Carmel Tanaka
Founder of JQT, Jewpanese Project, and more

A) What qualities make the nominee deserving of the Z3 Bridge Builder Award?

Carmel Tanaka’s intersecting identities as a queer, neurodivergent, Jewpanese woman of colour and her family history with the Holocaust and the Japanese Canadian Internment informs much of her work. Her superpower is identifying gaps within and across her communities and creating safer community spaces to support and celebrate people who have been “othered” like herself. Many of Carmel’s community engagement projects have gained traction and transformed into the vibrant movements they are today. They include, but are not limited to, the following: JQT Vancouver, Jewpanese Project, Cross Cultural Walking Tours, and Genocide Prevention BC.

Pronounced “J-cutie”, JQT Vancouver is a volunteer-run Jewish Queer and Trans charitable non-profit dedicated to "queering" Jewish spaces and "Jew-ifying" Queer spaces through education, dialogue, art, cultural celebration and partnerships in Vancouver, BC, on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

The Jewpanese Project is a multiphase community oral history project documenting the lived experiences of Jewish and Japanese families worldwide. She just completed three years collecting interviews, and is now developing an archive, as well as a play to celebrate Jewpanese joy. Follow the journey on Instagram @JewpaneseProject

The Cross Cultural Walking Tours celebrate the rich layered history of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood: Jewish Strathcona, Hogan’s Alley, Chinatown, DTES and Powell Street. These guided or virtual walking tours build awareness of the contributions of Indigenous and early immigrant communities then and now, in celebration of Asian and Jewish Heritage Months in May. BC Museums Association awarded the program the Award of Merit for Excellence in Community Engagement.

Genocide Prevention BC was a cross-cultural collective of 40+ BC representatives committed to the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity through dialogue, education and broader community engagement. The group was active between 2018-2020, spending a full year attending each other’s commemorative ceremonies and was recognized as an unprecedented initiative linking BC communities that have suffered past and current harms.

B) In what ways has the nominee demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to their work in bridging divides?

For her work with JQT, Carmel has been running this grassroots organization as a volunteer Executive Director since 2018. As of this year, JQT became Canada’s first homegrown Jewish LGBTQ2SIA+ charity, which is an amazing feat. She tirelessly advocates and supports the community needs of the Jewish queer and trans population. The current temperature of the JQT community has been of immense pain since October 7, 2023, and together with her Board, Carmel is helping both Jewish organizations and Queer organizations better understand the full spectrum of lived experiences Jewish queer and trans people are having at this time. It’s a tightrope to walk amid such contentious and polarizing times. Learn more about the JQT Mental Health Support Series here: https://www.jqtvancouver.ca/twice-blessed-2

While she was conducting the BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project, she heard from Jewish queer and trans elders that they fear going into long-term care. This prompted the creation of the JQT Seniors Initiative, which has produced a seniors resource guide on dying and death, and training workshops for front line healthcare providers. Learn more about the JQT Seniors Initiative here: https://www.jqtvancouver.ca/jqt-seniors-initiative This resource guide caught the attention of Vancouver’s Chevra Kadisha, who are now involved with the JQT Seniors Initiative and actively preparing protocols that honour trans and nonbinary community members in their final wishes.

I've personally attended JQT events, and recently, I was particularly impressed by the drag show Carmel and JQT hosted that featured Nana Schewitz. This event engaged with the themes of Carmel's current work at the intersection of aging, Jewishness and queerness while providing an entertaining avenue for facilitating discussion on the role of popular media in doing academic and community-oriented work. As a professor of popular media, I was thrilled to be introduced to the critical work drag could do and the dialogue it could foster. It was this event with Nana Schewitz that drew my attention to Carmel's important work, which I'm now seeking every avenue to support!

As much as JQT is helping to make Jewish community organizations more inclusive of queer and trans Jews, JQT is also doing this work with Queer organizations. “Queering” Jewish spaces is one thing; “Jew-ifying” Queer spaces is an entirely different beast. With Carmel at the helm, JQT became Vancouver Pride Society’s first and only Jewish 2SLGBTQIA+ community partner in 2022, after years of dialogue and trust building. As mentioned above, JQT is currently engaging in dialogue with Queer organizations on how queer and trans Jews are feeling isolated in Queer spaces. This work is emotionally labourious and requires a great deal of resilience to keep building bridges and having nuanced conversations with Queer organizations. Most people will stay away from the Israel and Palestine conflict with a ten-foot pole, but Carmel knows that it is the elephant in the room, and it is having a detrimental impact on the mental health of the JQT community, and must be addressed in order to move forward together to address the local issues impacting the JQT community.

Carmel’s work on the Jewpanese Project is unprecedented for the Jewish and Japanese global community. Fullstop. She is the subject matter expert on all things “Jewpanese”. For many of the interviewees, Carmel is often the first Jewpanese person they meet outside of their siblings. The impact of this project has already been profound for its Jewpanese community members. Some of whom have described it as life-affirming. Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the launch of the archives and her upcoming Jewpanese play. If only she could clone herself to get the work done faster!


C) How has the nominee's work impacted the Jewish community and beyond?

Carmel’s work speaks for itself. Here is a sampling of links to get a sense of the global impact her work has and continues to have in the Jewish community and beyond.