You are invited to join the Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL) Midwest District Council (MDC) Youth Summit for a hybrid event hosted on Zoom and at the Japanese American Services Committee in Chicago, IL on Saturday, April 15th from 2:00 to 3:30 PM CDT + a mixer to follow!

The event will be a hybrid panel with four distinguished Asian American elected officials making change in their respective communities in the American heartland (the Midwest District extends from the Appalachians to the Rockies)! After the panel will be a mixer event to debrief, discuss, and connect with youth from across the Midwest.

Our four panelists are Stephanie Chang, the first Asian American elected to the Michigan Senate; Josina Morita, the first Asian American woman to be elected Cook County Commissioner; Samantha Sencer-Mura, the first Japanese American state representative in Minnesota; and Gene Wu, a Texas state legislator first elected in 2012. These panelists will discuss how they launched a political career, the importance of their identity and community when legislating, and their vision for the future, among other topics. 

Participants do NOT have to be a JACL member in order to attend! While the focus of the panel will be for youth, anyone is welcome to join us.

Please contact Ayako (mdcyouth@jacl.org) with any questions!