Irene Hirano Inouye was president of the U.S.-Japan Council, a position she held since the founding of the council in late 2008. Through the U.S.-Japan Council, she jointly administered the TOMODACHI Initiative, a public-private partnership, with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The initiative born out of support for Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. The TOMODACHI Initiative invests in the next generation of Japanese and American leaders through educational and cultural exchanges and leadership programs. Ms. Hirano Inouye was also the president and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, a position that she held for twenty years.

A recipient of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California, Ms. Hirano Inouye had extensive experience in nonprofit administration, community education and public affairs relating to culturally diverse communities nationwide. She served as trustee and immediate past chair, Ford Foundation; trustee and immediate past chair, Kresge Foundation; trustee, Washington Center; trustee, independent sector, and vice-chair, Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Center.

Other positions held by Ms. Hirano Inouye over her lifetime included chair, board of directors, American Association of Museums; board member, National Trust for Historic Preservation; member, national board, Smithsonian Institution; member, diversity advisory board, Toyota Corporation; member, business advisory board, Sodexho Corporation; member (presidential appointment), President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities; and chair, California Commission on the Status of Women. She was married to the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii.