Warren Furutani Collection

Warren Furutani is a fourth generation Japanese American born in San Pedro, California on October 16, 1947. He was the grandson of a boat mechanic on Terminal Island in San Pedro, whose family became victims of the Japanese American incarceration during WWII. Warren's grandparents and father were forced to leave their home with only 48-hours’ notice and were sent to an incarceration camp in Rohror, Arkansas. Warren's father was in high school at the time and while at camp he met Warren's mother who was from Elk Grove, California. After the war, his parents returned to San Pedro, where Furutani would be born. His family moved to Gardena where Warren was raised. He graduated from Gardena High School in 1965 and earned a liberal arts degree from Antioch University. During the 60’s Furutani was a civil rights activist who worked tirelessly to establish admissions programs for students of color at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He helped many campuses institute ethnic studies programs and was instrumental in UCLA and Long Beach State University adopting an Asian American Studies program. In 1969, Warren was one of the founders of the Manzanar Pilgrimage, an annual event to honor the 110,000 Japanese American men, women and children who were forced to leave their homes and were incarcerated during World War II. Warren also helped to create the Manzanar Committee that worked to get Manzanar designated as a national historical site. Today, thousands of people participate in the Manzanar Pilgrimage every year on the last Saturday of April. In the mid-1970s, Warren worked as a counselor at the Central Continuation High School in Downtown Los Angeles. He later joined the Asian American Student Services Center at UCLA where he worked as an administrator and developed programs to recruit, mentor and tutor students as well as encourage them to be active in community projects.

In 1987, Warren was the first Asian Pacific Islander American to ever be elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education. While a Board Member at LAUSD, Warren led the effort to grant honorary high school diplomas to Japanese Americans who were unable to finish high school because they were forced into internment camps during World War II. In 1999 Warren was elected to the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board of Trustees, the largest community college district in the country. During his 15 year service in both educational boards he was an early and strong advocate for the LAUSD and LACCD construction bonds, which directed billions of dollars into repairing and building new schools and remodeling and constructing new facilities on our community college campuses. Furutani was elected to replace fellow Democrat Laura Richardson in a special election in 2008. He served the 55th District for four years and 9 months in the California State Assembly. In the California State Legislature, Warren was appointed Chair of the Public Employees Retirement and Social Security committee, where he introduced pension reform measures, including Assembly Bill 340 to end the abusive practices of pension spiking and double dipping. He was also Chair of the Select Committee on Career Technical Education and Workforce Development where he focused on preparing students with the training they need for 21st Century jobs. He also founded the Community College Caucus and is a member of the Higher Education Master Plan Review Committee. Warren's work in the Capitol includes legislation related to career technical education, community colleges, clean air quality, and support for small businesses. He successfully advocated for State resources to help rebuild the Gerald Desmond Bridge in the Port of Long Beach. In 2008, he authored Assembly Bill 37 which granted honorary college degrees to Japanese Americans whose education was disrupted due to their wrongful incarceration during World War II. Since the bill was signed, thousands of Japanese Americans have received honorary degrees from college campuses throughout California. Furutani retired and left office on November 30, 2012 and was replaced by Republican Kurt Hagman. He currently lives in the Harbor Gateway with his wife Lisa Abe Furutani and their two sons.