2012 - 2014 JACL PROGRAM FOR ACTION
Adopted by the National Council
July 2012, Seattle, Washington
Click here to download a PDF file of the 2012-2014 Program for Action
Introduction
The JACL and the Japanese American community are continuously affected by changes in the political environment and in demographics. Our society continues to be impacted by the events of September 11, 2001, which created a worldwide climate of uncertainty and insecurity where we must reconcile the proper balance between issues of national security and our civil liberties. We are also affected by the changing demographics of race, ethnicity and age.
Looking to our future, we need to determine what role JACL will play in Japanese American, Asian Pacific American and civil rights communities, and what infrastructure is necessary to effectively support our mission and efficiently achieve our goals. The Program For Action Committee (PFAC) sets the course and the objectives for the JACL each year. The ongoing effectiveness of the organization will depend, in part, on the outcomes of these important initiatives.
Vision
Aware of our responsibilities as the oldest and largest Asian Pacific American civil rights organization, JACL strives to promote a world that honors diversity by respecting values of fairness, equality and social justice.
Mission
The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others
who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also
work to promote cultural, educational and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.
The recommendations from the PFAC are as follows:
ADVOCACY
Goal:
To build and support policy reforms at the national, state, and local levels towards the eradication of all types of discrimination while promoting social, political, civil rights and economic health of all Asian Americans and maintaining the preservation of our common heritage.
Objectives:
- Expand civil rights protections for all API’s while addressing bias and discrimination that limit the rights and opportunities of API’s
- Advocate for equal opportunity in all aspects of American life, particularly through vigorous support for affirmative action programs and immigrant rights
- Serve as a primary resource on issues pertaining to API’s, especially Japanese- Americans through JACL’s presence and advocacy role in Washington, D.C. and locations around the nation
- Strengthen the JACL’s institutional relationships with organizations in all communities, elected and appointed officials, policy makers and community leaders on the national , state and local levels to advocate for a variety of civil liberties issues including continued vigilance and response in combating racial and ethnic profiling, defamation and hate crimes.
- Develop a communications mechanism and protocol that involves and informs the JACL membership and the public about JACL’s reaction and response to incidents of anti-Asian sentiment.
- Advocate for continued federal funding for preservation of the detention centers and concentration camps used to imprison Japanese Americans during WWII
- Advocate for a US stamp to honor the military service WWII Nisei.
- Work to eradicate negative stereotyping of APIs by having contact with the media in all its forms: print, radio, television, advertising, films, etc. Make contact with and become advisors with our contacts in the entertainment industries to promote and enhance proper and positive images of APIs. Bring awareness to these industries that we are underrepresented and would like more visibility in the entertainment world especially on film, in television shows, and in the music industry that they might create more positive roles for APIs in these industries. Send positive feedback to these industries when they execute these goals.
LEADERSHIP
Goals:
To develop a new generation of leaders from within our communities who will strengthen JACL's ability to lead, advocate and sustain the core values of our organization. The Japanese American Citizens League will be a pre-eminent leader in promoting social justice for all.
Objectives:
- Work with the JACL National Youth/Student Council, National Board, District organizations and other groups to increase outreach efforts to recruit and engage the best and brightest from both the Japanese American and Asian Pacific Islander communities, as well as individuals interested in advocating for civil rights.
- Seek out potential leaders who are successful in business, academia, politics, etc., and encourage them to apply their leadership skills to all levels of the organization: chapter, district and national.
- Increase the visibility and stature of the national organization so that all Japanese Americans and individuals interested in civil rights issues, particularly young people, will aspire to work with the organization.
- Increase funding for education and training opportunities for those who wish to serve in any capacity in the JACL and other community-based venues and for the appropriate marketing tools to publicize them.
- Consider increasing funding for independent research on social justice issues, particularly as they relate to the Japanese American community, to provide more leverage when our leaders speak out about these issues.
- Consider earmarking scholarship funds to encourage Japanese Americans to enter fields where they can make the most impact on public policies, i.e. academia, politics, journalism, policy research.
- Develop strategies to encourage scholarship recipients to participate in and strengthen their local JACL chapters.
- Develop strategies to engage past participants of JACL high school and college leadership programs.
- Provide opportunities to assist chapter and district officers to develop the necessary skill sets to lead their organizations and eventually assume national leadership positions.
- Continue supporting the JACL/OCA Washington Leadership Summit and other leadership conferences, while also engaging past participants to take on a more active role in the organization.
- Seek training for district staff and members of the National Board of Directors to hone non-profit business management capabilities such as fund raising, membership drives, program baseline development, and cost management.
- Develop performance metrics to measure program efficacy and return on investments of all National JACL programs.
- Develop and maintain a succession and mentorship plan for National Board of Directors, District and Chapter Officers, the national Youth/Student council members and key staff members in order to maintain continuity in leadership.
EDUCATION
Goal:
- To educate our membership and the public at-large about the Japanese American historical experience beginning with our Issei immigrant and their Nisei children leading to the incarceration during WWII.
- To continue to develop and promote lesson plans that teach about the incarceration and the potential of other minority groups that may be similarly impacted by hysteria and fear.
Objectives:
- Continue to develop educational materials including updating the Japanese American curriculum guide as often as appropriate to keep it current.
- Promote distribution of the curriculum guide and other materials to teachers by attending national and regional conferences of the National Conference for the Social Studies.
- Present workshops for teachers to educate and encourage integration of lessons about the Japanese American experience and the incarceration in the curriculum.
- Continue to advocate for the inclusion of Asian Pacific American experience as part of the national social studies standards.
- Assist chapters in each state to advocate for the inclusion of Asian Pacific American studies through changes in state learning standards and school codes and through the inclusion of questions related to Asian Pacific American experience in state and standard (ACT, SAT, etc.) achievement tests.
- Assist chapters in promoting multicultural education.
- Enable chapters to organize book clubs and film festivals as an example and means to promote the discussion and understanding of APA history and culture.
- Apply for educational grants as appropriate to provide various topics on the Japanese and Japanese American (JA) experience and history workshops for teachers with ability to give teacher(s) clock hours as part of their ongoing educational training. Provide this workshop to other appropriate groups that qualify for this educational training and for understanding of the past and lessons to be learned.
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
Goal:
To provide support and guidance to students and young professionals in all levels of JACL, as well as provide mentorship and programs enhancing leadership development. Such experiences are aimed at promoting success in life as well as to gain the skills necessary to contribute to the future success of the JACL.
Objectives:
- Integrate youth participation and create leadership opportunities at all levels of the organization, including but not limited to the National Youth/Student Council and national committees, as well as chapter and district level board positions.
- Promote and encourage student and young professional participation and involvement in JACL sponsored events at all levels of the organization.
- Design marketing and promotional strategies that promote the JACL and its leadership training and advocacy activities in a way to attract high caliber students and young professionals to JACL.
- Create opportunities for students and young professionals to participate in the National Convention (as well as other national events) through sponsorship.
- Provide guidance and training for districts to help accommodate new youth representatives to transition onto the National Youth/Student Council.
- Actively recruit qualified and driven students and young professionals to participate on the National Youth/Student Council, as well as to fill chapter youth chair positions.
- Outreach to youth within the local community including to college campuses.
- Seek ways to transition youth and scholarship winners to the leadership positions of the JACL.
- Assist chapters in each state as appropriate to help develop local JACL connections to Asian American student groups at local colleges and universities
MEMBERSHIP
Goal:
To increase and diversify the membership base of the JACL
Objectives:
- Develop and implement a general plan to retain membership over the next biennium. The plan must be continually updated to evolve with time and each biennium.
- Review the plan during the biennium to reflect and to ensure the objectives are met.
- Develop and implement a plan to attract new members that reflect the changing demographics of the Japanese American community.
- Outreach to other APIA communities in order to diversify the JACL.
- Create programs on the chapter and district level for members to feel connected to the community.
- Develop a recruitment policy or plan in conjunction with the Youth Council to attract youth or next generation (Yonsei; Gosei, etc.) and APIA into the Youth category, eventually moving into the other categories in JACL.
- Develop a recruitment model to assist with coinciding or complementing with the National Youth/Student Council recruitment procedures.
- Strategize ideas and continuing to update communications to keep our membership informed with realistic reasons for keeping membership in the JACL.
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Goal:
To diversify the financial base of JACL with less dependence on membership dues as the primary revenue source for JACL.
Objectives:
- Organize a financial development committee to develop a plan for researching and identifying revenue sources; monitor progress toward increasing revenue.
- Add fund raising expertise to the National JACL Board of Directors.
- Establish a closer tie with Japanese government and corporations for programmatic and fund development purposes.
- Continue efforts to implement a planned giving program with effective marketing strategies.
- Organize a planned giving committee to monitor and identify prospective planned giving sources.
- Develop ideas and plans to finding income to generate or supplement funding the Pacific Citizen and other sources of communication.
- Strategize to finding other sources to communicate with the public in conjunction with the Pacific Citizen.
- Develop strategies to increase grant and corporate funding sources.
- Develop strategies to educate JACL members to identify and pursue grant and corporate funding revenue streams.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Goal:
To improve the public visibility of the JACL and increase dissemination of critical information by improving the design and content of the national website and utilizing a variety of social media.
Objectives:
- Include an educational/historical aspect to the site by including biographies of prominent Japanese Americans in politics, academia, business, etc.
- Improve the design of the site to include more content and user direction on the home page (e.g. mission statement on the top of the home page, fully utilize the right side of the home page, and link to the Pacific Citizen).
- Increase funding for web design to ensure online content is timely and relevant
- Work with the JACL Chapters to ensure all chapter links are included in the national website.
- Encourage chapters to create their own websites to be maintained with timely and current information.
- Utilize video content in order to increase interest in issues and accessibility to information.
- Regularly use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to improve marketing, information sharing, and visibility of JACL.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
Goal:
Adopt a comprehensive National Strategic Planning process.
Objectives:
- Rename the Program For Action Committee to the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC).
- Redefine the objective of the committee as that of drafting a National Strategic Plan that will be presented to the National Board of Directors and the Budget Committee annually.
- The SPC Chairperson shall be appointed by the National JACL Vice President of General Operations
- The Strategic Planning Committee will consist of a representative from each District, a youth representative and either the National JACL Treasurer or a member from the JACL Budget Committee.
- Finalize the recommendations of the SPC for presentation at the first National JACL Board of Directors meeting of each year and prior to the first meeting of the Budget Committee.
- Identify and access new funding sources (internal and external) dedicated to supporting the development and implementation of the National Strategic Planning Committee and Initiative.
- Regularly share key findings and information on the Strategic Planning process with the National Board, District Councils and Chapters.