Sugasawara joins the JACL National Staff in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of JACL National Staff
By JACL National Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C. — JACL National is pleased to welcome into its office Korinne Sugasawara, who just recently began work with the organization as the 2014-15 Norman Y. Mineta Fellow.
Sugasawara originally started her career in education as an undergraduate mentoring UC freshmen from underprivileged backgrounds, encouraging them to connect the dots between their lives and the college theme of social justice. Her applied social and community psychology coursework culminated in interviewing inmates and parolees from the California state prison system, from whom she learned the importance of striving to provide everyone with basic opportunities.
From these experiences, Sugasawara went into public education, with the lofty goal of ensuring less children “fell through the cracks.” However, she soon realized a growing desire to address the reoccurring systemic problems experienced by her students and to learn more about the intersection of politics and passion that is public policy.
Sugasawara is eager to work with the JACL, which has a long history of civil rights activism and an intersectional approach to many of today’s most pressing issues.
Originally published on October 3, 2014
