JETAANY Contacts

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Monica Yuki Saitama-ken ALT, 2002-2004 Social Chair, 2006-2009; Vice-President 2009-2011; President 2011-Present

Originally from Malibu, California, Monica attended the University of Colorado and has a B.S. in Business Administration with a double emphasis in Marketing and Human Resource Management. After graduating, she decided to trade the Rocky Mountains for the Kanto Plain and participated in the JET Programme. While serving as a high school ALT in Iruma-shi, Saitama-ken from 2002-2004, Monica developed a greater appreciation for Japanese culture and her family heritage. During her time in Japan, Monica performed in several traditional Japanese dance performances, joined the Ikebana club and coached her high school’s girl’s softball team.

Now residing in New York City, Monica works for USA Weekend Magazine as a Senior Research/Database Analyst. When not researching the hottest trends in consumer purchasing habits, Monica keeps herself busy playing softball, and volleyball. She is currently the Vice President of the Alpha Chi Omega Alumni Chapter in NYC and is involved in many NY Cares philanthropic activities. She also has a passion for travel which has taken her all over the world, most recently to the Galapagos Islands.

Kendall Murano Saitama-ken ALT, 2004-2007 Vice President 2011-present

Kendall claims Denver, Colorado has her hometown and graduated from George Washington University in Washington D.C. with a B.A. in International Affairs. Soon after, she set off to learn more about her Father’s homeland and tried her luck in Saitama Japan. There, she ran English club at her middle school and joined a hip hop dance crew during her two years as an ALT. After JET, she stayed in Japan a couple more years working as an editor at a translation company. Between JET and returning to the U.S., Kendall and her now husband back-packed for four months through Europe, Asia, S.E. Asia and Australia.

Kendall finally landed in New York in 2009. The annual Meishi Exchange was her first JETAANY event. But, after attending a few more JETAANY events, she decided she wanted to become more in involved and has been organizing the Nihongo Dake Dinners since 2010. When not out enjoying the many restaurants the city has to offer, Kendall can often be found crooning on the mic at karaoke, spazzing out on a dance floor, or chilling at home with her kitties.

Pamela Kavalam Shiga-ken ALT, 2007-2009 Secretary 2011-present

Raised in Northvale, NJ, Pam graduated from Rutgers University-Douglass College with a BA in English and Women’s Studies and New York University-Steinhardt with an MA in Higher Education Administration with a focus on international education. While at NYU, she planned social and cultural events for international students and study abroad returnees. After graduation, she headed to Nagahama on Lake Biwa in Shiga prefecture, where she taught English speech and debate at Torahime (Tiger Princess!) High School and Ika (not squid!) High School from 2007 to 2009. While on JET, she advised the English Speaking Society at her school, attended Jazzercise and yoga in her town (meeting lots of terrific female Shigans!), and participated in a JET-led service trip to Andhra Pradesh, India through the nonprofit GoLongitude. She currently works at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, advising graduate students in nonprofit management, policy and finance. After spending a year and a half going to an inordinate number of JET events, she is honored to help plan programming for the coming year. Feel free to contact her with ideas!

Kelly Nixon Iwate-ken ALT, 2003-2006 JETAANY Treasurer 2009-Present

Born and raised in North Carolina, Kelly’s first adventures on foreign soil began when she pioneered the first study abroad exchange program between the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies from 2000 to 2001.  After spending nine life-changing months in Nagoya she decided to try to return to Japan post-college on the JET Program.  In 2002 she graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in International Business and set off for the inaka of northern Japan soon after.

During the three years Kelly spent as the resident ALT at a high school in Iwate she also acted as Area Coordinator for AJET and lectured extensively to new ALTs on topics such as personal finance and budget traveling.  On the side she volunteered with the local International Center to create an intensive English preparatory program for young children going abroad and dabbled in market consulting for a local cosmetics business.

Shortly after moving to New York in 2007 Kelly began her current position as Executive Assistant with Japan Airlines.  Whenever possible she attempts to maximize the travel benefits she receives through work.  Around town she is in frequent pursuit of the best possible bowl of ramen, and can be spotted attending as many live shows, improv acts, stage stories, happy hours and film screenings as her budget allows.

Steven Horowitz Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi ALT 1992-1994 Professional Outreach & Development 2009-Present JETAANY Newsletter Editor 2002-2008

A New Jersey native, Steven is a lawyer by training and works for a bankruptcy services company in New York.  After JET, he went to Duke Law School and spent time working for two Japanese law firms and studying at Waseda University before moving to New York to work for a law firm.  In 2002 he began serving as the editor of the JETAANY Newsletter (now the JETAANY Magazine)  and in 2005 was JETAANY’s representative at the JETAA International Meeting in Japan.  He used his role as Newsletter editor to reach out to newsletter editors in other chapters, eventually leading him to create the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group  and JetWit.com in 2008 as a resource for the JET alum community.  His goal is to help JET alums connect with each other and find and create work opportunities for themselves.  In addition to his JETAANY work, Steven is also the creator of Bankruptcy Bill, a cartoon about bankruptcy lawyers (and few bankruptcy haiku too!)  Steven lives in Brooklyn with his wife Wynne and can often be found playing ultimate frisbee in or near Prospect Park.

Justin Tedaldi Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-2002 JETAANY Magazine Editor 2008-Present

Straight outta Long Island, Justin Tedaldi (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) has served as editor JQ magazine editor since 2008, and has conducted exclusive interviews with Bryan Lee O’Malley,  Bruce Feiler, Andrew W.K., Ace Frehley, Rick Nielsen, Hikaru Utada, Jero and Puffy AmiYumi. For more stories, View his NY Japanese Culture page at Examiner.com.

Lee-Sean Huang Oita-ken, Nakatsu-shi ALT, 2003-2006 JETAANY Webmaster 2006-Present

Born in Taiwan and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Lee-Sean graduated from Harvard in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government.  After graduation, Lee-Sean moved to Nakatsu City in Oita Prefecture on the southern Japanese island Kyushu, where he worked as an Assistant Language Teacher for three years.

Lee-Sean moved to New York in 2006, and began volunteering as the webmaster of JETAANY.org shortly thereafter. In 2008, Lee-Sean worked with Steven Horowitz to launch Jetwit.com, a site for the JET alumni freelance and professional community.

Lee-Sean works as a designer and strategist at Purpose.com and is a faculty member at SVA’s MFA Design for Social Innovation program. He has previously worked with a range of non-profits including Avaaz.org, Human Rights Watch, Creative Commons, and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. He is a trustee of the Awesome Foundation New York, and co-founder of Hepnova Multimedia.

Catch Lee-Sean online at LEESEAN.net.

Rachelle de Leon Kanoya-shi, Kagoshima-ken ALT 2007-2009 JETAA New Jersey Subchapter Rep 2011 – Present

Hailing from West Caldwell, NJ, Rachelle has a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University-Rutgers College and an AAS in Professional Cooking & Baking from Baltimore International College. She has worked for years as an actuarial assistant & as a pastry cook before moving to Kanoya City in Kagoshima Prefecture, where she served as an academic high school ALT. She was one of the area representatives for KAJET, served as advisor for the high school debate team and English club, and participated in events held by the Kanoya International Exchange Association. She is currently working as a pastry cook & is spending all her money (when she has it) on great food & travel.

Rashaad Jorden Yamagata-ken ALT 2008-2010 JETAA Philadelphia Subchapter Rep 2011 – Present

Rashaad Jorden served as an ALT in Yamagata Prefecture from 2008-10. During his time in the JET Program, he is proudest of the fact he completed the Tokyo Marathon (in February 2010). But those two years in the Tohoku region weren’t his first taste of Japan. He was born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Precture, and after college, worked at a private language school in Yokohama. Between Yokohama and Yamagata Prefecture, he worked as an English assistant at two high schools in France. Currently, he is searching for his next adventure while serving as the JETAA Philly chapter representative.

Carolyn Brooks Ishikawa-Ken ALT, 2006-2001 JETAA Long Island Subchapter Rep 2011 – Present

Carolyn Brooks is a Long Island native who graduated from Ithaca College with a BA in Art History.  After being exposed to anime in her freshman year, Carolyn learned as much as she could about Japanese culture and art at school, and then decided to apply with the JET Programme so she could study the real thing!  After spending 5 years in Ishikawa Prefecture as a junior high school ALT, Carolyn considers herself an expert in the various local specialties of her prefecture (including food, food and more food) and Ryu Sei Ha ikebana.  Currently, she is a culture and education job seeker looking for new opportunities and ways to share her Japan experience here in the States!

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