2025 Annual Convening Speakers

Kurt Ikeda is the Director of Programs and Engagement at Go For Broke National Education Center in Little Tokyo. Hawaii-born and raised in the South Bay of Los Angeles, Kurt Ikeda (B.A. UCLA ’13, M. Ed. Loyola Marymount ’15) is a second generation Japanese American educator by profession and poet by passion. He draws inspiration from the courage and compassion of his Nikkei ancestors who were incarcerated at Santa Anita, Poston, and Crystal City. He previously served as the Chief of Interpretation for the National Park Service at Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho and Education Manager at Japanese American Museum of Oregon. He now resides in Pasadena with his beloved wife, April, and baby daughter, May.