Pamela Wu was selected as the 2015 AAJA Member of the Year for her leadership, dedication and commitment to AAJA at the local and national level. Wu, who is a former AAJA Sacramento chapter president, currently serves as the national board representative for the chapter.
“I am humbled to be named AAJA’s Member of the Year and so proud of the work the organization does on behalf of journalists and the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities,” she said. “AAJA was there for me when I was a college student, and it’s been an invaluable resource throughout my journalism career.”
At the national level, she was the founding co-director of the AAJA Media Institute, which trains leaders from the AAPI communities on how to become valuable media sources. The second institute was held at this summer’s convention in San Francisco.
The institute showed participants how to tell their story in print, television and online formats. Led by a team of award-winning journalists, community leaders learned how a newsroom operates, got tips on becoming camera-ready and rehearsed for tough interview questions.
During each year of her tenure on the national board, she has written the script for the AAJA Gala Scholarship and Awards Banquet.
Wu is a key member of the leadership team for AAJA Sacramento. She is a lead coordinator for the chapter’s annual fundraiser, which raises money for student internships, scholarships and other chapter programs. She also volunteers extensively as emcee and moderator for numerous community and charity events throughout the Sacramento region.