Karen K. Narasaki is the President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), one of the nation’s leading voices advocating for the rights and interests of Asian Americans. Based in
Ms. Narasaki serves in a number of leadership positions in the civil rights and immigrant rights communities. She is vice chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the nation's oldest and broadest civil rights coalition. In addition, she chairs the Rights Working Group, a coalition of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties and immigrant rights groups working to address the erosion of civil liberties and basic rights of immigrants since 9/11.
Ms. Narasaki also serves on the board of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and is a past-board member of the Independent Sector. She also serves on the National Commission on Adult Literacy, a project of the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy which promotes adult literacy across the country.
As chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, Ms. Narasaki is a widely renowned leader in the Asian American community. She has also served as the immediate past chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans.
She is also a member of the Asian Pacific American Advisory Council, a group of nearly a dozen community, civic and business leaders who advise Nielsen Media Research, an international provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. The Council advises Nielsen on a range of issues involving the sampling of Asian Americans for television audience measurement while assisting Nielsen to reaching out to Asian American communities.
Through her work, Ms. Narasaki is a nationally respected expert on immigrant rights, voting rights, affirmative action and civil rights issues. A regular guest on News & Notes with Ed Gordon, Ms. Narasaki has also appeared on ABC and CBS News, Fox News, PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, America with Dennis Wholey and National Public Radio shows including Talk of the Nation and Powerpoint. She has also been quoted by national newspapers including: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Houston Chronicle, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Los Angeles Times.
Recognized by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the “100 most powerful women in
Ms. Narasaki is a graduate, magna cum laude, of
Select Awards
2006 Washingtonian Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women
2005 American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award
2004 International Channel We the People Award
2004 Greater Sacramento Urban League Ruth Standish Baldwin Award
2003 Congressional Black Caucus Chair’s Award
2001 Washingtonian Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women
2000 U.S. Department of Justice Citizen Volunteer Service Award
1999 Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Community Award
1999 A.100 Award for 100 Most Influential Asian Americans of the Decade
1994 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Trailblazer Award
Select Columns and Op-ed Articles
"US Should Take Leadership Role in Racial Justice," St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 16, 2001.
"Why Hate Crimes Matter," Cincinnati Enquirer, August 6, 2000.
"I, Too, Am an Affirmative-Action Baby," Essence, Oct. 1997.
"Fueling Hatred for Immigrants," San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 13, 1996.
"Double Talk," A. Magazine, Feb/March, 1996.
"Welfare and Wedge Politics," Asian Week, Nov. 24, 1995.
Select Journal Articles
"Affirming the California Experience with Affirmative Action," NEXUS, Chapman University School of Law, Vol. 1, No. 2, Fall 1996.
