Bellevue College Trustee Inducted as Chair of ACCT Board of Directors 

Richard Fukutaki, Bellevue College Board of Trustee member and former chair, was recently inducted as board chair into the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Board of Directors. His induction was at the ACCT Leadership Congress event held on Oct. 26 in Seattle.  

The ACCT is a national nonprofit organization for community, technical, and junior college trustees, which brings together college leaders to address real-world challenges and help students succeed through advocacy and education.  

Prior to ACCT board chair, Fukutaki was the ACCT’s secretary-treasurer and vice chair, first elected in 2021. As chair, he will lead ACCT’s Board of Directors. He is the first Asian man, the first Japanese American, and the first descendant of a Japanese internment camp family to lead ACCT. 

In addition to Fukutaki’s induction, the ACCT Leadership Congress event included presentations from Bellevue College leadership, including:  

• “Building a Strong Partnership through Board Assessment and Evaluation” by former Interim Bellevue College President Jill Wakefield, Bellevue College Trustee Pradnya Desh, and Cynthia Lenton-Gary of Houston Comm College 

• “Navigating the Waves of Change: Multi-Level Perspectives on Managing and Minimizing Administrative Churn” by Bellevue College Trustee Fukutaki, Bellevue College President Dr. David May, Bellevue College Provost Dr. Jessica Clark, and Bellevue College Dean Emeritus Chris Bell 

• “A state of Affairs: The Underrepresentation of Minority Community College Trustees” by Bellevue College Trustee Richard Leigh and Carl B Smalls of Danville Comm College