My Story: Who I Am

I am a college professor, community builder, lawyer, and a mom who believes that when we take a pragmatic, collaborative approach to solving problems we create the world we want to live in and improve the lives of all. I live in Edina with my husband in our dream home -- an old house on the hill, with plenty of trees and a block full of children. We have two children who attend Edina public schools. My husband is a pediatric sports medicine physician, and I teach in the liberal arts department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. From May-October you'll find us running errands on our cargo bikes (mostly Nick) and in the garden (mostly me). In colder months you'll find the whole family reading by the fire.

Community Leadership

Even as a graduate student in Minneapolis, I had a passion for working with neighbors. Since becoming a mother and raising a family, I have dedicated myself to translating the concepts I learned at the macro level to the sidewalk scale by supporting my local community.

While living in Cincinnati I opened a bookstore, founded a neighborhood business association, and helped launch the transformation of an unused railway into a mixed use trail. While living in Minneapolis I served as my neighborhood board president and organized sexual violence bystander training for community members, advocated for pedestrian safety after a fatality, instituted restorative facilitation leadership training for my neighborhood board, was part of a team expanding organics recycling for neighbors in rental units, created a tenant-to-tenant conflict resolution funding program to prevent evictions, defended an urban community garden from pavement encroachment, participated in collaborative police reform with community elders and law enforcement leadership, and serve as Board Secretary for Soo Visual Art Center.

Since living in Edina I have participated in the following local boards and organizations:

Morningside Neighborhood Association (current)
Morningside Woman's Club President (current)
Edina Asian American Alliance Development Committee and Festival Children's Day Volunteer Tabler (current)
League of Women Voters Edina Board (leave of absence)
Edina Public Schools Talent Development Community Working Group (previous two years, term expired)
Edina Rotary Club (current)
Regular school volunteer

Childhood: My Heroes

My beloved grandmother was a Japanese immigrant who instilled the values of independence, hard work, devotion to family, and tenacity. I saw firsthand the sorrows of being separated from loved ones by oceans, and deeply admired my grandmother's dignity in the face of discrimination. Knowing what she went through, I have dedicated myself to learning deeply about other cultures and people, and advocating for acceptance and inclusion. I also grew up in a social worker's house where conversations with my dad about our duties to care for others was the dinner table talk. My dad took care of us as a single parent and long after retirement age he continues to care for his clients, all of whom are exclusively on Medicare and Medicaid. Both my grandma and my dad showed me that hard work is the most important way you show what you value; in our family that is the people we love and the communities we live in.

Education

I am trained to do the homework -- learning alongside others and training young people to think critically is one of my deepest passions. I have an undergraduate degree in International Studies from American University where I graduated from the Honors Program magna cum laude, worked for the Islamic Center for Peace, and lived in South Africa to learn about the truth and reconciliation commission. At the University of Colorado School of Law I served as editor for the International Environmental Law and Policy Journal, worked for the Natural Resources Center, interned for Appellate Judge Peter Ney, and was named Federal Indian student attorney of the year. Afterwards I clerked for Justice Brian Boatright (CO Supreme Court) when he was a district court judge. Ultimately law school brought up more questions than answers for me, so I moved to Minneapolis for a PhD in comparative literature and cultural studies from the UMN where I examined the relationship between the atomic bombing of Hiroshima alongside the internment of Japanese Americans. Though I am not a brilliant linguist I do love learning other languages and have studied Spanish, Afrikaans, Xhosa, French, German, and can get around in Japanese.