Joan Shigekawa

Joan Shigekawa (born 1936[1]) is an American film and television producer, cultural grantmaker, and arts administrator.

[3] As a young child, she and her family were among the roughly 120,000 Japanese-Americans interned by the federal government during World War II.

It didn’t occur to me that all the young men who were already production assistants were planning their careers as producers and directors….”[8] She gained skills and experience in a series of early jobs, including working on NBC's Today Show, at New York's public television network WNET, in theatrical production, and as a field director of admissions at Barnard College.

The series, which aired on New York's public television channel WNET/13, featured individual women's stories from across the country.

[23] During her tenure, she worked closely with the Department of Defense and Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of the nonprofit organization Blue Star Families, to create in 2010 the Blue Star Museums program, which grants free admission to active duty military members and their families from Armed Forces Day to Labor Day.

[31][32] Ms. Shigekawa serves on the National Advisory Board of the Center for Asian American Media and has served as a Mayoral appointee to the New York City Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission[33] and as a trustee of the New York Council for the Humanities, the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Grantmakers in the Arts and Grantmakers in Film and Television.

So both their role as a citizen and then their contribution to share their creativity as best they can.”[35] Shigekawa's marriage to the late documentary filmmaker Tony Silver ended in divorce.