Sumi Haru

     Sumi Sevilla Haru has been a national board member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1974.  She served as acting president in 1995 and was the recording secretary serving with presidents Edward Asner and Patty Duke.  She was first vice president serving with presidents Barry Gordon and Richard Masur.  She was a co-founder of SAG’s Ethnic Minorities Committee, now named Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee (EEOC), in 1971 and served a number of years as its national chair and will again be the national chair starting in October 2005.

     Haru was the first and only Asian Pacific American to serve as a national vice president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) from 1995 to 2001.  The organization represents 13 million workers.

     Her production company, Iron Lotus Productions specializes in festivals.  Her expertise came from her production of the Central Avenue Jazz Festival, Los Angeles Mariachi Festival, among others, for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

     She was the first Filipino American to be seen regularly on television in Los Angeles where she hosted public affairs programs, Gallery, 70’s Woman and 80’s Woman, at KTLA-TV from 1972 to 1989.  She was the morning host on Up For Air at KPFK-FM.  Her show L.A. Arts Mix can be seen on L.A. City Channel 35, and she and her co-host are recipients of a CableAce award for the program.

     Haru is the state chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus.  She is the president of Philippine American Los Angeles Democrats (PALAD).   As the president of the Philippine American National Museum Los Angeles, she is leading the start-up of the new nonprofit organization.

     She can be seen in the movies MASH and Krakatoa, East of Java.  Her television appearances include The Young and the Restless, Hill Street Blues, Beverly Hillbillies and Six Million Dollar Man.  She performed on stage with the East West Players for over ten years and toured as the lead in Teahouse of the August Moon.  Her biographical one-woman play Iron Lotus Speaks will premier in May 2006 at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.

     Haru has been on the national and local boards of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists since 1976.

     She was born in Orange, New Jersey, however conceived in Manila.  She attended schools in Arvada, Colorado and the University of Colorado.  She has two grown daughters.