AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Excel retrospect theme4/5/2023 ![]() Despite growing up in a major city with a large Asian population, it wasn't until Louie joined the Forest Service's Asian Pacific American Employee Association that she found a community that understood her culture and the nuances of working in a public land management agency. Joan Louie is a GIS analyst for the Northern Region, born in the United States to Chinese immigrants. "I want to solicit opinions from others, but also recognize people might not be comfortable sharing in their particular environment, so I try to accommodate that, such as following up with one-on-one conversations."īeing a mentor or giving a voice to others isn't reserved only for individuals at a particular grade level or job title. "Effective collaboration means managing across diverse opinions, not automatically shutting people down who might not think or look just like you," Uyehara said. She grew up speaking English however, she was raised in Okinawa, a Japanese territory. "But having two strong women of color as supervisors and mentors gave me the courage to share my voice and feel like I can be a part of the agency and make a difference."īeing mindful of how an individual's upbringing and culture influences their workplace behavior is a guiding principle for Jamie Uyehara, a resource officer for the Angeles National Forest who grew up living in two cultures. "Being Asian and a woman, there's a lot of cultural pressure to defer to elders or people in higher positions," said Bhadury, whose father is Indian and mother European. She's appreciative of the mentors she's had in her blossoming career. She is now a partnership coordinator in the National Partnership Office. Maya Bhadury is just beginning her Forest Service career, having interned in the agency's Resource Assistant Program last year. "But in retrospect, it would have been good to see people (like me) in leadership positions because it sends a message that positions like that are attainable to someone like me." "I guess I didn't think too much about it at the time," Bhuta said. Born of an Indian father and Filipino mother, Bhuta started his career as a forester in the Pacific Northwest Region and now works as a State and Private Forestry program manager out of the national headquarters. That’s why, as we start wrapping up the month, we visited with Forest Service employees of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Island descent to learn how collaboration and mentors helped develop their leadership skills.Īrvind Bhuta doesn't recall seeing too many people who looked like him while earning his degrees in higher education at land-grant universities in the Southeastern United States. This year's Forest Service theme is Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration. May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |