BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Yoke-Sim Gunaratne was born and raised in Malaysia. After earning her undergraduate degree there, she met her husband and together they moved to Australia. While she was in Australia she received her master's degree in sociology from the University of Queensland. After spending about ten years in Australia, she came to Moorhead in 1986. Yoke-Sim and her husband moved here when he was offered a position at Moorhead State University. In 1994, Yoke-Sim was hired as the executive director of Cultural Diversity Resources. She still holds that position today. Grant writing, supervising staff, developing and implementing programs and services, and meeting clients to hear their concerns are among her many duties as executive director. Yoke-Sim is also responsible for sustaining the non-profit organization. CDR began as only a three-year project, but by applying for grants and community donations, Yoke-Sim has continued the project until the present day.

In this interview, Yoke Sim Gunaratne describes in great detail her work with Cultural Diversity Resources--her passion for her job, the triumphs and difficulties the organization has experienced, and the importance of the role the organization in the Fargo-Moorhead community.

Yoke Sim Gunaratne was interviewed on April 23, 2003 (10:00am) by Christine Densmore and Alyson Flemming.

 

ON INSPIRATION:

"Is there anyone is the community that has particularly inspired me in my work? I think I get a lot more inspiration from the people I have helped, because if you see someone coming in, they have no jobs, they’re very depressed and you know, and then you see that about a few years later down the line they’ve got a good job, they’re very confident and you see them change. You don’t know it until, if you see them on a daily basis you don’t see that but if you don’t see them and they come and every time you meet with them you see some changes; it is very rewarding for me."

ONE WAY CULTURAL DIVERSITY RESOURCES HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE:

"You know the fact that we do a lot of training for businesses; it certainly has made an impact. We see a lot more people of color in positions and in committees and boards that we have seen, because the fact that there’s more minorities out there, and people do call us and say, I need someone to sit on my board, or sit on my committees, and we tend to refer some of our people that we know. That really helped."

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

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