Sharon Maeda | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1945 Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Asian-American activist |
Sharon Maeda is an American activist and feminist. She wasexecutive director ofPacifica Radio from 1980–1986, and held aWhite House post in 1994 assistingDoris Matsui as a liaison to the Asian-American community.
Maeda was born inMilwaukee, Wisconsin. Her parents and grandparents, Japanese Americans, were interned inMinidoka internment camp duringWorld War II. She grew up in Portland, Oregon. The family moved to Seattle in 1956.[1]
She attended theUniversity of Washington.[1]
In 1980 Maeda became the executive director of Pacifica Radio, a position she held until 1986.[2] She founded a management consulting company, Spectra Communications, dedicated to helping clients reflect a more multicultural society, in 1987.[3]In 1993 she was appointed byHousing and Urban Development secretaryHenry Cisneros to work as a community outreach officer for lead-based paint. In 1995 she began work with Doris Matsui as a liaison with Asian groups around the country.[4]
In 2000, as Director of Communications for theUnited Methodist Church in New York, she became involved in theElian Gonzales international custody fight and worked to reunite Elian with his father in Cuba.[1]