The veteran association management pro has stepped in to take WIN to the next level as executive director.
In her early 20s, Takemoto started planning meetings and conferences and then eventually leadership training. As her business grew, so did her family. In three years, she had three children and down the road one bonus daughter. Despite running a business, singing on the side and raising four children, Takemoto still found time to do what working mothers typically can’t.
“I really make it very clear to clients [that] I am here for you," she explained. "I will do everything. I will make whatever I'm doing for you amazing, but sometimes I'm going to be sitting at the dance studio, or I'm going to be sitting at soccer, or I'm going to be in the middle of carpool. And everybody was like, okay, that's cool. And I think sometimes as women, we forget we can say that, and we forget we can ask that question, or we can just say, this is how it is. And when you're good at what you do, nobody cares.”
Takemoto’s initial priorities at WIN will be streamlining the volunteers who execute the various WIN programs while examining what additional staff may be needed, as well as how to support board vision and plans.
The executive director added that her three daughters are what inspired her to join WIN: “I've sort of had this women empowerment thing in my blood forever and having three daughters, that really drives it all home."
