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Interviews

Wendy Shiba

(b. 1950) Corporate attorney, executive, and advocate promoting allyship and DEI
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A Lesson in Dignity

We were on vacation once when I was in elementary school. We were up on Mackinac Island in Michigan, and we were taking a horse and buggy ride. And the driver turned and said, “So are you folks Japs?” Not realizing that that is the equivalent of the N-word in our community. And my father responded, “I’m an American of Japanese ancestry.” And then he said, “Have you ever heard of Executive Order 9066?” I had never heard of Executive Order 9066, but it always stuck with me that that was how my father responded.

I think the man who asked the question wasn’t intentionally and overtly being racist, he was curious when he said, “Are you folks Japs?” And when my father just forthrightly said, “I am an American of Japanese ancestry,” that really sort of penetrated. I used to say it was my first lesson in dignity.

concentration camps education generations identity imprisonment incarceration Japanese Americans prejudices Sansei World War II camps

Date: Jul 3, 2025

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kaori Nemoto

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Born in 1950 to Nisei parents, Wendy Shiba grew up in the all-White suburb of Westlake, Ohio. Despite the lack of representation, Shiba pursued higher education as a first generation and first woman in her family to do so. After graduating Temple Law School at the top of her class, Shiba went on to work in several prestigious positions, including as a law clerk to California Supreme Court Associate Justice Stanley Mosk, a law professor, a Big Law corporate attorney, and a C-suite executive for a Fortune 500 company.

Through her professional experiences, Shiba developed a passion for promoting allyship, DEI, and mentorship within the workplace and in the community. She served as NAPABA president from 2012 through 2013 and was a board member for the Japanese American National Museum since 2009.

Shiba today advocates for marginalized communities as chair for the ABA’s Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She hopes young people will consider how to embody allyship for communities that are especially at risk for discrimination and face constant threats to their civil liberties today. (September 2025)

 

*This interview was conducted as part of the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) Legacy Project by the Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern co-hosted by JABA and the Japanese American National Museum each summer.

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