President: Gretchen Clark

I’ve been a member of the officer committee off and on since 2009 and this is my second year running for President. This past year, I worked closely with the former Program Chair shaping the public face of the chapter to be welcoming to anyone and everyone. In addition to our programming, our committee kept Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) issues at the forefront of everything we did from curating our social media presence, to crafting newsletters, to offering opportunities to members to participate through the ‘Member Spotlight’ program and funding the unvetted present scholarship. The Social Justice + Language Teaching Working Group is also still meeting periodically providing JALT members across the country with a venue to talk about these issues and make changes in their own contexts. As president this year, I will continue to support these initiatives and DEI because I feel JALT is for any language teacher in Japan. I believe I can use my position as president to make our corner of JALT a welcoming one, one where people always belong. Please consider electing me to continue as president and come out and say hello at an upcoming in person event. I would love to meet and get to know you!

Vice President / Membership chair: Thomas Amundrud

I’ve been a Kyoto chapter officer since 2008. This is my second year running for Membership Chair the second time around. As we shift to more in-person events, I look forward to seeing more current and prospective members at our events, and helping you take care of any issues you may have concerning your JALT membership. Thanks for being a part of the chapter, and I appreciate your support.

Treasurer: Martin Hawkes

I have been an officer with Kyoto since 2010, and, during most of that time, I have been the chapter’s treasurer. With the pandemic, our finances have become somewhat more constrained, but we hope to be able to continue to organise stimulating events which our members find useful for their professional lives. It is my job to ensure that the chapter remains on a sound financial footing. Thank you for your continuing support.

Programming chair: Christina Coslian

Having been the outreach chair and member of Kyoto JALT since 2020, I have been looking forward to a return to in person events while maintaining the vivid online atmosphere we have created these last two years. I am hoping to step into the position of Programming Chair to help plan and organize events that are relatable and beneficial to all our members, while offering support to those who want to take a more active role in our chapter. Thank you for your encouragement and support!

Publicity chair: Donny Sparrow

I have been the publicity chair since the middle of 2018. I have continued to make sure that the monthly newsletter has been of high quality and made sure that the membership is informed of what is going on in the chapter and JALT at large. I have been active on Facebook and Twitter but I am happy that we will be going back to at least some face to face events, which will allow for more PR opportunities. Coordinating with the programming chair, the facilities chair, and members at large who are directing events and groups supported by the chapter is an important point that I will continue working on into the next year.

Publicity co-chair: Edward Escobar

This last year saw a revamp of the chapter’s website, developing a new, accessible online presence that not only advertises and archives events, but operates as a portal of information for educators in and around Kyoto. Continuing on through 2023 as publicity co-chair, I will continue to develop and improve the chapter’s online presence and collaborate with officers to make all announcements accessible to any and all seeking opportunities to further their educational career.

Facilities chair: vacant