Jana Hiraga, MPH

I’ve come full circle with One Circle Foundation. When I look back on my family heritage and upbringing, I marvel at the events, large and small, that have led me to be where I am today: at the helm of such an incredible organization. I am the proud granddaughter of Asian American ancestry. A tragic yet beautiful love story, my paternal grandparents met and fell in love in the Japanese internment camps. They adopted my father from Japan from a low-income single mother who couldn’t afford to keep all three of her children. My mother came from Korea as an exchange student and used to sell handmade jewelry at the flea market. My parents met and first flirted at a donut shop where my mother worked, which may be responsible for my life-long love affair with donuts. I grew up seeing my parents work double shifts, night shifts, and overtime to raise me and my two siblings. I’m proud and forever grateful for my parents for all they sacrificed and invested in us. I was honored to be able to see their journey from recent immigrants to professionals as a pharmacist and nurse