2025 CWAJ June 7, 2025 Joint Board Meeting
Summarized by Heidi Sweetnam
Based on minutes by Recording Secretary Hillary Kobayashi
Based on notes of small group discussions by Marisa Kellam
The Joint Board Meeting was held on a Saturday to accommodate members with family and work obligations. It was held as a hybrid meeting so that those unable to attend in person could attend virtually. Heidi Sweetnam summarized the highlights of the Joint Board Meeting based on minutes provided by Recording Secretary Hillary Kobayashi. There were two parts to the meeting:
- Directors’ Reports
- Discussion: A Case Statement for Corporate Sponsors
Part I: Directors’ Reports
President Heidi Sweetnam gave a brief mid-year update. CWAJ ended last year (2024-25) with good financial results. CWAJ was able to purchase a much-needed computer, and we were able to add an additional scholar for 2025. For 2025-26, she asked the board to continue to stay focused on the four goals:
- Increase membership
- Increase brand recognition
- Increase the number of in-person meetings
- Decrease the administrative workload on volunteers
Nominating Committee Chair Stacie Kendall introduced her team: Reiko Nagase, Wako Onodera, Ritsuko Watanabe, Sangita Das, Nadia El Borai Yamamura, and Sandra Lee Godoy. She said they make a great team and are working very hard.
Treasurer Junko Hayashima reported that both the Print Show and the Donations Team were successful last year. She advised that this pace is not sustainable on an annual basis. We must work hard to establish a financial foundation. The Treasurer Team plans to transfer funds to a savings account that earns interest. Assistant Treasurer Tomoko Toda reported that she submitted the documents to the Legal Affairs Bureau to maintain the CWAJ status of a General Incorporated Association –Ippan Shadan Hojin in Japanese. GIA status allows CWAJ to hold corporate bank accounts, to sign contracts as a legal entity, and to apply for the Japan Foundation Designated Donations Program, which enables CWAJ to provide donors with receipts for deductions on Japanese taxes.
This year the Treasurers also formed a special financial planning team.
Parliamentarian Ann Endo reported that the membership will be voting on two constitutional amendments in October. They are housekeeping amendments, including changing “Education” to “Community Service” and deleting some details of membership payments from the Constitution (and moving them to the SP&P). Please look at these sections over the summer.
Director of Member Activities Miyuki Fukuma thanked her team for their support this year, especially the Membership Co-Chair Lorraine Graybill and the Information Meeting Coordinator Jane Baker who were planning to leave Japan in June.
She introduced the new Membership Co-Chair Norma Bartruff and Co-Chair Michiko Mtomura as well as the Information Meeting Coordinator Noriko Tanaka and Overseas Membership Coordinator Sabine Schmitgen who joined online.
She reported that the Membership Renewal will open on August 1. She asked members to please not pay until then. The renewal period will close on September 15, but the grace period will extend until September 30.
We have 19 new members, 11 Japanese and 8 non-Japanese since January this year. The next Information Meeting was scheduled to be held on June 19.
The New Member’s Spring Call was held for Overseas Members.
Director of Scholarship Suz Wilkinson thanked her Co-Chairs Catherine Haskin and Yuka Watanabe for their support. In the past year, they led two working groups that resulted in some updates. The applications have gone online. They are still working on updating essay questions. One concern is the applicant’s apparent increased use of AI and how that impacts the committee members’ evaluations of essays. There have been several in-person gatherings this year for the scholarship committees.
The May 28 General Meeting went well, thanks to the Cultural Programs Team. Co-chairs Catherine and Yuka said they will work with Kristen Hughes to prepare for the 2026 applications. They encouraged members to sign up for the Selection Committee.
Director of Print Show Naoko Yagura introduced her Co-Chairs Anna Said Pullucino, Katherine Long, and Yuko Yoneoka. Akiko Samura and Lindy Kerr advise the Print Show Advisory Committee. The Young Printmaker’s Award Committee Coordinators also worked very hard this year.
The Traveling Print Show was scheduled to held this summer at Highfield Hall, in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
One highlight of 2025 is that the Print Show Committee created a new database system to centrally manage all data within one system. During the pandemic, the Print Show implemented the online exhibition Art Galleria. Since last year, thanks to Kristen Hughes, we have begun using software for sales and inventory, image storage, etc. We have made huge progress. Now all committee members can use Art Galleria with minimal database skills.
To cover rising expenses, the Print Show Committee wants to increase profits. For that, she asked for support by the Joint Extended Board. Anna explained that they hope to raise extra revenue this year from the travelling Print Show and from selling prints and products at the Tokyo American Club holiday bazaar.
It was noted CWAJ has developed a reputation as a source of historical information about contemporary Japanese print makers, as evidenced by recent inquiries from several scholars and authors of books on this topic.
Director of Community Service Carol Iwanaga reported that CWAJ has changed the name from “Education” to “Community Service” because we feel that the new name best reflects what we do. She introduced Co-Chairs Eri Nakase and Nancy Tsurumaki. The FSC Co-Chairs are Michiko Motomura and Fukuko Takahashi. The EOC Co-Chairs are Madeleine Imai and Noriko Kanda.
This is a special year for Community Service since it is the 50th anniversary of VVI. We’ve had one special event: The Life is Climbing event. The stars of the movie attended and held a question-and-answer session. 150 people were at the venue. It was a wonderful event.
We have another VVI Anniversary event, a concert, on November 6, currently under organization by the Cultural Programs team. FSC has an upcoming graduation program. EOC continues with their monthly visits. They do a wonderful job.
Director of Cultural Programs Shigeko Nagaoka introduced the General Meeting Managers: Joan Rodgers Doi and Rina Jiang. Rina said she hopes things on the technical side run smoothly. Joan thanked the Scholarship Committee for all their hard work on General Meetings. She reported attendance at the Zoom meetings has been consistently good with around 90 per meeting.
Joan recommended that CWAJ combine the two systems, Wild Apricot for registration and Square for payment. This would definitely reduce the work load for the Cultural Programs Team. The team has planned a special program for December. The Print Show is working hard for the September program.
Shigeko introduced General Meeting Program Coordinator Ko Iwata. She also reported a good turnout this year. We already have a speaker for January 2026. February is still in the making.
Shigeko introduced Cultural Program Co-Chairs Elizabeth Okada and Mihoshi Smith. The September 17 Noh event includes hands-on costumes, masks, chanting, and a performance. More information will be coming out shortly. Tickets will be available through Peatix soon.
The VVI 50th Aanniversary Charity Concert, a fundraising concert, will be held in a small hall, with seating for 250. We are expecting to fill it. Please attend.
Director of Public Relations Inna Caron reported that her team has worked hard to advertise to external sources and increase attendees at our special events, such as the Life is Climbing event.
Publicity helped create the backdrop that was used at the May GM. Yuko Shimura did a lot of the work and Reiko Oshima received it.
Publicity helped the Kenyan ambassadorial staff attend the May GM. It was the first diplomatic delegation to attend the lunch in many years. Publicity is now focusing on the Osaka EXPO. Publicity is also working on the Noh Event, Print Show, charity VVI 50th Anniversary concert, and December General Meeting. The members of the Publicity Team include Yuko Shimura, Reiko Oshima, Kumiko Aida, and Imen Jebri.
Inna said that in order for Publicity to help you, you might need to help Publicity since they are quite understaffed. To generate revenue, Publicity would like to work more closely with Development to find sponsors to offset charges.
The social media strategy is working. Inna’s plan was to stop doing repeat posts. The numbers for May were good and we are seeing some improvement. We are reaching new accounts. If you have a Facebook, Instagram, and/or LinkedIn account, please follow and like our posts. Every now and then, please share them.
Director of Communications Momoyo Kamimura introduced the Communications Team. There are four teams on Communications: Webmasters: Kyoko Okuda, Sanae Kobayashi, and Ko Iwata; Database Admin: Kristen Hughes; Google Admin: Amy Fujii; and Newsletter Editor: Emily Brown. Kristen works with Momo and trains others. Maki Saeki is her new Japanese partner. Maki said she is new to CWAJ and is learning the system with Kristen. Amy helps proofread. Emily asked everybody to please condense and shorten their content for the eNews.
The Webmasters are always busy. Please send finalized text to the website in both languages. Do not forget the Japanese for the public website. Momo said that the Center Managers asked that when you need someone’s email, please use the Directory.
Director of Development, Kristen Hughes, has two teams: Donations and Development. The Donation Co-Chairs are Misa Yasukawa and Hiroko Ito. They put together the donation packets. Kayo Motoda and Marisa Kellam are the Development Co-Chairs. The Development Team recruited lots of members to help with the IWD event this year.
The donation packets have been sent for this year. Development is looking for new donors and sponsors. Hiroko said that with the donation packets, they gave new options in hopes that some donors might support an event. There has been a steady flow of donations. So far, we have had 68 donations in Japan, including six galleries. More than ¥3,000,000. More than $1,000 USD. ¥325,000 from overseas. People can donate dollars through Stripe in the US. Marisa said that she is excited to help Development.
Google Workspace Project Administrator Amy Fujii was introduced by Heidi Sweetnam. She explained that last year, CWAJ worked with a pro bono organization that advised CWAJ to improve the way in which we pass on information to our successors. At the moment, our documents are scattered across the organization, many of which are held on individual personal computers. The pro bono services recommended that CWAJ set up a central location for our historical and currently in use documents. Keeping all such documents in one place like Google Workspace will make it easier to pass our responsibilities on to our successors.
Hence, after several months of discussion, the Board made a decision to move to Google Workspace. It is a big job to move to Google Workspace. Amy Fujii was appointed to take the lead in making this shift to Google Workspace.
Amy reviewed the most commonly used functions in Google Drive, such as folders, forms, documents, etc. The CWAJ Google Workspace is owned by CWAJ and intended for multiple users. It has the Admin Console feature that can be used to manage user accounts, manage shared drives, set permissions, and more.
The Board decided Extended Board Members will use cwaj.org email addresses and have access to sites where they can store information and announcements. Their committee members can be given permission to access these sites via a link.The Board will designate administrators for Google Workspace. Additional help is needed, especially with Japanese.
Amy presented the following:
- First step: E-mail for Extended Board Members. We currently have cwaj.org email addresses. We will move them all into Google Workspace. This will occur on June 27. There should be no change.
- There will be two types of emails: Google accounts (one address to one person, Board Members, Extended Board Members, and Mission critical volunteers and SIG co-leaders) and Google Groups.
- Google Accounts will be for positions, not individuals. For Co-Chairs, emails would be forwarded to the two.
- Google Groups are for CWAJ email addresses that are used to send one message that reaches multiple people.
- To accomplish this, we will have training. Once you get an email, you can start using the email. You will learn how to use it at the training.
- Training dates are mid-July to mid-August. In-person training at the Center is preferred. Bring devices to the training.
- As people get comfortable with Google Workspace, we will move files over. Amy will work with teams.
- Google sites are also useful. They are like websites for files.
Amy showed an example of a CWAJ Board Google website. It could have board reports and links. Google archives are searchable! It’s easy to pass on email addresses.
Ann Endo asked what happens if Google vanishes. Amy said Google is big enough that we would be notified ahead of time.
Two action items: Please sign-up for training sessions and please start thinking of prepping your documents for transfer.
