From serving on the Board of Directors, to hammering nails, to clicking on “Tweet This” and “Share on Facebook”, Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara is inviting Santa Barbarans to join them in having a positive impact on our community.
Today a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization announced that it is expanding its “team.” Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara will be accepting applicants for various positions within its organization.
“I always thought that dojo development and maintenance should come from within the group.”, said Lia Suzuki Sensei, founder and head instructor of the organization. “But when we lost our dojo on State Street back in 2007 and went through some tough transitions, I was forced to ‘think outside the box.’ I started accepting applicants and volunteers from outside as well as inside the immediate dojo community and was pleasantly surprised at the results.”
“For those of you who have the time and energy, and want to help to make a positive difference in our community, there is no better way than to become actively involved in our organization.”
~ Bruce Glesby, Founding Board Member
Suzuki, who was awarded 6th degree black belt from the World Headquarter Dojo in Tokyo earlier this year, founded the Santa Barbara dojo in 1999, but only transitioned to nonprofit status a year and a half ago. As a first-time Executive Director of a nonprofit organization, Suzuki reflects, “It’s been so interesting learning about the nonprofit sector. It’s the closest thing I’ve found so far to the traditional dojo model I was a part of when I lived in Japan. Traditionally, one very important ingredient in a dojo is ‘community’. Similarly, ‘community’ is of course, at the very heart of the nonprofit scenario, so when prospective students first consider joining our organization, they’re usually already aware of the fact that we’re looking for members and students, rather than customers.”
When asked about his reason for serving on the Board of Directors, Chris Chirgwin, CEO of Lanspeed, stated, “AKSB provides our community with a safe place to improve physical fitness, self-confidence, and make new friends. Lia is a fantastic instructor with decades of experience, and she has done an admirable job of building a loyal following of students of all ages.”
Founding board member and attorney Bruce Glesby added, “For those of you who have the time and energy, and want to help to make a positive difference in our community, there is no better way than to become actively involved in our organization.”
In addition to providing Aikido classes and special seminars to members of the general public, Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara also partners with various agencies in the community to offer the study of these principles of peaceful resolution of conflict to low income families who would not normally be able to afford it. Members of the community have already come together on AKSB’s donation web site (aksb.givezooks.com) to sponsor children who were turned down by other martial arts schools.
One such family is the Cordero family. “My family is very thankful to AKSB and all the members of the community who have donated, giving my boys the opportunity to train Aikido.” said Doris Cordero, a mother of 4 whose husband was laid off from work recently. “My boys love it. They’ve been showing off their uniforms to relatives and friends and they’re always so excited on the days when we have class!” When asked about her feelings on the classes, Cordero added, “I’m very happy with how the training is going. I can see even as soon as the class starts that they’re getting discipline in addition to having fun. They learn more each time about what’s expected of them and how they’re supposed to act.”
To inquire about levels of involvement and their corresponding responsibilities and requirements or to arrange an interview with Suzuki Sensei or other board members:
- Visit: Get Involved
- Email: info@aksb.org
- Call: 805-870-5437
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