MRS. LENA YASUTAKE: TEAMWORK TRANSFORMS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER

If there were a simple term to describe Lena Yasutake it would have to be "powerhouse." A young mother of three small children, a recent graduate of the University of Bridgeport, a young-adult minister, and current chairwoman of WFWP's Connecticut chapter, Lena does not shy away from taking action and being a dynamic and efficacious role model in her community. I sat down with her over some coffee to talk about her experience so far as a WFWP chairwoman.

Emily: I can imagine it was a hard decision to take on the role of chairwoman for WFWP as you're a mother, a full-time student, and a youth minister. What made you decide to take on that position?

Lena: Actually, I didn't feel the need to take it on. What happened was that I went to Korea representing Angelika Selle, president of WFWP USA. She was not able to go, and asked me to go in her place. While I was there, I had an incredible transformation experience: I met our international president, Professor Yeon Ah Moon, who is the most incredibly authentic human being and who has so much passion, and I just felt completely ignited. When I came back to our local community, to my friends around me and the young women in my environment who I love to spend time with, I just shared my experience with them and shared what I thought we might be able to create in our community and the passion that I had. Somebody said, "Okay, I nominate Lena to be the chairwoman!"

Lena (laughing): And I actually have no idea how you become chairwoman, what a chairwomen does specifically. I had a lot of reservations not just because I'm so busy, but personally I'm not very organized. I have ADD. I am not a great administrator. I was just really concerned that I would not do a good job, that I would not acquit the duties well and that I would let my chapter down. And I just shared that very honestly, I said, "Look, I am so passionate and I'm willing to work very hard. I'm willing to work and invest myself, but these are things that are not my strong suits, and these are my concerns." And at that meeting, one by one, people just stepped up for me. "I'll be your events coordinator," "I'll be your secretary," and "I'll be your communications officer," and "I'm going to be your volunteer coordinator."

Lena with WFWP International President Prof. Yeon Ah Moon

You know, you don't have to be perfect; you just have to be who are and bring your passion. That was incredibly moving to me, and I just felt so inspired by them and just really honored to be part of the catalyst that revitalized our chapter.

I later found out that we already have 20 paying members in Connecticut, so it was like opening a treasure box of amazing, experienced older women who were completely ready to get active and share their experiences and participate and create this amazing collaboration between younger women who are just joining and women who have been keeping this chapter alive for decades.

Emily: There have been an unprecedented number of younger women involved in your chapter, most who are students at the University of Bridgeport. Why did you feel it was valuable to get the younger generation involved?

Lena at black-tie benefit for WFWP Schools of Africa

Lena: I really felt that it was incredibly valuable to have a younger voice, not to replace or to do "better" than the work that has been done before; but just to invite that perspective into the conversation at the table. Things have been changing so rapidly now. Communication has been transformed by smartphones and social media. The whole culture and language of a generation is so different than the generation before it. I thought that having that perspective is an asset to our chapter and would completely transform it.

I also saw a chance for myself to create an opportunity to gain real-life leadership skills, to build up our resumes, to make a lasting impact on the world. It really inspired me, and I got so much from that. And I really wanted the amazing women I was working with to have that experience. The energy that comes from investing in something that is actually making a difference is incredibly rewarding.

Emily: There were also a lot of local businesses that have been contributing to WFWP specifically to benefit the Schools of Africa Project. Was it a challenge to get them involved with WFWP?

Christoph & Lena Yasutake

Lena: It was actually so easy getting them involved! I feel like within the existing community, people who are already familiar with WFWP, a lot of them are already associated with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. There is kind of like an attitude of "Oh, I know what WFWP is, I know what that's about." But actually, a lot of times people aren't aware of a lot of the big things that Women's Fed is up to. When you introduce someone to WFWP for the first time and they have no concept of what it is or no point of reference, and you just introduce them in a totally sincere way – like for instance when you find a product that you absolutely love or when you find a sale that is 70 percent off and you say, "Oh my God, go to Old Navy right now!" It's just kind of a natural sharing that happens. I found myself sharing that in the place where I get my coffee, places where I take my kids after school. People were so inspired. They were connected instantly, and they said, "Okay, you got me. What do I do?" and that just surprised me, people were really excited and were asking me how to participate.

I had this one experience where I gave myself a personal challenge to get 14 new members to join WFWP. It was late at night and the challenge was expiring, and I thought, "Okay, I have to get one more person." So I called up a friend I haven't spoken to in a while. She is someone I met through my husband's job, a work colleague of his, and a musician and an incredibly amazing woman, and I just called her up and said, "Hey, I'm a part of this really cool group." I explained to her what WFWP is and what we were up to nationally and internationally. Her response was "YES! Thank you so much for inviting me!"

When I tell people, who have never heard of WFWP before, about WFWP or when I invite them, with people who have a completely fresh perspective, who are not looking at it through any kind of filter, but are just seeing WFWP and what WFWP has accomplished in the last 20 years, it's amazing. I think that when you are a little familiar with WFWP, you can forget how awesome it really is. Every time I share about WFWP, I get re-inspired, "Oh my gosh, this is what we are up to! It is really amazing!"

Lena at home

I live in Bridgeport. One of the places I eat is Leisha's Bakeria. Leisha is someone I met through the school where I teach. Her son and daughter used to be my students but have graduated now. Leisha always had a dream of starting her own business, and so she just started this incredibly beautiful place downtown. I was so excited to go and check it out for myself. When I got there I thought to myself, "Wow! This is such a great space and great food!"

I started sharing with her about WFWP, and she got really inspired and said, "Hey, you can totally have your meetings here!" So we had our meeting there, and she catered it at a super-reduced rate as her way of contributing to WFWP. She then donated trays of food for our Schools of Africa benefit and has been a consistent partner and has always been inspired with what WFWP is doing. After each event and each experience that we have where we are able to collaborate, she thanks me. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much, this has been so wonderful!" or "This has been so much fun for me!" or "I was thinking about new recipes to make for you guys, and they have been so popular!"

So it's just amazing to me that actually participating in WFWP is so rewarding for people and it's such an opportunity for them. The same thing happened when I met a friend of mine, who was with her friend, a graphic designer I had never met. She lives in New Jersey after graduating from the University of Bridgeport. I just started naturally sharing with her about what I do and she immediately wanted to help. And I let her know we can definitely use her wonderful graphic designing skills! She then gave me her number and told me to call her anytime. She designed these beautiful nametags for the members of our chapter. And again her response was, "Thank you so much! This was such a great opportunity for me!"

Lena relaxing with their children

Not only is it so easy to find people, they get so much out of participating. My commitment as a chairwoman is to make sure that everyone who participates does so in a way that honors their availability, so it wouldn't be a drain on their time – for each person to find a way that she is inspired to participate, whether it is just two hours a month, it doesn't matter. Each person's passion, everyone's talents, and their areas of expertise are so diverse. Because we are all collaborating – some are full-time students, others are full-time professionals. But no one person has to invest hours and hours. We can create amazing things together that will honor each one's time and passion.

Emily: In the past year, you facilitated many events with WFWP, from being the emcee at the annual National Assembly to facilitating the Schools of Africa black-tie benefit. What have you learned or what were some challenges that you had to face with these projects?

Emcee Lena at 22nd National Assembly

Lena: I feel as though the perception I had of myself has really changed. I definitely did not see myself as a big person before accepting this position. Before President Selle gave me the opportunity to travel to Korea, where I literally met world leaders, before that experience I didn't see myself as worthy or capable of doing anything like that. WFWP has allowed me to see myself transform on a completely new level. I feel nothing is out of my reach now. I feel free to make completely unreasonable requests of anybody at the highest level – because it isn't just about me anymore. It's me who is a part of the incredible organization that is already operating at the highest level.

I feel as though that is the opportunity that WFWP creates for every woman, no matter what her level of education or her professional background, or how many kids she has or how old she is. WFWP creates an opportunity for you to see yourself as a leader. And you are a leader in whichever way you want to create. The thing that I have been able to do in this past year with WFWP is something that I never would have imagined, even participating on that level.

I feel as though WFWP not only has given me the opportunity to do that, but especially that President Selle has really fostered leadership skills in me, and she has really helped me to see myself as someone who is capable and someone who is able to contribute. I don't have to be perfect; I don't have to be different than how I am. Just the way I am, I have someone valuable to add to the conversation. That is one of the main reasons I am so passionate about creating a team. I really want to share that experience with every woman in our chapter. And as I mentioned, for the Schools of Africa benefit, we had so many volunteers. There was an incredibly large and committed team made up of older and younger women; and then all the volunteers that they enrolled. We were able to pull off something completely amazing. It was totally possible with the foundation of the women before us who held this event every year, even without a chairwoman. There were already amazing relationships in place with local businesses. We were just able to expand that and take it to the next level. So again, I see myself as just a facilitator for this amazing group of women.