I am 55 years old and can finally say I found my life’s calling--work I never imagined possible because it never existed before.

In college I studied chemical engineering and after graduation I worked as a bio-medical research engineer—interesting and useful, but it just didn’t keep me excited. So I traveled awhile, went back to school to get my MBA and, again, responsibly prepared for a good career. I landed a great corporate finance job and learned a lot about what works and doesn’t work in large corporations, but, again, felt restless for something more. My great career quickly became just another job.

So after some soul searching (and to the dismay of my parents and the raised eyebrows of my friends), I left my comfortable corporate job and followed an interest of mine—personal computers.  In the early 80s I began producing computer shows, the largest in the Pacific Northwest. Working without the safety net of a big company, I quickly worked myself into a deep financial hole and wiped out my personal savings.  Financially it looked so bleak that at my last computer show my mother brought her checkbook thinking that I wouldn’t have any money to pay the bills.

But I survived.  And with my experience of putting on computer shows, I landed a job at Microsoft to produce an industry event for the brand new CD-ROM technology.  This began a seven year period at Microsoft where I worked on multimedia titles like an encyclopedia, dictionary, travel guide, atlas and medical guide.  As time went on our group grew and I became less involved with product development and more involved in management, meetings, traveling, budgets, and negotiating. Again, this great career became work.

Before fully vesting in my stock options, (and again to the dismay of my parents and the raised eyebrows of my friends), I left Microsoft.  For the next two years I drove carpools, volunteered in my kids’ schools, coached sports, did the laundry, cooked meals and took long family trips.  Life was interesting and busy, but, again, something was missing.

I heard about a Japanese American oral history project. I’d heard a little bit about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans from my parents, read about it in school, but had never dug deep into the struggles and sacrifices of the people involved. But after my first interview with a Japanese American elder, I realized I had never understood what happened to my parents, grandparents, and community.

Each interview revealed stories that had never been shared and I saw people rediscover deep-rooted pain never-before revealed. My commitment to share these untold stories and to teach people about this injustice grew. In 1996 I helped found Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project so these stories would live and help guide our future.

Today, through our website, teachers and students around the world learn about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans from the stories of those who lived it. We share over 1,000 hours of transcribed, indexed video testimonies and over 10,000 historic photos and documents. We’ve created an innovative, growing technology platform to document and share the stories of a community that we now share with other communities.

Perhaps it was luck that by following my passions I discovered a life commitment to education, Japanese American heritage, social justice, community, and technology; and that these passions are all aligned with the work I do at Densho.  Who would have thought, after all the starts and stops, I finally found my calling--the work I will do for the rest of my life!