald K. Ikejiri, president; Floyd Mori, vp for public affairs; and Simon Kutz, national youth/student representative.

The above individuals are the only current candidates for national office. Other potential candidates are asked to review the Nominations Committee rules as campaigning is not allowed until one’s application is accepted by the committee.

No candidates have filed for the offices of national youth/student chair, secretary/treasurer, vp for one thousand club, membership and services, vp for planning and development or vp of general operations.

Other individuals interested in running for national office can view the forms on the JACL 2026 Convention website (https://jacl.org/2026-national-convention) to view the procedure for running from the floor of the convention. Individuals are encouraged to contact Eric Langowski at elangowski@jacl.org prior to the convention.

As of June 23, one application has been received for the purposes of running from the floor for the national youth/student chair position, but this application cannot be accepted until the convention begins.

Following are candidate statements: 

Candidates for President

One of the biggest challenges JACL must address to move forward is its comfort culture of “we’ve always done this . . . .” This mindset shows up in longstanding structures and practices: four national vice presidents, a youth organization now known post-merger as the National Youth/Student Council, a printed newspaper, district representatives on committees, National Council at convention and a regional director role among others. Because of relying on what has always been, we often struggle to let go and consider new approaches and structures.

A renewed purpose and a vision-inspired strategic plan should drive the governance and programming with time-bound measurable outcomes and deliverables that this entire organization is accountable for from the D.C. Leadership Summit alum and the chapter social club chair to national board members.

We are on the financial precipice for the third time in my twenty-some odd years in JACL, and as a glass half-full person, I see this as an opportunity for JACL to grudgingly move out from its comfort zone.

As a recently retired Yonsei born in Seattle, raised in majority minority Hawaii, who chose to pursue post-secondary education in Denver and St. Louis and joined a fraternity to experience the “mainland,” I believe I have the mindset to drive change in JACL.

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MEMBERSHIP: The JACL cannot credibly represent the voices and concerns of the Japanese American community at the table of public policy making with 7,000 members. Outreach for new members is mandatory for survival. There are 1.6 million Americans of Japanese ancestry.

MANAGEMENT: The budget is approximately $2.4 plus million per year.

I recognize that the board is a volunteer board, but the reality in today’s nonprofit organizations is that it takes members and funding to sustain goals.

Propose that the BOARD be responsible to recruit 100 new members per year and personally raise $100,000 a year.

GOVERNANCE: The composition of the board is unchanged for 97 years.

• Currently, 15 board members to oversee eight paid staff?

• What is wrong with this picture?

• Streamlined governance models should be considered by the delegates.

THE PACIFIC CITIZEN: Only one common glue keeps the JACL together: the Pacific Citizen. In both print and digital formats, the P.C. represents the most informative benefit for the membership, and the principal communication tool with public policy makers. No P.C. — No JACL.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Al Agents (AGENTICS) pull staff from ministerial tasks and allow staff to use their creativity to enrich the membership experience. Operations, membership, human resource and development of member programs can be achieved through Al.

REVENUE SHARING: As the Washington representative of the JACL in the 1970s and ’80s, the Eastern, Midwest, Intermountain, Central District Councils carried more than 80 percent of the geographical responsibility to advocate the public policy-making decision-makers.

JACL’s membership is heavily weighted toward the Western Coastal states, and there is a perception the JACL represents the “liberal left coast,” from a Washington, D.C., perspective.

This perception must change. To become a viable national voice, the JACL must allocate program funds nationwide so that a more balanced consideration of viewpoints may be achieved.

Candidate for VP for Public Affairs

Recent events and challenges of the JACL at the broad National Board decision-making level has caused me to run as national vp for public affairs. I am concerned that without the experienced public policy-making capabilities of the JACL at the national and regional levels, our message of advocacy for constitutional and everyday rights are being eroded.

I wish to restore our presence and voice at the public policy-making board rooms and governance centers nationally. 

Candidate for National Youth/Student Representative

My name is Simon Kutz, and I am a current student at Princeton University, originally from Decorah, Iowa, and I am running for the position of national youth/student representative.

Growing up far outside of a large Japanese American community, JACL attracted me because it was my way of finding community. 
But I have watched a lot of my peers from regions with much larger Japanese American communities drift away from it, simply because they didn’t feel like it was speaking to them anymore.

The issue I keep coming back to is the disconnection between JACL and younger Japanese Americans. And I don’t think more youth programming is the answer on its own. What I hear from peers is that they want to see JACL take clear positions on things that feel urgent to them — anti-Asian violence, immigration and what solidarity actually looks like in practice. When an organization stays vague on things that can feel obvious, young people are less likely to be passionate in supporting that organization.

Furthermore, building real relationships with other youth organizations, including Asian and Nikkei student organizations at college campuses, will soften the disconnect by introducing JACL as a collaborative organization with intentions to build mutually beneficial relationships rather than just intentions to recruit new members.

JACL was founded by young people who took real risks for their community. I think the way to honor that is not to preserve the organization exactly as it is, but to have the same willingness to change that they had to fight.

JACL National Board elections voting will take place on Aug. 1 during the National Convention.