NW26 | Nisei Week 2026 Frances K. Hashimoto Community Service Awards Honoree | Debra Nakatomi
The Frances K. Hashimoto Community Service Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose dedication, leadership, and service have strengthened the Japanese American community and helped preserve its culture, history, and legacy. The honorees will be recognized during the 2026 Nisei Week Coronation and Awards Celebration on Saturday, August 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Tom Bradley Theatre, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles. Tickets are $105 (orchestra) or $75 (balcony) per person. For ticket information visit the NiseiWeek.org website.
Debra Nakatomi
Debra Nakatomi focuses her career on promoting social change, supporting anti-racism efforts and reducing disparities in healthcare and community wellness. She is the founder of Nakatomi PR, a strategic communications firm that integrates advocacy, strategy and community engagement through awareness campaigns. For over 35 years, it has partnered with mission-driven organizations to disrupt systemic disparities and center community voices.
She is a former chair and trustee of The California Wellness Foundation, dedicated to advancing health and wellness, and HelpGuide.org, an online mental health resource. A lifelong advocate for gender equity, Debra serves on the World Board of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), which includes 11 million members in 153 countries dedicated to creating an equitable world where all girls thrive. She serves on the Little Tokyo Service Center Board of Governors and is a member of the U.S.-Japan Council.
Debra co-produced the Mineta Legacy Project that includes a TV documentary, “Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story,” and an online curriculum, What Does it Mean to Be An American? profiling the life and career of Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and “Stories From Tohoku,” a one-hour TV documentary about survivors of the 2011 Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
In 2020, Debra was conferred the award of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays by the government of Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for her involvement in the Japanese American community and for promoting mutual understanding between Japan and the United States.