Diane Matsuda

Diane has been a lifetime caring advocate for the Japanese American community's seniors, many of whom were wrongfully incarcerated as children in the American concentration camps during WWII. During the COVID pandemic, she organized outreach programs for home-bound seniors, including food delivery, vaccinations and sent over 4,800 letters to Japanese American seniors during the shelter-in-place restriction to let them know they were not alone. As an attorney with the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, she created programs to help small businesses in Japantown pay their rent and acted on their behalf from being evicted. Diane volunteers for the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California which is celebrating its 50th anniversary and serves as the President of the Historic Preservation Commission for the City and County of San Francisco.