2020 JETAA National Conference

The 2020 JETAA National Conference was the first to be held completely virtually via Zoom and featured the theme of cross chapter collaboration. The three JETAA USA Country Representatives– Faye Valtadoros, Daniel Lowe, and Adam Ledyard – organized the event with technical support from USJETAA who provided the zoom platform to host the sessions. JETAA USA is a sister organization to USJETAA with three elected country representatives who support the JETAA chapters and represent the United States with JETAA International. The keynote address was sponsored by Sasakawa USA and the rest of the event was sponsored by CLAIR.The conference took place November 17 – 19 and December 4 – 6 and focused on sessions that emphasized collaboration and the use of digital tools. With the unique situation in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital events and content have gained a prominent role in JETAA chapters and so became a key focus of the conference. Participants joined the conference from all 19 US JETAA chapters, the new chapter in Guam, and from Canada, including the Canada Country Representative. Staff from JLGC, New York, Minister-Counselor Masashi Mizobuchi, Director of the Japan Information Center, and Mr. Kotaro Oe, Education Attache, from the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, and Bahia Simons-Lane, Executive Director of USJETAA also joined the conference. JETAA National Conferences always focus on the details of running a volunteer chapter, planning activities, grants, and other day-to-day operational issues. It is a great chance for chapters to share their events, concerns, etc. with other chapters. Chapter leaders brainstorm ideas and work together to make JETAA better and more robust. Although it looked different in 2020, there were still great conversations, presentations, and sharing of ideas.This conference kicked off with keynote speaker, Karen Kelley, the former Consul General for the US Consulate in Osaka-Kobe and current Special Advisor for Recruitment, Retention, Diversity and Inclusion, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. Karen spoke on the theme of  “Japan today” to give the chapter leaders (many of whom do not work in Japan related fields) context for the work they are doing in grassroots U.S.-Japan relations. JET alumni are often ambassadors for the Japan that existed for them, rather than the country that exists now. Karen brought the necessary context to the importance of JET alumni continuing to engage with Japan and why alumni should stay abreast of what is going on in Japan and with the U.S-Japan alliance. Check out Karen’s full keynote speech here: https://youtu.be/0LJlbQxutyM 

Other guest speakers included Mayumi Shimotori, Deputy Director of CLAIR; Masashi Mizobuchi, Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs and Director of the Japan Information and Culture Center at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.; Kotaro Oe, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan; Paige Cottingham-Streater, Co-Founder and board chair of USJETAA; Bahia Simons-Lane, Executive Director of USJETAA; Country Representatives and chapter leaders. The conference was held over six nights with the first block of each night mainly featuring presentations on national issues, and the second block featuring presentation on chapter activities. Each session was held from 6:00 to 9:00PM or 8:00 to 10:00PM EST, depending on the evening. In addition to sessions led by USJETAA chapter leaders and guest speakers, there were also a number of breakout sessions and activities to build relationships between chapter leaders and to foster collaboration across chapters. The conference finished with a virtual CLAIR reception and comments made by Oe Kotaro and Yamatoya Miwa from the Japanese Embassy, Faye Valtadoros, and Ms. Shimotori.Each chapter was asked to send two official delegates to attend, as is the standard for most past conferences. In 2020, general and international attendees were also welcome. With this change, the number of attendees at the conference greatly increased from past years. The 2020 National conference was able to reach a record number of JET alumni leaders across the nation and even some located outside the United States due to the virtual format and the ability to record the conference sessions.[easy-image-collage id=6188]The full schedule for the entire event is below: 2020 NatCon AgendaDay 1

• Opening Remarks
• Delegate Introductions - One delegate for each U.S. Chapter introduced the chapter and all attendees representing that chapter.
• Welcome Remarks -  CLAIR Executive Director Mayumi Shimotori, Mr. Masashi Mizobuchi, Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs and Director of the Japan Information and Culture Center at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.
•  Keynote Address - Karen Kelley, Special Advisor for Recruitment, Retention, Diversity and Inclusion, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. Former Consul General for the U.S. Consulate

Day 2

• Cross Collaboration Discussion
• JETAAUSA Bylaws - Matthew Gillam
• Keynote Address - Karen Kelley, Special Advisor for Recruitment, Retention, Diversity and Inclusion, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. Former Consul General for the U.S. Consulate

Day 3

• CLAIRification of GiA Report Process - Kazuki Matsuo
• Putting the “You” in USJETAA - Bahia Simmons-Lane, Executive Director, USJETAA;  Paige Cottingham-Streater, Chair, USJETAA
• JETAA Canada Update - Matt Kaiser, Canadian JETAA Country Rep.

Day 4

• Virtual Activities for a Virtual World - Faye Valtadoros (JETAAUSA), Andy McCarthy (JETAA Texoma), Akiyo Horiguchi (JETAANC), Ryan Hata (JETAANY)
• Excelling at Project Management - Megan Deville (JETAA Mid-South), Jennifer Tucker (JETAA Texoma)

Day 5

• Career Development Over Zoom - Jessica Record (PNWJETAA), Bahia Simons-Lane (USJETAA)
• Developing a Strong Leadership Team from a Distance - Gabriel Coronado (JETAA Chicago), Melissa Golden (JETAANC)
• JETAA International Update - Nathalie Ng (JETAA-I)
• Breakout Rooms - Project Management Discussion, Virtual Activity Discussion, Career Development Discussion, Leadership from a Distance Discussion, Tohoku Discussion, Social Rooms

Day 6

• Best Practices from HR – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - Zara Espinosa (JETAA Chicago)
• Organizing Japanese Language Classes - Valerie Stewart (JETAASE), Giuseppe “Joe” Di Martino (JETAANY)
• Tech Tips and Utilizing Tech Effectively for Collaboration - Tyler Blaz (JETAA Chicago), Adam Ledyard (JETAAUSA)
• Closing Remarks - Faye Valtadoros (JETAAUSA)
• CLAIR Reception