Saeko is an experienced and strategic leader with building high-performing teams and delivering results. Saeko joined Toastmasters in 2016 and belongs to the Heritage Toastmasters club. She obtained her DTM in 2019. She has served in the District Leadership role as Division X Director, Club Extension Chair, and Public Relations Manager. She was humbled to receive the Division Director of the Year Award for TM 2020-2021. She has also served as various officers such as President, VP of Education, and VP of Public Relations for her club. When she was the President, she spearheaded helping the Heritage Club achieve the President Distinguished in 2018-2019 and 2021-2022. She is excited to serve and continuously grow District 19!
Other than Toastmasters, Saeko serves as a President of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Eastern Iowa Chapter. This is her 4th year as the President and has held various board positions since 2015. PMI is an international non-profit organization and has over 680,000 members globally. The Eastern Iowa Chapter serves over 300 members in the Corridor. Along with its board members, her focus has been to increase member satisfaction, recruit new members, and retain existing members.
Saeko has over 20 years of project management experience in the healthcare, insurance, and aerospace industries. Saeko works as the Director of Strategic Execution for Buchanan County Health Center. She is responsible for executing the organization-wide strategic vision and leading core and adjacent business growth and transformation.
Saeko is a Japanese national, who used to work for Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, and has been working in the U.S.A. since 1997. She once lived in Cambridge, England, and took ballroom dancing classes along with her European friends in addition to going to school. She also lived in Honolulu, HI, and worked for Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health maintenance organizations in the U.S.A., for 8 years. Throughout her career, she has experienced interacting successfully with diverse individuals at all levels and from different countries.
She is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) and a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (CLSSBL). She received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) from Hawaii Pacific University and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Upper Iowa University. She lives in Marion with her husband, her 16-years old daughter, and a male Yorkie named “Cocoa”.
