Women’s History Month 2024 – Tiffany
Women’s History Month (WHM) was first celebrated on a national level in 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987, Congress designated the month of March as Women’s History Month and it has been continued through presidential proclamations ever since. Learn more at womenshistorymonth.gov.
This March, we want to celebrate a few of our amazing staff members who are actively creating our history every day!
Meet Tiffany Yamase!
Tiffany is the Legal Advocate Manager and has been with the agency for nearly 5 years!
Tiffany and Niho (“Tooth” in Hawaiian)
What first drew you to YWCA Spokane?
I actually didn’t even know YWCA Spokane existed until I graduated from university and was looking for jobs. I stumbled upon a job posting on Indeed and went to look at the website to learn more about the organization. Immediately I was drawn in by the mission statement of “Eliminating racism and empowering women” as that directly aligns with my personal and professional values. I believe in the value of walking alongside those seeking pathways towards healing and growth and am grateful to work within an agency like this.
What do you wish more people knew about YWCA Spokane?
I wish that more people knew how deeply our employees care for our survivors and the Spokane community. Being in management has given me an opportunity to really recognize how dedicated, empathetic, hard-working, and trauma-informed our frontline advocates are. This is very difficult work, but our advocates show up every day ready and excited to provide support to others, including their own colleagues, which isn’t something you often find in a work environment.
What is your favorite part of your role?
My favorite part of my role is being a manager to such a passionate team of legal advocates. I have enjoyed being able to provide one-on-one supervision and help them decide what kind of professional they would like to be in this work. Being able to walk alongside my employees as they grow in their self-awareness of vicarious trauma and see their confidence and skills grow over time has been incredibly rewarding. Being from a collectivistic culture as an Asian American, I am so grateful to have a team that actively seeks to collaborate with each other and grow in connection with other agencies and entities within the Spokane community. This work can become very siloed and it’s amazing to see what work can occur when we decide to work together.
Describe your favorite meal.
My favorite meal to cook would be Japanese curry and rice! It’s very different from Indian curry and I appreciate how diverse Asian curries can be! My favorite meal to eat would be meat jun, which is thinly sliced marinated beef coated in a flour and egg mixture and pan fried. It’s typically served with lots of little side dishes and a savory vinegar sauce!
If you were a cookie, what type would you be?
I would be my Grandma Yamase’s cookie bar that’s filled with chocolate and butterscotch chips and honey roasted macadamia nuts.
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I would like to learn to speak more languages than English and Spanish, specifically Japanese and Native Hawaiian so that I could communicate with my loved ones on a deeper level.
What is something you learned in the last week?
Within the last week, I’ve learned the value and importance of true and authentic rest.
What are 3 words to describe YWCA Spokane?
Passionate, empowering, and open-minded.
Name a show or movie you recently watched and loved.
I have been obsessed with a show called Traitors on Peacock! Such an interesting game show with celebrities competing to win money with secret traitors amongst them.
If you magically had tomorrow off, what would you do?
I would take a road trip to the Seattle area to visit some of my best friends that I haven’t seen in quite some time!
About Legal Advocacy
YWCA Spokane’s Legal Advocates support survivors of intimate partner domestic violence by answering many questions about the civil or criminal court processes. Legal Advocates can also keep survivors updated on their perpetrator’s criminal gross misdemeanor cases, such as when the next hearings are occurring or the status of the case. These services are confidential, as our advocates are not tied to the courts.
Learn more about Legal Advocacy >
Read All of Our 2024 Women’s History Month Features
By: Jemma Riedel-Johnson
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