Honorees of the 2026 Celebrating Bay Area AAPI LGBTQ+ Women Leaders & Allies - San Francisco Bay Times

Sixteen honorees will be recognized at the 2026 Celebrating Bay Area AAPI LGBTQ+ Women Leaders & Allies event at the SF LGBT Center on May 28, 2026, presented by the San Francisco Bay Times. The honorees include individuals with backgrounds spanning community leadership, advocacy, and professional careers. Miki Adachi describes family history shaped by Japanese immigration and World War II incarceration, later pursuing education at UC Berkeley and coaching softball, while working in Silicon Valley and retiring from Dell Technologies in 2021. Rajasvini “Vini” Bhansali is an executive director focused on participatory grassroots power building and racial, economic, and climate justice, with experience across international foundations, youth development, digital divide infrastructure, and community organizing.

"I am the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants, who started and ran a very successful florist and nursery in El Cerrito. During World War II, my father and most of his family lived in the Topaz relocation camp in Utah. The first and second Japanese generations worked so hard and never really retired. That allowed my generation to go to college, get a good job, and even buy a house."

"I entered Cal Berkeley in 1970 as a physical education major, played 4 years of intercollegiate basketball and softball, all really before Title IX. I taught PE for a few years, but ended up in Silicon Valley as a materials and logistics supervisor. I eventually retired from Dell Technologies in 2021."

"The highlight of coaching the Tom Girls softball team was winning the Women's Class C Championship in 1989! We also played in the ASA Nationals in Mississippi. My greatest achievement, though, is my son Michael, who is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines and is a gentleman who enjoys life and makes me proud."

"Rajasvini “Vini” Bhansali is the Executive Director of Solidaire Network and Solidaire Action. She is a passionate advocate for participatory grassroots-led power building and a lifelong student of social movements. In a wide-ranging career devoted to racial, economic, and climate justice, she has previously led an international public foundation that funds grassroots organizing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; grown a national youth development social enterprise; managed a public telecommunications infrastructure fund addressing the digital divide in the Southern United States; and worked as a community organizer, researcher, planner, policy analyst, and strategy consultant."

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