2008 Monarch Leadership Awards Honors
Five Emerging API Women Leaders


Emcee Jan Yanehiro and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono flank our 2008 Monarch awardees: Amy Sujishi, Buu Thai, Yuri Futamura, Angela Chan and Christine Padilla.

2008 Monarch Leadership Awards Honors Five Emerging API Women Leaders  

On June 1st, 2008, PAAWBAC held their 2008 Monarch Leadership Awards at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco’s Japantown.  Jan Yanehiro, broadcast journalist, hosted as mistress of ceremonies and the Honorable Mazie Hirono, U.S. House of representatives, Hawaii’s Congressional District 2, was special guest speaker.  We generously thank our title sponsor, Nordstrom, and Pacific Gas & Electric for their generous support and recognition of API women. 

Nearly 200 friends and supporters came out to join PAAWBAC in honoring these outstanding young leaders.  Forty former PAAWBAC Women Warriors and Monarch honorees served as Host Committee members.  Dignitaries included Supervisor Carmen Chu, City Assessor Phil Ting, former Mayor Willie Brown, Representative Harriet Ishimoto from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and many of our San Francisco city commissioners and women department heads. 

In 2006, PAAWBAC established the Monarch Awards to recognize emerging API women leaders who inspire those around them and who are making outstanding contributions at a young age.  These young leaders are taking the reins and building new opportunities for themselves, for those they advocate for, and their communities. This year’s honorees are:

• Angela Chan: Staff Attorney and Soros Justice Fellow, Asian Law Caucus. Angela heads a program to provide direct legal representation to low-income immigrant parents with children in the juvenile justice system.  Angela graduated Harvard Law School cum laude in 2005.

• Yuri Futamura: Foundation Administrator, New Field Foundation which supports rural women’s organizations in Africa.  Yuri is a Board Member of Asian Women’s Shelter; 2007 and 2008 event chair for AWS annual fundraiser; and Board Member of International Development Exchange (IDEX)

• Christine Padilla: Field Representative/Special Assistant to the late Congressman Tom Lantos, U.S. House of Representatives. Christine served as senior liaison to the Filipino American Community and advises on API and Latino issues.  She was Program Director for Asian Heritage Street Celebration; former Executive Director for Contemporary Asian Theater Scene, San Jose; and a steering committee member of Filipina Women’s Network. 

• Amy Sujishi: Executive Assistant to Senior VP, Marketing & Playstation Network, Sony Computer Entertainment America.  Amy is Board Chair of Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC) and a dedicated volunteer in the Japanese American community, including 2006 and 2007 co-chair of Kimochi, Inc.’s Sansei Live!,” and Nihonmachi Street Fair.

• Buu Thai: Public Affairs Director, Planned Parenthood (Santa Clara/San Benito & Coastal Region). Buu is a Trustee, Franklin McKinley School Board of Education and has served as Senior Field Representative to State Assemblywoman Sally Lieber; Commissioner, Santa Clara County Commission on Status of Women 2003-2007.

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PAAWBAC Board Members (from left) Vicky Wong, Ellen Kiyomizu, Lisa Watada, Caryl Ito and (from right) Anita Fong, Vivian Lee and Katherine Lee join Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (with lei) and San Jose City Councilwoman Madison Nguyen.

Participating in this year’s awards ceremony were two extraordinary API women: Mistress of Ceremonies Jan Yanehiro and Special Guest Speaker Congresswomen Mazie Hirono.

Jan is president of Jan Yanehiro, Inc., media and marketing strategic planning, and partner with Fair Advantage which conducts college and career seminars for young women.  She hosted KPIX TV’s “Evening Magazine,” a pioneering nightly program that established the magazine format for television.  Jan’s other honors include the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award from the United Nations of San Francisco; Induction into the Academy of Television and Radio Hall of Fame, New York City; Silver Circle Inductee, 2003, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Mazie Hirono became the first immigrant woman of Asian ancestry to serve in Congress when the 110th Congress convened in January 2007.  She was elected in November 2006 to represent the 2nd District of Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Born in Fukushima, Japan, Mazie was previously the first woman of Asian ancestry born in a foreign land to be elected to a statewide office, having served two 4-year terms as the State of Hawaii’s ninth elected Lieutenant Governor.  For 14 years, Mazie served in the Hawaii State Legislature and earned a reputation as a dedicated consumer advocate and member/founder of the House Women’s Caucus.

These 2008 honorees join the five Monarch Leaders who were honored in 2006:  Sara Fewer, formerly with EMILY’s List, since January 2007, Public Communications Program Specialist with the Family Violence Prevention Fund; Mimi Kwan, Vice-President and Director of Public Affairs, KGO-TV (ABC 7); Madison Nguyen, first Vietnamese American to serve on the San Jose City Council; Lauren Yee, Playwright and founder/executive director of San Francisco Young Playwrights Foundation; Winnie Yu, Commissioner, Elections Commission, San Francisco.

PAAWBAC is committed to seeking out and recognizing young API women leaders – so stay tuned for our announcement of the next round of Monarch Awardees in 2010.  We always look to our community of women to help us identify these unsung heroines.  And, please watch for more information on our upcoming Spring 2009 event which will include our popular Silent Auction organized by Board Member Mary Jung.