Mami Yoshimura is from Japan and attended Green River College from 1997 to 1999. She then transferred to the University of Washington where she majored in Geography.
Mami shared, "Green River College helped me to realize my dream to work for the United Nations. At the U.N, the ability to work harmoniously with persons of different nationalities and cultural background is essential. During my two years of study at GRC and part-time work in the International Programs Office, I had interacted with various types of people with different ethnic backgrounds, culture and manner of living. Especially, I had closely worked with five different nationalities from the U.S, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, and Sweden in the office; they greatly helped me to understand how to communicate with people in a culturally sensitive manner. Since then, I became interested in working in a multicultural environment and eventually led me to study the field of international development at the Department of Geography at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington."
"While I was studying at UW, I further became interested in the issues of gender and women’s empowerment and set my career goal to work in one of the United Nations organizations. It took me ten years to get a job at the U.N. During a series of telephone interviews with the U.N., I always shared my experiences at GRC with the interviewees because my two years of experiences at GRC has shaped who I am now. Because I attended GRC, I was able to cultivate a deep understanding in multiculturalism since my early 20s and to achieve my goal to work as a U.N officer."
Mami worked for the United Nations for over 13 years. She is now working as a Resource Mobilzation Officer for Unitaid in Geneva, Switzerland. Unitaid "saves lives by making new health products available and affordable for people in low- and middle-income countries."