Leadership Profile

Superintendent Promotes Positive Changes for Inmates and the Community

By Maria Peterson, East Team Leader, Communications

Hisami Yoshida Superintendent Cedar Creek Corrections Center
Hisami Yoshida, Superintendent

Cedar Creek Corrections Center staff members work with a simple motto created under the current leadership of Superintendent Hisami Yoshida, “We make positive change happen.” And Yoshida believes this motto applies for all DOC staff members.

“I truly believe the work we do in corrections is some of the most meaningful work there is to do,” Yoshida said. “Every day we make a difference in someone’s life, and that’s why I’ve been here so long.”

Yoshida started working for DOC in 1990. She soon learned that her work in the agency tied directly to some of the main passions in her life including diversity and women’s issues in the workplace.

“I’ve been allowed to weave that passion into the work I do,” she said. “I’ve been able to help move the issue of diversity and gender in the workplace forward and challenge people to think about things in a different way.” 

As the first Asian American woman Superintendent in the state, Yoshida acknowledges the work the department has put into supporting diversity.

“I love to see the progress that has been made over the last 10 years,” she said. “There once was a reluctance to discuss diversity at all. Today we can talk about it openly and have constructive discussions about how we can improve.”

Yoshida is involved in five different nonprofit boards and committees, including the Japanese American Citizens League. According to Deputy Prisons Director Alice Payne, Yoshida is humble about the awards and accolades she has received for her community service.

“Still waters run deep with Hisami,” said Prisons Deputy Director Alice Payne. “She is very involved in her community and she participates because she’s dedicated to the causes she supports, not to get attention. That is very noble and a sign of a great leader.”

Yoshida, who is an avid gardener and hasn’t had garbage service at her house since 1984, is thrilled to be the Superintendent at Cedar Creek where there is an emphasis on sustainability. The minimum-security prison operates several sustainability programs including gardening, bee keeping, composting, recycling and water conservation.

It’s another part of her work that ties back to her life’s passions.

“What we do physically in the world affects everybody and the more sustainable we can become and the less damage we do in the environment the more we’re helping in general,” she said. “It’s another way we make positive change happen. Not just for the offenders, but for our communities, our co-workers and our world.”

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