2011-2012 JETAADC Officer Elections Candidate Platforms

EXECUTIVE BOARD

President

Mac Maloney

2010-2011 was certainly an active year for JETAADC, and saw the organization plan larger events with record attendance. The 2011-2012 Year expects to be just as exciting, but it presents new challenges, which were unforeseen two weeks ago. In addition to the regularly scheduled events we have each month, I have three major priorities for the coming year.

First, I would like to develop and maintain a high level of consistent programming to generate funds to the JETAA Earthquake Relief Fund. Some of these will include partnerships with a restaurant chain, joint panels with local institutions, and other cultural events such as a concert and a potential play performance.

In addition to continuing earthquake relief efforts, JETAADC is expecting to host the JETAAUSA National Conference in July. Representatives will be coming from the other 18 chapters from around the country. Some planning has already been done, but much more needs to be accomplished before this event is ready to present. There will be planned sessions dealing directly with JETAA chapters, and we plan to use our contacts and access to policy makers to have panel discussions with distinguished speakers. Social events will also be on the agenda.

The final priority for me this year will be finalizing JETAADC’s legal status as a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the IRS. Much work has already been done, and we look forward to finishing it before the National Conference in July.

Vice-President

Nick Harling

It has been an honor to serve as JETAADC’s Vice-President this past year, and I’m excited about the possibility of continued service in this capacity. Over the past year I’ve work closely with the JETAADC President, Mac Maloney, to plan and implement JETAADC’s mission. Other than being available to assist the President whenever needed, I organized this year’s Karaoke / Nihongo Dake Shinnenkai and I am also overseeing this year’s elections. In the coming year, I plan to assist with organizing the national conference which JETAADC is hosting this summer as well as to assist with future JETAADC earthquake recovery fundraising initiatives.

Nick Harling
Mie-ken 2001-03

Treasurer

Noah Kohan

I’ve been treasurer of JETAADC for one year and would be honored to serve as your treasurer once again. Professionally, I am a budget analyst for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Academically, I am a student in the part-time MBA Program at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. This past year has JETAADC treasurer, I help obtain Grant-in-Aid funding from CLAIR, diligently recorded chapter spending, managed payments and reimbursements, and reported expenditures and receipts to CLAIR at years-end. Additionally, the Embassy approved our funding proposal for the JETAADC Film Festival at the Smithsonian Institution which was instrumental in supporting his major event. It was a great year indeed, and I’m looking forward to an event better one in 2011-2012 as the JETAADC treasurer.

See you at the next networking events! Yoroshiku!

Secretary

Leigh Ann Mastrini

My name is Leigh Ann Mastrini, a JET Alumni from Hyogo-ken (2006-2008). For the past year, I’ve been the Outreach Chair for JETAADC, and this year I’ve decided to run for the position of Secretary. As the Outreach Chair, I took on the challenge of organizing the Career and Grad School Forum held in November. Filling this role as a new chairperson, my fresh perspective and ambition where key to the success of the two-day event. Encouraging new or newly interested to organize this even and actively contribute to JETAADC members’ professional development will foster new ideas that I look forward to seeing first-hand next year. It’s for this reason that I decided against running for Outreach Chair again.

As Secretary, I think I would be a good candidate because I am organized and detail-oriented. Like all the other officers, I really enjoy taking note of what our members are doing or have done to advocate for JETAADC, the JET Program, and Japan. I think I would be able to work side-by-side with the President, Vice-President and other board members to make JETAADC better. The past year has given me the opportunity to meet a number of JET Alumni and members of the Japanese community that I feel I would not have otherwise been able to meet. I really appreciate all that the JETAADC has to offer its members and I look forward to continuing to work with the organization in this position.

JETAADC CHAIRS

Social Chair

Becky Solem & Rachel Tuil (running as co-chairs)

Hi, my name is Becky Solem, and I’m running for re-election as a Social Co-Chair. Originally from Minnesota, I lived in Kumamoto-ken from 2006-2008 before coming to DC. I have really enjoyed getting to know the JETAADC community through the various networking events that we planned this past year, and I’d like to continue in this position for the next year. Some of our accomplishments included: monthly happy hours at locations in DC and Northern Virginia, organizing trips to see Nationals baseball and the National Zoo, facilitating a big bonenkai party complete with food and games, and coordinating an evening of trivia with other Japan-related groups. I loved meeting so many interesting people during our social events, and I hope for the opportunity to do the same this year. Rachel and I worked hard to provide clear communication prior to our events and to engage members while they were there. We are open to ideas and will to listen. DC is an amazing city with a lot of possibilities, and I’d love the opportunity to serve as a Social Co-Chair for another year. Thank you for your consideration!

My name is Rachel Tuil and I’m running for re-election as a Social Co-Chair. This year, some of our accomplishments have included:

1. Increasing the number of participants at each networking event (with new members at each event)
2. Providing a variety of events – from happy hours to national zoo trips to trivia to karaoke
3. Providing clear communication prior to each scheduled event via facebook and the Yahoo listserv. We also kept a consistent schedule networking events which allowed members to know when our events were coming up.
4. Providing nametags, a unique conversation starter (i.e., additional information on the nametag related to Japan) and conversed with JETAADC members at each networking event.

A former AJET representative in Kumamoto, Japan (07-09), I enjoy planning events and activities for JETs and would love to stay involved with the DC JET community in this regard.

Thank you,

Rachel Tuil

JET Ambassador Program Chair

Erin Tagg & Shreena Patel (running as co-chairs)

Our names are Erin and Shreena Patel. We are both recently returned young professionals living in the DC metro area and have really enjoyed the active JET alumni community here in Washington, DC. It has been very rewarding to be able to give back to JET and the Embassy by increasing awareness about Japan in local schools through the JET Ambassador Program and we would like to continue on in our roles as Program Coordinators. In just the past two months, we have been able to arrange eight incredibly successful visits while building our volunteer database and gaining new contacts in the local community. However, we would like to remain involved as this is still a fledgling program and the momentum that has been created could easily lapse if not given the necessary care and attention. We are both very excited to see the program become more widely recognized in the community and hope to see it take off even more in the upcoming year! Thank you for your consideration.

Returnee Support / Handbook Chair

Sarah Lyons

My name is Sarah Lyons and I would like to be your JETAA DC returnee support and handbook chair. I was an ALT in Kagoshima-ken from 2007-2009. During that time, providing support for other JETs was a top priority. I volunteered for AJET’s Peer Support Group, which was a nightly empathetic, non-directive listening service for JETs throughout Japan. I was trained to deal with issues like workplace conflict and culture shock. I also worked with CLAIR to introduce a mental health support forum on the JET website for program participants who were not able to get the support they needed in their local communities.

I am now a student in the University of Maryland’s PhD program in Social and Organizational Psychology, where my focus is in cross-cultural understanding. My personal and professional experience with cross-cultural issues makes me well-qualified to offer support for returning JETs, who are dealing with re-integrating into American society and looking to advance professionally. Additionally, as a native of the DC area with acquaintances in various professional domains, I am well-positioned to locate networking opportunities for returning JETs and communicate them in the returnee handbook. This knowledge of opportunities in DC will also help me match returnees to appropriate mentors through the JETAA DC mentoring program. Finally, I keep on top of Japanese cultural events (and, importantly, places to eat ramen) in the DC metro area, which will aid me in updating the handbook for JET alumni who want to maintain a connection to Japan.

Webmaster Chair

Barbara Trevor

I would be honored to serve as the JETAADC webmaster for the 2011-2012 year. I recently started by own website for a local Japanese-language and culture society and would love to gain more webdesign experience. I have some experience with Twitter, but this position will finally give me something worthwhile to tweet about!

Thank you for your consideration for this position.

Newsletter Chair

Barbara Trevor

I would be honored to serve as the Newsletter chair for the 2011 year. I have a degree in journalism and would live to contribute my knowledge and experience in order to communicate events to the JETAADC community. I look forward to working with the event planners and participants in highlighting the ‘good works’ that were done for the DC area.

Thank you for your kind consideration for this position.

Barbara Trevor

Volunteer Chair

Vacant

Outreach Chair

Vacant