Sponsored by the Northwest Asian Weekly as part of our community outreach program.
Tim Otani has been a great ‘behind the scenes’ supporter and member of the Nisei Veterans Committee (NVC) Foundation. Tim is a prime example of a community leader that ‘walks the walk.’
— Debbie Kashino
President of Nisei Veterans Foundation
I’ve met no one who has the passion for serving the community, the commitment to making a difference in people’s lives, and the humility to let others be recognized first than does Tim Otani.
— Michael Verchot
University of Washington Foster School of Business
Tim operates in the world of bankers and money, but he never abandons his community roots. He was the most loyal friend and supporter of Donnie Chin, and wherever Tim went, he never forgot or failed to support Donnie’s work.
— Beth Takekawa
Executive Director, Wing Luke Museum
Many institutions in our community hire people who’s sole responsibility is to say ‘no’ to funding requests because ‘your work does not fit the company guidelines.’ Tim looks at the positive side and funds agencies that truly serve the needs of the people.
— Uncle Bob Santos
Tim is a great supporter of the International District (ID). He became involved with the ID Emergency Center when he was still a student. He has not strayed from that support.
— Sue Taoka
EVP, Craft3
Tim Otani is a true treasure. He uses his intelligence and caring heart to help others, one-on-one, and on a grand scale. He has done this quietly for decades. We are grateful for his loyal support of Donnie (Chin). Congratulations, Tim! This award is so well deserved!
— Connie Magorty
Sister of Donnie Chin
There is no better friend of the community than Tim Otani. Throughout his career, he has held the Asian Pacific Islander community up for all to see.
— Lori Matsukawa
KING 5 Anchor
Tim is a guru when it comes to community engagement. He not only holds institutional knowledge about the history of the communities, but also has foresight in the future direction of developments across various arena from community-based organizations, charity and philanthropy, sports, to economic development.
— Wendy Zheng
Multicultural Engagement Director, Swedish Health Services
Tim is a living treasure and a shining example of how you can work in corporate America, yet support communities of color in a very meaningful way. Without Tim’s support, advocacy, and contributions, a lot of nonprofits would not have been able to balance their budgets.
— Al Sugiyama
EDI Executive Director Emeritus
I am pleased that Tim Otani is being recognized — Tim has been a great proponent of Japan-America Society of the State of Washington, the NVC and NVC Foundation and many other community organizations. I’ve been fortunate to get to know him personally as well. We share a love of coaching Little League — for him it is baseball and for me it is softball. Though some of that is behind us as our children have gotten older, the commiserating or celebrating our kids’ game wins and losses, as well as the experiences with other coaches and umpires has been fun. I have also appreciated his willingness to put up with my so-so golf game when we’ve been paired during several community golf tournaments. He is a great supporter of the Japanese and Japanese American communities.
— Dale Watanabe
Executive Director, Japan-America Society of the State of Washington