Meet the 2023 Corporate Achievement Award Honorees

Sophie Horiuchi-Forrester, AARP

San Jose Metro Manager, AARP California

Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Sophie and her younger brother, were raised by immigrant parents who wanted their children to grow up with an appreciation for their Japanese heritage as well as encouraged them to fit in American culture.

After college, Sophie taught 6th grade in the Bay Area for a few years, then returned to Los Angeles to work in alumni relations at UCLA. She also got more involved in community building and volunteerism in her work there. She moved to Northern California and delved into a career in volunteer management and civic engagement. As a senior management analyst with the City of Sunnyvale, she managed the City’s volunteer program and the recruitment of volunteers and candidates for the City Council’s advisory Boards and Commission members. As staff in the City manager’s office, she also had a variety of human services-related projects that ranged from childcare to youth/family services. In her off hours, she co-authored the book, “Volunteers for the Cities” and co-founded an online resource store for volunteer programs. She was given the Member of the Year award by the Directors of Volunteers in Agencies Award in 2009 and graduated from Leadership Sunnyvale and Leadership Silicon Valley.

Sophie served as the Executive Director of Yu-Ai Kai Senior Center in San Jose’s Japantown in 2009 – 2015. She oversaw the renovation of the Akiyama Wellness Center, the second facility of Yu-Ai Kai, and introduced the agency’s first Healthy Aging Initiative. She served on the Japantown Community Congress, the California State Japanese American Leadership Council, and the Northern California Japanese American Senior Centers Association. She was a member of the Healthy Aging Network at UC Berkeley, an advisory group to the Centers for Disease Control, and the City of San Jose/County of Santa Clara Senior Nutrition Program Task Force. Family caregiving needs called her to step back from work for a few years, and she slowly worked on a mini fellowship through Stanford University’s Successful Aging and End of Life Studies program.

Seven years ago, Sophie joined the AARP California team and serves as the Regional Director in the San Jose office. She and her team serve the greater Bay Area. She is the AARP California lead on AAPI outreach, social isolation/loneliness, and digital literacy issues. She currently sits on the advisory board of CARE/UCSF and Japanese American Alzheimer’s Association Advisory Council. She also serves on the City of San Jose’s Digital Inclusion Advisory Committee and the Santa Clara County Dept. of Aging and Adult Services Digital Inclusion Committee.

A graduate of UC Berkeley in Psychology (AB) and in Education (MA), she also holds a certificate in marketing from UC Santa Cruz Extension, and continues to take classes through American Society on Aging on various topics related to gerontology. She lives in Campbell, California with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering with the Ginger Gals (Asian women’s service group) fostering monarch butterflies, and cooking.