2017 Silver SPUR Awards: How Steve Nakajo Champions San Francisco’s Japanese Community

 

The 2017 Silver SPUR Awards, held on November 29, recognized individuals whose achievements have made San Francisco and the Bay Area a better place to live and work.

Steve Nakajo is a celebrated civic leader and longtime champion of San Francisco’s Japanese American community. In 1971, he co-founded (with Sandy Mori) Kimochi, Inc., a highly successful community-based nonprofit, to bring social services to non-English-speaking seniors of Japantown, and served as executive director until his retirement in 2016. A longtime instructor in the Asian American Studies and MSW programs at San Francisco State University, Nakajo served on the the City’s Fire Commission for 20 years as well as the Arts Commission. In 2016, Nakajo received the Japan Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Japan Consul General in San Francisco, which recognizes esteemed individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in promoting relations between Japan and other countries.

 

2017 Silver SPUR Awards: Steve Nakajo from SPUR on Vimeo.

Learn about our other 2017 winners:

How Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Is Transforming Response to Early Childhood Adversity

How Abdi Soltani Fights for Californians' Civil Rights

How Bonnie Fisher and Boris Dramov Transform Cities With Urban Design