Gabriela “Gabi” Senno is a fourth-generation multiracial Japanese American scholar and community advocate from Evanston, Illinois. A Ph.D. student in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, she researches postwar Japanese American resettlement and the intersecting histories of Japanese American and African American communities in Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. Her work is rooted in her grandfather’s incarceration at Jerome and Gila River — a legacy that drives both her scholarship and her public advocacy. Senno holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where her award-winning Mellon Mays thesis examined artist Chiura Obata’s visual representations of the incarceration experience. She has contributed to public history through the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art and the Museum of the City of New York. She was JASC’s initial Chicago Torchbearer and now participates in the national network in Los Angeles with the Go For Broke National Education Center. 

Gabriella “Gabby” Matsushita is a fourth-generation Japanese American graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. A dedicated scholar and community builder, she excelled in a rigorous AP course load while actively supporting her peers as a math tutor and teacher’s assistant. Her leadership extends well beyond the classroom. Gabby is the founder of Origami For Good, a service initiative that brings together students from across the Chicagoland area to create handmade origami for senior and veteran communities, using art as a bridge between generations and cultures. She volunteers as a teaching assistant with JASC’s Japanese language immersion program for young children, work rooted in a personal commitment to cultural preservation inspired by her grandmother’s postwar experiences. Active in her church youth group and balancing athletics and employment alongside her studies, Gabby approaches everything she does with empathy, initiative, and a belief in the power of community. She will study biology and health sciences next fall.

Aishlin Coughlan is a 2026 graduate of DePaul College Prep in Chicago, Illinois, and a first-generation college student with Japanese and Irish heritage. A standout scholar at the top of her senior class, she pursued one of the most rigorous course loads at her school, including AP and IB coursework, with a particular passion for mathematics and finance. Her academic interests are rooted in lived experience — witnessing the economic devastation of an earthquake in her mother’s rural hometown in Japan inspired her to research how natural disasters affect community recovery, and ultimately to pursue a career in finance as a tool for equity. At JASC, Aishlin has volunteered at the Open House, Holiday Delight, and Soup & Rice events, developing a deep belief that community is built through both action and genuine human connection. She will study finance or economics next fall.

Kobo Michaeli is a 2026 graduate of Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago, Illinois. A Japanese American whose family history spans the Holocaust, the Okinawan experience of World War II, and the Japanese American incarceration, Kobo brings a deeply personal commitment to preserving community memory and advocating for those whose stories go undertold. As president of Northside’s Japanese Honor Society, he organized cultural programming, fundraising, and preparation for Japan Bowl competitions — including a national championship. He also serves as a captain of the varsity soccer team and has volunteered for over a decade with the Osaka Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International. Kobo has grown his connection to JASC over the years and now brings his friends to events. He is a well established youth volunteer at JASC and within the Japanese American community. He will study business next fall.