All my life, I have actively advocated for people with disabilities as an educator, a peer facilitator in inclusion classes growing up in Japan, and as the parent of children with special needs for their appropriate services in California. I have passionately navigated educational inequities in the system from their birth through post-graduation as a single parent and as a first-generation Japanese American immigrant. When my older son was first diagnosed with Autism, I was a young ESL learner with no background in education, yet I was determined to address various types of barriers in order to advocate for appropriate services for my own children. Overcoming every challenge I faced raising them as an ESL single parent endowed me with perseverance and unique insights concerning family perspectives and needs, which I found essential in partnering with my students’ families when I became a teacher later on. All of these experiences helped me foster compassion as well as nurture an appreciation for diversity, all of which have infused my teaching strategies with cultural humility throughout my professional career. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with vulnerabilities can develop to their full potential, which has been the biggest inspiration in my teaching career and in pursuing higher education. Both of my children grew up tri-lingually in Japanese, Chinese, and English and they also watched me evolve to a better version of myself through trial and error in order to balance my own education, full-time work and parenthood with determination. My younger son entered kindergarten when I went back to school. Throughout their childhood, my boys witnessed how I continued to grow as we strived to improve our lives by working together, where it was cooking a healthy dinner with vegetables organically grown in our yard, completing our homework, or resolving challenges we faced collaboratively, which nurtured their own compassion and perseverance. My older son with Autism is evolving to be a happier citizen who now works his dream job at a Trader Joe’s store. My younger son who has his own learning differences has been determined to keep polishing his Japanese through his beloved anime episodes since he was in preschool without me forcing him to. He was so passionate about the artform that he founded the first inclusive anime club in his high school when he was a freshman and has since served as a cultural ambassador for his diverse community. He is planning on applying to scholarships to pay for his own college education. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from SFSU with a GPA of 3.91 and plan to continue my education to pursue an EdD in Education Leadership. What I hope to achieve by pursuing the degree is to improve learning opportunities in urban school settings and to address disparities that affect historically underserved groups. To start participating in the program in the fall of 2023, I made a decision to switch to teaching part-time which is a short-term sacrifice to pursue my dream to make a transformative change in the education system. With both my younger son and myself being in college this fall, the scholarship would make a significant difference in paying for tuition and other expenses. I believe that witnessing me keep improving myself with determination will also inspire my children to perservere with their own dreams. Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the scholarship. An awarded grant would be both an honor and a step towards a better education system.

All my life, I have actively advocated for people with disabilities as an educator, a peer facilitator in inclusion classes growing up in Japan and as the parent of children with special needs for their appropriate services in California. I have passionately navigated educational inequities in the system from their birth through post-graduation as a single parent and as a first-generation Japanese American immigrant. When my older son was first diagnosed with Autism, I was a young ESL learner with no background in education, yet, I had always been searching for ways to conduct, interpret, and creatively apply research to address different barriers to learning in order to advocate for appropriate education for my own children. Overcoming every challenge I faced raising them as an ESL single parent endowed me with perseverance and unique insights concerning family priorities, perspectives, and needs of families which I found essential in partnering and collaborating with my students’ families when I became a teacher later on. All of these experiences helped me foster compassion as well as nurture an appreciation for diversity, all of which have infused my teaching strategies with cultural humility throughout my professional career. They have also become the foundation for my lifelong commitment to equity as a leader in the evolving Special Education field. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with disabilities or vulnerabilities can develop to their full potential (both my own children and all the students I have had the privilege to serve as a teacher) they have been the biggest inspiration in my teaching career and pursuing higher education in the field of special education. Over the last 10 years, I have worked in a variety of teaching positions with increasing leadership responsibilities in urban schools that serve traditionally underrepresented groups. I have come to realize that to address inequity within the school district’s Early Intervention system, I need to identify practices, structures, and policies that create barriers to learning for preschoolers within the community and eliminate those barriers for students with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. That is why I decided to pursue EdD in Education Leadership. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from San Francisco State University with a GPA of 3.91 and plan to continue my education to pursue EdD in Education Leadership. I have been admitted as a graduate student in Education Leadership within USC’s Rossier School of Education for Fall 2023. What I hope to achieve by completing the EdD program in Education Leadership is to improve learning opportunities and outcomes in urban school settings and to address disparities that affect historically underserved groups by demonstrating values that reflect individual and cultural differences to create educational policies and programs that work for all learners as well as all involved in my organization. To start participating in the EdD program in the fall of 2023, I made a decision to switch to teaching part-time which is a short-term sacrifice to pursue my dream to make a transformative change in the education system locally, nationally, and globally. With both my younger son and myself being in college this fall, the scholarship would make a significant difference in paying for tuition, books, and other expenses. Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the scholarship. An awarded grant would be both an honor and a step towards a better education system.

I am a first-generation immigrant from Japan who teaches full-time while raising two children with special needs as a single parent in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through my personal experience raising both of my children tri-lingually in Japanese, Chinese, and English, I have learned the importance of communicating with them in the native language and culture of their parents to nurture their healthy development in a multicultural home. While many of the specialists who worked with my son with Autism recommended 25 years ago that I only speak English with him so as not to confuse or delay his speech, I followed my instinct as a bi-lingual parent and decided to raise him and his younger brother in a fully multilingual household instead. APPI culture, including my own Japanese heritage, means harmony, peace, and giving back to the community. My parents and grandparents in Japan raised me to be respectful and compassionate. I raised my own children in my mother tongue because I am the best version of myself when I communicate in Japanese. Naturally, my children will feel loved and respected when their mom is positive and empathic. My older son with special needs grew up to be a very articulate, happy, and productive citizen who now works at a Trader Joe’s store in his caring community. My younger son who has his own learning differences has been determined to keep polishing his Japanese through his beloved anime and manga since he was in preschool although I never forced him to. He was so passionate about them to the point that he founded the first anime club in his high school when he was a freshman and has since served as an ambassador of Asian cultures in his diverse community. After learning the significance of nurturing the native languages and cultures of young children personally, I pursued and completed a Masters's degree in special education with an emphasis on cultural diversity. Throughout my professional career, I have always been involved in dual language acquisition (in Asian languages and English) in collaboration with Speech and Language Pathologists as well as assessing young students who are bi-lingual in Japanese and English at a diagnostic center. Over the last 10 years, I have worked in a variety of teaching positions with increasing leadership responsibilities. I currently serve as an Education Specialist in one of the most diverse school districts in the nation where I find practicing cultural humility essential in serving students and families. In my goal of helping transform an under-serving special education system, I am continuing on to a doctoral degree which will help me grow into a leader who can create solutions to barriers to learning in an ever-changing education landscape, locally and nationally. I have always been searching for ways to apply research to address educational inequity professionally as an educator, as well as personally as a parent advocate for my own children with neurodiversity from their birth through adulthood. I have found purpose and joy through lifelong learning and commitment to the field of education and language development. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with disabilities from all backgrounds can develop to their full potential. What I hope to gain through pursuing a doctoral degree in Education with an emphasis on dual language acquisition is the opportunity to research culturally inclusive, family-centered service models for preschool students and their families from diverse backgrounds. I would like to make a transformative change based on the resulting evidence in an effort to improve the learning outcomes of all students by delivering more evolved services. My long-term goal is to design and implement culturally inclusive and family-centered early intervention systems in parts of the world where there are no quality early interventions currently in place. This scholarship would significantly help with the tuition costs involved in my pursuing a doctoral degree this year while I continue working to support my family.

All my life, I have actively advocated for people with disabilities as an educator, a peer facilitator in inclusion classes growing up in Japan, and as the parent of children with special needs for their appropriate services in California. I have passionately navigated educational inequities in the system from their birth through post-graduation as a single parent and as a first-generation Japanese American immigrant. When my older son was first diagnosed with Autism, I was a young ESL learner with no background in education, yet I was determined to search for ways to conduct and creatively apply research to address educational inequity which led me to pursue higher education. Overcoming every challenge by trial and error as a parent endowed me with perseverance and unique insights concerning family priorities and perspectives which I found essential in partnering and collaborating with my students’ families when I became a teacher later on. These experiences helped me foster compassion as well as nurture an appreciation for diversity, all of which have infused my teaching strategies with cultural humility throughout my professional career. They have also become the foundation for my lifelong commitment to equity as a leader in the evolving Special Education field. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with disabilities or vulnerabilities can develop to their full potential. My children and all the students I have had the privilege to serve have been the biggest inspiration in overcoming my hardship and pursuit of higher education in the field of special education. Over the last 10 years, I have worked in a variety of teaching positions with increasing leadership responsibilities in urban schools that serve traditionally underrepresented groups. I have come to realize that to address inequity within the school district’s Early Intervention system, I need to identify practices, structures, and policies that create barriers to lea ing for preschoolers within the community and eliminate those barriers for students with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. That is why I decided to pursue EdD in Education Leadership. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from San Francisco State University with a GPA of 3.91 funded through a full scholarship by the Blind Baby Foundation and plan to continue my education to pursue an EdD in Education Leadership. I have been admitted as a graduate student in the EdD program within USC’s Rossier School of Education for Fall 2023. What I hope to achieve by completing the EdD program is to improve learning opportunities and outcomes in urban school settings and to address disparities that affect historically underserved groups by demonstrating values that reflect individual and cultural differences to create educational policies and programs that work for all learners as well as all involved in my organization. To start participating in the EdD program in the fall of 2023, I made a decision to switch to teaching part-time which is a short-term sacrifice to pursue my dream to make a transformative change in the education system locally, nationally, and globally. With both my younger son and myself being in college this fall, the scholarship would make a significant difference in paying for tuition, books, and other expenses. Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the scholarship. An awarded grant would be both an honor and a step towards a better education system.

All my life, I have actively advocated for people with disabilities as an educator, a peer facilitator in inclusion classes growing up in Japan, and as the parent of children with special needs for their appropriate services in California. I have passionately navigated educational inequities in the system from their birth through post-graduation as a single parent and as a first-generation Japanese American immigrant. When my older son was first diagnosed with Autism, I was a young ESL learner with no background in education, yet, I had always been searching for ways to conduct, interpret, and creatively apply research to address educational inequity in order to advocate for appropriate education for my own children. Overcoming every challenge I faced raising them as a single parent endowed me with perseverance and unique insights concerning family priorities, perspectives, and needs of families which I found essential in partnering and collaborating with my students’ families when I became a teacher later on. All of these experiences helped me foster compassion as well as nurture an appreciation for diversity, all of which have infused my teaching strategies with cultural humility throughout my professional career. They have also become the foundation for my lifelong commitment to equity as a leader in the evolving Special Education field. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with disabilities or vulnerabilities can develop to their full potential. My children and all the students I have had the privilege to serve have been the biggest inspiration in my teaching career and pursuit of higher education in the field of special education. Over the last 10 years, I have worked in a variety of teaching positions with increasing leadership responsibilities in urban schools that serve traditionally underrepresented groups. I have come to realize that to address inequity within the school district’s Early Intervention system, I need to identify practices, structures, and policies that create barriers to learning for preschoolers within the community and eliminate those barriers for students with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. That is why I decided to pursue EdD in Education Leadership. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from San Francisco State University with a GPA of 3.91 and plan to continue my education to pursue EdD in Education Leadership. I have been admitted as a graduate student in Education Leadership within USC’s Rossier School of Education for Fall 2023. What I hope to achieve by completing the EdD program in Education Leadership is to improve learning opportunities and outcomes in urban school settings and to address disparities that affect historically underserved groups by demonstrating values that reflect individual and cultural differences to create educational policies and programs that work for all learners as well as all involved in my organization. To start participating in the EdD program in the fall of 2023, I made a decision to switch to teaching part-time which is a short-term sacrifice to pursue my dream to make a transformative change in the education system locally, nationally, and globally. With both my younger son and myself being in college this fall, the scholarship would make a significant difference in paying for tuition, books, and other expenses. Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the scholarship. An awarded grant would be both an honor and a step towards a better education system.

I am a first-generation immigrant who teaches full-time as an education specialist while raising two children with special needs as a single parent in the San Francisco Bay Area. This scholarship would significantly help with the tuition costs involved in my pursuing a doctoral degree in Education this year while I continue working to support my family. All my life, I have actively advocated for people with disabilities as a teacher in special education programs. In my goal of helping transform an under-serving special education system, I have graduated from two master's programs and am continuing on to a doctoral degree which will help me grow into an education leader who can create solutions to barriers to learning. I have always been searching for ways to conduct, interpret, and creatively apply research to address educational inequity professionally as an educator, as well as personally as a parent advocate for my own children with neurodiversity from their birth through adulthood. I have found purpose and joy through lifelong learning and commitment to the field of special education. What drives me every day is my passion for transforming the world into a more inclusive place so that every child born with disabilities or vulnerabilities can develop to their full potential. Over the last 10 years, I have worked in a variety of teaching positions with increasing leadership responsibilities. Within the school district where I currently serve as an Education Specialist in their early childhood special education program, I have identified specific limitations of the newly introduced classroom-based early intervention model to serve preschool students with disabilities and their families. I have found this particular issue to be of critical importance. What I hope to gain through pursuing a doctoral degree in Education is the opportunity to research culturally inclusive, family-centered service models for preschool students with disabilities and their families from diverse backgrounds. I would like to be able to make a transformative change based on the resulting evidence in an effort to improve the social and academic learning outcomes of all students by delivering more evolved services. My long-term goal is to design and implement culturally inclusive and family-centered early intervention systems in parts of the world where there are no quality early interventions currently in place and improve the learning of young children with disabilities from all backgrounds. Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the scholarship. An awarded grant would be both an honor and a step towards a better education system.