September 21, 1949 – November 3, 2019
Lynne Aoki was a part of Californians Together even before we formally became a coalition. She was “all in” to defeat Proposition 227 in 1998. As the activist she was, she held fundraisers, distributed materials to voters, made phone calls and more. With her calm, soft-spoken, can-do demeanor, she demonstrated great leadership during that difficult campaign.
As a representative of the National Association for Multicultural Education to Californians Together, Lynne attended, contributed to and provided guidance for the creation and development of the work of Californians Together. She served on our Executive Board as Secretary and was Vice President at the time of her death in November 2019. Her fingerprints are all over almost every grant we have written – providing input and expert editing. Through her talent and expertise, many new funders became convinced to support our work.
She was also working on finalizing new criteria and procedures for awarding our Annual Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy District Recognition Award. We are proud to honor Lynne by renaming this award the Lynne Aoki Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy District Award.
Lynne Aoki will always be with us and we are forever grateful to her.