Join USJETAA to learn how JET Alumni Chapters go through the 501c3 process. Our speakers will go over the pros and cons to obtaining 501c3 status, provide key recommendations for things to prepare in advance, and discuss any lessons they learned along the way.

SPEAKERS

Brenda McKinney (Hyogo, 2006-2009) was most recently the president of JETAANY. From 2009 to the present, she has also been involved with JETAA chapters in New England, Chicago, DC, Dunedin (New Zealand), and New York, serving on the JETAA exec / boards in DC, New Zealand and NY. As a JET, she was actively involved with both the Hyogo AJET 2006-2009, and the National AJET 2008-2009. She is also an alum of Americorps and Fulbright. She currently works as a lawyer in NYC.

Lauren Sorondo was an ALT in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture from 2012-2014. She has held the JETAA leadership positions of Florida JETAA Webmaster from 2015-2017 and Florida JETAA President from 2017-2019. She also worked as the JET Program Coordinator at the CGJ-Miami from 2015-2019. She is currently a nursing student at the University of Florida.

Joy Champaloux (Wakayama, 2009-2012) served five terms on the board of JETAADC from 2013-2018. As President, she led the chapter’s efforts to formally establish its 501(c)(3) status in 2016. Joy currently works as a Program Officer at Sasakawa USA, where she manages the mini-grant program for JETAA chapters in partnership with USJETAA. She also serves on the JET application review and interview committees in Washington, D.C. She currently works for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA.

Moderator: Bahia Simons-Lane (Gunma, 2005-2007) is the Executive Director of USJETAA. She was the president of Florida JETAA for 5.5 years and has also served as newsletter editor for Florida JETAA, newsletter editor for Gunma AJET, and Tone Region Rep for Gunma AJET.