Jack Kurihara has more than 35 years of health systems and hospital corporate experience. Prior to his retirement, he was the director of strategic development at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Health System. Jack also serves on the board of directors of the Venice Japanese Community Center. He holds a Master of Health Administration from the University of Washington and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of the Pacific.

As the president and co-owner of Aihara & Associates Insurance Services, Inc., Doug Aihara has more than 25 years of experience in insurance services. He is active in the Japanese American community, serving as chair of the Little Tokyo Community Council, past president of Senshin Buddhist Temple, and on the board of directors of Visual Communications.

Lisa Chao has over 20 years of experience in finance and treasury and is currently General Manager, Treasury at Toyota Financial Services. Her professional experience includes enterprise cash management, treasury operations, risk management and analytics. Lisa previously volunteered at South Bay Keiro Nursing Home when she was young and has fond memories of her volunteer experience. Originally from the South Bay, Lisa currently resides in Frisco, TX. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Economics from UC Berkeley and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Kimiko Fujita owns and operates the Yamaha Music Centers in Torrance, Irvine, and Aliso Viejo with more than 1,000 students. She is also active in the Japanese community in Orange County, serving as the president of the Orange County Japanese American Association for the past eight years.

Gerald Iseda recently retired as the Director of Supervisory Affairs for GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric. Prior to that, he worked for the International Monetary Fund as a Senior Technical Advisor and as a financial services regulator and risk management expert with the Federal Reserve Bank.

Gerald is the President at Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. He also oversees the temple’s senior programs and has been an active member of Keiro’s Nikkei Senior Network.

Gerald resides in Connecticut, but maintains strong ties to the Westside between his Temple activities and caring for his mother. Gerald has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics/System Science from UCLA and an MBA from Boston University.

Lynn Miyamoto is an immigration law attorney, with her own law practice, Lynn A. Miyamoto, PLC. She serves on the board of directors of the California State Parent-Teacher Association and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and was past president of the Glendale Educational Foundation and First District PTA.

Teiji Kawana is President of JSL Foods, Inc., a 3rd generation food manufacturing company with facilities in Los Angeles and Houston. Teiji is a graduate of Loyola Law School and was a practicing attorney specializing in corporate law before returning to the family business, where he assumed the presidency in 2006.

Claire Koga practiced in geriatrics and family medicine for over 30 years. Prior to her retirement, she was a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente. Claire received her medical degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

Chris Komai is a freelance writer, who has been involved in Little Tokyo for more than five decades. He was the Public Information Officer of the Japanese American National Museum for over 21 years, where he handled public relations for the organization’s special events, exhibitions and public programs. Prior to that, Chris worked for the Japanese-English language newspaper, The Rafu Shimpo, for 18 years as a sportswriter, sports editor, and English editor. He still contributes articles to the newspaper and writes for the Japanese American National Museum’s project, Discover Nikkei, on a variety of topics.

Chris is the Past Board Chair for the Little Tokyo Community Council and is currently First Vice Chair. He also serves on the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association board. He has been a member of the Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Board of Directors for basketball and baseball for over 40 years and sits on the Board of the Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association. Chris earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of California at Riverside.

Yukari Roberts works in operations for TheKey (formerly Home Care Assistance), a nationwide in-home care provider. Many years ago, she joined Millennia Personal Care Assistance as Administrative Director, providing Japanese in-home care services. Millennia has since merged with Home Care Assistance and maintains its focus on Japanese services as TheKey/Millennia Home Care. Additionally, TheKey acquired Silverado Memory Care Facility’s home care division and became their preferred provider.

Yukari and Millennia have been long-time participants at past Keiro Caregiver Conferences, as a Resource Fair vendor, sponsor, and session speaker.

Additionally, Yukari is a board member of the Orange County Japanese American Association (OCJAA).

After a 35-year career in the California community colleges, Lisa Sugimoto, as a vice president with PPL, Inc., consults with California community colleges on executive searches. Previously, she served as the superintendent/president of Pasadena City College during the Nisei Diploma project, when students of Japanese descent, who were incarcerated during World War II, received their honorary college degrees. Lisa earned her Doctorate in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Master of Business Administration and Master of Education from the University of Southern California.

Ron Takasugi has over 40 years experience in finance, accounting, systems implementation, and 55+ Senior Housing development. He is a director and past board chair of Nikkei Senior Gardens where he has been involved with the project since the conception stage. Ron was a practicing CPA before changing careers and entering the real estate development business. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Beverly Ito has over 40 years of experience in aging services, having worked for Keiro as a pharmacist at City View Hospital, assistant administrator at Keiro Nursing Home, Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer, and administrator of Keiro Intermediate Care Facility. Following the sale of the Keiro facilities in 2016, Beverly stayed on as administrator of Sakura Intermediate Care Facility until its closure in August 2021.