Chip Hayashi joined the JAMsj Board of Directors in December 2021. Chip is the Marketing Team Program Manager, Public Programs Co-Director, and JAMsj Young Professionals Network (YPN) leadership team member. In addition to his tech knowledge, Chip also has great people skills and a wonderful sense of humor.
Chip with his family
Q. You are a new volunteer at the museum. What motivated you to volunteer now? We know that you just had a child!
A. The recent highlight on "Stop Asian Hate" was a strong motivator for me to join JAMsj. I've been an active volunteer dating back to my high school days, but never looked into how I can specifically give back to our Japanese American community. One day I stumbled upon the museum's Instagram post (funny how social media works nowadays) and from there I simply contacted Michael (Sera, JAMsj President).
I'll also admit that having a child (the term "pandemic baby" seems to be catching on) is very time-consuming, but I think volunteering at JAMsj is one step towards creating a community and future that matters for our kiddo.
Q. You have so many amazing skills! In a year you have taken volunteer photos at volunteer day, coordinated the marketing team into a finely oiled machine, worked with the NCI intern on data analysis, and much more. What project have you enjoyed working on the most so far?
A. "Amazing" is too much praise! I'm fortunate that the museum volunteers and Board feel comfortable with me participating in the various workstreams. The honest answer is that ALL projects have been really fun and engaging for different reasons. Marketing drives museum visibility both in-person and via our social platforms. Working with interns/students is my passion away from work, and meeting the other JAMsj volunteers have been awesome.
Q. You've been so active at the museum. But a good volunteer experience also involves you learning something new. What has volunteering at the museum taught you?
A. Volunteering at the museum has been an incredible opportunity for me to get to know others that support the Japanese American and AAPI communities. This may sound obvious, but nonprofits such as JAMsj really do run 100% on their volunteers! Seeing the dedication from everyone has taught me that I can always do more to give back to our communities. There's always more work to be done, and that's great.
Q. You were recently featured with 4 other volunteers as the new leaders of YPN- the Young Professional Network of the museum. What can you share about the plans for this group and your role in it?
A. YPN is another passion point and I'm grateful the museum let me take part in leading the group. Shout out to the 2022 Leads group! Adena Ishii, Julia Zimring, and Miranda Aochi!
We're looking to expand from last year's strong leadership. This year the focus will be connecting and empowering emerging leaders through social and professional career-building opportunities! Our values are around inclusivity, equity, and respect for the Japanese American and AAPI community, so please join us if interested! (You can connect directly to YPN at YPN@jamsj.org)
Q. In the museum Facebook post about YPN (Please join the Japanese American Museum of San Jose Facebook group to meet the YPN leads) you listed your hobbies as photography, sneakers, and food. What are your top 5 favorite foods? And please share a photo of your sneakers, as many sneakers as you can fit in one photo. We heard that you own more than 200!
From Chip’s collection of sneakers
A. Top five favorite foods, easy. Ramen, Ramen, Ramen, Ramen, and Ramen. All jokes aside, I'd likely go with, in order, ramen, ice cream, kimchi soup, tenzaru soba, and unaju. Yeah, ice cream.
I, unfortunately, can't fit all my sneakers into one photo so I've included a photo of two pairs that draw strong influences from Japan. One has sashiko stitching (or at least inspired sashiko construction) while the other pair on the right includes Japanese lettering "Air Jordan" in Japanese and a koi fish-scale pattern on the white mudguard area. My only other fun fact about sneaker collecting is being featured in the Wall Street Journal article about collectors. I can talk about sneakers for hours...and that's embarrassing so I'll stop here.
By Lynda Gomi
Interested in writing for the JAMsj blog? Contact PublicPrograms@jamsj.org