The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 79 AFSA NEWS Tomoko Morinaga Joins AFSA as Membership Operations Coordinator Tomoko Morinaga, AFSA’s new membership opera- tions coordinator, was born and raised in Tokyo, not too far from the U.S. embassy there. When she was 13 years old, Tomoko and her mother visited her mother’s child- hood friend in Southern California. Although she could not communicate in English, her week in Califor- nia changed her vision for the future. Tomoko decided to travel to the United States to study. She enrolled in Elmira College in New York as an exchange student and decided to stay to earn a bachelor’s degree in com- munications. She then pursued a graduate degree in communications at Cor- nell University and moved to Washington, D.C., to earn an MBA in international busi- ness at American University. Tomoko worked for the Bank of Tokyo–Mitsubishi as a research analyst. In that job, she enjoyed going to congressional hearings and writing reports. She worked for 16 years for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she managed membership infor- mation, payments and data analytics, as well as vendors. She looks forward to assist- ing AFSA members. Tomoko enjoys swim- ming, walking, yoga, jazz and classical music. She is a life member of the Cornell University Council and is involved with several Cornell alumni groups. She is also a board member of American University’s Asian Pacific Islanders Alumni Network. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. n Tomoko Morinaga As the main contributor to diversity in the department, these programs are too important to be potentially derailed by these unprec- edented times. State VP Continued from p. 68 Please let us know at member@afsa.org what you think should be done to pro- mote diversity and inclusion in our Service. n