Stacey Nakamura: Diversity makes us all better
2016-05-12
For Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Johnson Space Center is honoring a few employees whose character, courage and commitment have helped shape them into the people they are today.
Stacey Nakamura has an easy laugh and is equally comfortable serving as the System Safety lead for the Orion vehicle or as part of the Mad Cow chili team for the annual Johnson Space Center FOD chili cook-off. In his 36-year tenure at JSC, he has seen a lot of change and, in his opinion, the overwhelming majority is for the better.
Walk Together
Nakamura used the word “blessed” to describe his first work assignment as a quality engineer at JSC, because he truly felt it was a special opportunity to interact with every directorate at the center. As a quality engineer, he worked in support of the Space Shuttle Program, Orbiter Vehicle Project and JSC institutional tasks, which allowed him to work across all directorates at the center.
“NASA is lucky to have a very clear mission,” Nakamura said. “JSC has recognized diversity and differences in a lot of ways. It’s not diversity for diversity’s sake. We’re using this to better achieve our mission.”
Diversity and cross-functional collaboration provide a continuous spectrum of viewpoints, from specialty engineering to ethnic background and heritage. Until all these things are put together, however, it’s impossible to know what’s missing.
It’s not unusual for Nakamura to lead a team with people from other centers—or even another country. What’s important for him is that team members feel comfortable with and know each other, even though they might go years without meeting in person.
Currently, he is coordinating system safety with the European Space Agency and Airbus Defense and Space Team on the European Service Module for the Orion capsule.
“One has to be really prepared to work effectively with an international partner,” Nakamura said. “There are many facets of cultural and language differences that you encounter and must strive to understand.”
Nakamura has watched culture across the country, the world and, especially, generations change rapidly, and thinks NASA is doing a lot to keep up.
“The center has learned to really leverage its human capital very well,” Nakamura said, describing benefits such as the JSC Child Care Center, Employee Assistance Program support, maxi-flex schedules, an emphasis on work-home balance, electronic tools for collaborating at a distance and the availability of pre-supervisory and inclusiveness training.
“I think we’re in a good posture for JSC 2.0 that you hear Dr. Ellen Ochoa talking about.”
Embrace Differences
Nakamura grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and described it as a big melting pot of cultures. He laughed as he recalled his childhood, roaming with neighborhood kids from one household to the next, eating dinner with their families and learning about the various ethnic heritages from around the world.
From there, he headed to the northeast and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to get his degree in chemical engineering. Texas was just the next stop in a lifetime of learning about and celebrating the different backgrounds of those around him.
“Houstonians are very friendly,” Nakamura said. “JSC was very welcoming.”
He loves the European and German heritage—and especially the Hispanic culture—infused throughout Texas. “God bless Tex-Mex food!”
Nakamura served as one of the inaugural members of JSC’s Diversity Council in the early 1990s. It was yet another way to meet and interact with employees in all areas of JSC, and one that Nakamura embraced.
Three years after the Asians Succeeding in Innovation and Aerospace (ASIA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) formed in 2012, Nakamura was asked to serve as chair. He wanted to give back to the center and help employees, so he readily agreed.
The ASIA ERG is a vibrant group with diversity not just among the ethnic heritage of its members, but also their professions. Nakamura pointed out the mix of participation from science and engineering, along with contracts and budget. He believes that diversity in professions is just as important as heritage when it comes to giving advice on topics from career management to problem solving.
Working with volunteers is a joy for Nakamura. He cautioned that it takes an entirely different management and coaching style to work with them, however.
“You need to go where the energy of the volunteers takes you,” Nakamura said. “It might be STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] outreach or career-development brown bags.”
He looks for the halo effect, where tapping into someone’s passion for a project ignites a similar fire in other volunteers. “You tap that energy, and boom! You’ve got a great super-committee.”
As the chair of the ASIA ERG, one of his major goals was to build on past successes by organizing and automating several annual tasks and projects so that future chairs don’t have to start from zero. It’s work that, for Nakamura, has been the most fun he’s had in his 36 years at JSC. He was delighted at how the ERG members were able to pull together amazing events with unflagging passion, such as the visit by former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Sichan Siv, last October.
“For me in late-career, it was rejuvenating being part of the ERG,” Nakamura said. “Just wow!”
Build Legacies
Nakamura has worked with occupational safety and flight safety for half of his career at JSC, and he’s left a lasting impression on the center’s safety culture.
His proudest moment was when JSC earned its Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) certification for the first time in 1999. He was the chief of the Occupational Safety and Institutional Assurance Division at the time, and he was proud of the 10 years of good work that went on prior to the certification.
“That was a big deal,” Nakamura said. “Touched every organization on-site.”
A VPP certification means that JSC has a solid safety program where organizational culture is intrinsically sensitized to what is a hazard.
“Wherever we have hazards, we don’t have any injuries, because people are very careful,” Nakamura said. He pointed out that slips, trips and falls are still the leading cause of injury at JSC and urged employees to be aware of their surroundings.
Nakamura participates in JSC’s formal mentoring program as well as informally mentoring ERG members. Whether it’s sitting down for a few minutes to coach someone through a difficult transition in their career or reviewing a resume, he’s always willing to help.
Nakamura’s most important piece of advice, which he repeatedly emphasized, is to not be afraid of going outside of your comfort zone.
“Go for the stretch assignments,” Nakamura said. “If it looks like it’s going to be a hard job, it means [management] asked you for a reason. It’s not for you to fail. It’s for you to succeed, because they have confidence you can go in there and fix it.”
Michelle Fraser-Page
NASA Johnson Space Center
Stacey Nakamura has an easy laugh and is equally comfortable serving as the System Safety lead for the Orion vehicle or as part of the Mad Cow chili team for the annual Johnson Space Center FOD chili cook-off. In his 36-year tenure at JSC, he has seen a lot of change and, in his opinion, the overwhelming majority is for the better.
Walk Together
Nakamura used the word “blessed” to describe his first work assignment as a quality engineer at JSC, because he truly felt it was a special opportunity to interact with every directorate at the center. As a quality engineer, he worked in support of the Space Shuttle Program, Orbiter Vehicle Project and JSC institutional tasks, which allowed him to work across all directorates at the center.
“NASA is lucky to have a very clear mission,” Nakamura said. “JSC has recognized diversity and differences in a lot of ways. It’s not diversity for diversity’s sake. We’re using this to better achieve our mission.”
Diversity and cross-functional collaboration provide a continuous spectrum of viewpoints, from specialty engineering to ethnic background and heritage. Until all these things are put together, however, it’s impossible to know what’s missing.
It’s not unusual for Nakamura to lead a team with people from other centers—or even another country. What’s important for him is that team members feel comfortable with and know each other, even though they might go years without meeting in person.
Currently, he is coordinating system safety with the European Space Agency and Airbus Defense and Space Team on the European Service Module for the Orion capsule.
“One has to be really prepared to work effectively with an international partner,” Nakamura said. “There are many facets of cultural and language differences that you encounter and must strive to understand.”
Nakamura has watched culture across the country, the world and, especially, generations change rapidly, and thinks NASA is doing a lot to keep up.
“The center has learned to really leverage its human capital very well,” Nakamura said, describing benefits such as the JSC Child Care Center, Employee Assistance Program support, maxi-flex schedules, an emphasis on work-home balance, electronic tools for collaborating at a distance and the availability of pre-supervisory and inclusiveness training.
“I think we’re in a good posture for JSC 2.0 that you hear Dr. Ellen Ochoa talking about.”
Embrace Differences
Nakamura grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and described it as a big melting pot of cultures. He laughed as he recalled his childhood, roaming with neighborhood kids from one household to the next, eating dinner with their families and learning about the various ethnic heritages from around the world.
From there, he headed to the northeast and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to get his degree in chemical engineering. Texas was just the next stop in a lifetime of learning about and celebrating the different backgrounds of those around him.
“Houstonians are very friendly,” Nakamura said. “JSC was very welcoming.”
He loves the European and German heritage—and especially the Hispanic culture—infused throughout Texas. “God bless Tex-Mex food!”
Nakamura served as one of the inaugural members of JSC’s Diversity Council in the early 1990s. It was yet another way to meet and interact with employees in all areas of JSC, and one that Nakamura embraced.
Three years after the Asians Succeeding in Innovation and Aerospace (ASIA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) formed in 2012, Nakamura was asked to serve as chair. He wanted to give back to the center and help employees, so he readily agreed.
The ASIA ERG is a vibrant group with diversity not just among the ethnic heritage of its members, but also their professions. Nakamura pointed out the mix of participation from science and engineering, along with contracts and budget. He believes that diversity in professions is just as important as heritage when it comes to giving advice on topics from career management to problem solving.
Working with volunteers is a joy for Nakamura. He cautioned that it takes an entirely different management and coaching style to work with them, however.
“You need to go where the energy of the volunteers takes you,” Nakamura said. “It might be STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] outreach or career-development brown bags.”
He looks for the halo effect, where tapping into someone’s passion for a project ignites a similar fire in other volunteers. “You tap that energy, and boom! You’ve got a great super-committee.”
As the chair of the ASIA ERG, one of his major goals was to build on past successes by organizing and automating several annual tasks and projects so that future chairs don’t have to start from zero. It’s work that, for Nakamura, has been the most fun he’s had in his 36 years at JSC. He was delighted at how the ERG members were able to pull together amazing events with unflagging passion, such as the visit by former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Sichan Siv, last October.
“For me in late-career, it was rejuvenating being part of the ERG,” Nakamura said. “Just wow!”
Build Legacies
Nakamura has worked with occupational safety and flight safety for half of his career at JSC, and he’s left a lasting impression on the center’s safety culture.
His proudest moment was when JSC earned its Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) certification for the first time in 1999. He was the chief of the Occupational Safety and Institutional Assurance Division at the time, and he was proud of the 10 years of good work that went on prior to the certification.
“That was a big deal,” Nakamura said. “Touched every organization on-site.”
A VPP certification means that JSC has a solid safety program where organizational culture is intrinsically sensitized to what is a hazard.
“Wherever we have hazards, we don’t have any injuries, because people are very careful,” Nakamura said. He pointed out that slips, trips and falls are still the leading cause of injury at JSC and urged employees to be aware of their surroundings.
Nakamura participates in JSC’s formal mentoring program as well as informally mentoring ERG members. Whether it’s sitting down for a few minutes to coach someone through a difficult transition in their career or reviewing a resume, he’s always willing to help.
Nakamura’s most important piece of advice, which he repeatedly emphasized, is to not be afraid of going outside of your comfort zone.
“Go for the stretch assignments,” Nakamura said. “If it looks like it’s going to be a hard job, it means [management] asked you for a reason. It’s not for you to fail. It’s for you to succeed, because they have confidence you can go in there and fix it.”
Michelle Fraser-Page
NASA Johnson Space Center