Naomi Ostwald Kawamura
Naomi Ostwald Kawamura was unanimously elected by Densho’s Board of Directors and the Employee Search Committee to succeed Founding Executive Director Tom Ikeda.
She will join the e-commerce staff in September and officially replace Ikeda on November 2.
“We have a very competitive pool of candidates, but as an educator with expertise in Japanese American history and her strong background in nonprofit leadership and management, Naomi has what we’re looking for A rare combination of skills and experience,” said Densho Board chairman Ron Tanemura in a news release.
Ostwald Kawamura was the Executive Director of the Nikkei Plaza Foundation. She holds a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Ostwald Kawamura was born into a family of Japanese immigrants in San Diego, California. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, a tenured professor at the University of British Columbia, and their daughter. A UW graduate, she maintains a strong network of friends and family in Seattle.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Ostwald Kawamura. “I am honored to have been selected to lead Densho, an organization I have always admired that has played such an important role in preserving the historical memory of Japanese Americans.”
