It is my honor to introduce our newest member,
Shoko Toyama. Her classification is Human and Community Services, and her membership has been sponsored by Jeff Pyatt and Lynn Beck.
Shoko Toyama. Her classification is Human and Community Services, and her membership has been sponsored by Jeff Pyatt and Lynn Beck.
Shoko Toyama serves as Chief Development Officer for Plymouth Housing, taking over from long time Rotary 4 member Lynn Beck who recently retired from Plymouth. Shoko has more than a decade of experience in fundraising for non-profits and has been with Plymouth Housing since 2013.
Shoko was born in Japan, but her family moved to Bellevue when she was three years old. She graduated from Western Washington University into the Great Recession and struggled to find a job in that difficult environment. The silver lining of that experience is it allowed her to travel to Japan for three months and stay with her grandfather, who impressed upon her the importance of service to others.
That launched a career with non-profits, always in the fundraising space, which has now culminated with her serving as Chief Fundraising Officer for Plymouth Housing. Before Plymouth, she worked at the YWCA and the Refugee Women’s Alliance.
Since it is a question of interest to many in our club, I asked Shoko what some of the keys to success fundraising might be. She quickly replied that it is about building relationships -- and also being persistent! Shoko also mentioned that it is easier to do that when you work with an organization with a great mission such as Plymouth Housing. If you are not already familiar with Plymouth, it is dedicated to eliminating homelessness by offering permanent housing with supportive wrap around services.
Outside of Plymouth, Shoko and her husband, Carson, have an 18-month-old daughter, Poppy, to keep up with. In normal times, they like to travel and hang out with friends, but these are not COVID-friendly activities at the moment, so they are hopeful that we soon return to something closer to our pre-COVID world. Shoko also serves on the board of Zeno, a non-profit that focuses on early math education for communities of color.
Please join me in welcoming our newest member, Shoko Toyama!
