AIKIDO INSTITUTE: UNSUNG HERO AWARD 2023

Aikido Institute was honored to accept the 2023 Unsung Hero Award by Assemblymember Mia Bonta at the 2nd annual Assembly District 18 Awards, held on October 27, 2023 in Emeryville, California.  The award recognizes organizations that have been quietly making an impact in the community (the 18th District covers parts of Oakland, Alameda and Emeryville) over a sustained period of time.  With Deborah Sensei celebrating 50 years in Aikido this year, the award was a nice and timely feather in the cap.

The ceremony was an interesting glimpse into the world of local politics and civic engagement; other award recipients included various non-profits and leaders who are making a difference in their communities. To sit among them and hear about their accomplishments was inspiring, and we were super humbled to be included with them in this year's awards.

A video about the event can be viewed here.

The plaque we received reads as follows:

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By the Honorable Mia Bonta
18th Assembly District; Relative to commending

Aikido Institute

Whereas, On October 27, 2023, Assembly Member Mia will host the 18th Assembly District Awards to honor the diversity, generosity, and tremendous contributions of individuals and organizations throughout the 18th Assembly District, including Aikido Institute, which has been selected as an Unsung Hero Award recipient as a tribute to its incredible record of community engagement, and it is appropriate at this time to highlight its many achievements and underscore the positive impact it has made in the local community; and

Whereas, Established in Oakland in 1970, Aikido Institute has since been providing aikido classes, furthering an art form through which its practitioners can defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury, in keeping with the primary goal of the practice of aikido to overcoming oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness; and

Whereas, A nonprofit organization that holds distinction as one of the longest-standing aikido dojos in the San Francisco Bay Area, Aikido Institute became part of a growing aikido scene in California during the 1970s and 1980s after its first dojo in Oakland opened, and today it remains steadfast in its mission is to provide instruction to the public in the art of aikido and other movement arts for the benefit of practitioners and the community at large; and

Whereas, The contributions Aikido Institute has made to the 18th Assembly District are invaluable and reflect an organization devoted to the highest ideals of community service; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by Assembly Member Mia Bonta, That Aikido Institute be congratulated on its selection as an Unsung Hero Award recipient, applauded for the vital role it has played in improving the quality of life in the 18th Assembly District and beyond, and extended best wishes for continued success in the future.

Members Resolution No. 1375
Date this 27th day of October, 2023

Honorable Mia Bonta
18th Assembly District

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