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For many of us, the path from high school to a fulfilling career follows a relatively linear trajectory. For Ken Fukuda ‘89, it was anything but.

Ken spent more than a decade finding his purpose before becoming a decorated wildland firefighter and a leader in hazardous fuels reduction. Today, as a task force leader with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ken is on the front lines of one of the most urgent environmental issues of our time. It was for this work that Ken was selected as the recipient of the 2025 ASIJ Alumni Impact Award.

The award is presented annually to recognize distinguished alumni from the wide and diverse community of Mustangs living around the globe. The award recognizes and honors alumni who have made a significant positive contribution in their field or pursuit, such as sustainability, community service, scientific/technological advancement, or the arts. The Awards Committee of the Alumni Council reviews nominations for both the Alumni Impact Award and Young Alumni Changemaker Award and votes to select the awardees each year.

"I never actually graduated from ASIJ," Ken says candidly. "My academics weren’t great, and I struggled with other issues growing up, making some poor choices. In 1989 I ended up in a reform school in Massachusetts trying to get my life back on track." Ken would remain there until 1992 before he moved in with his sister in Boston. He was still  trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. “I still hadn't graduated high school and I didn't really have a path or know what I wanted to do at that point,” he shares.

Ken began his journey by earning his GED and completing an associate’s degree while working. That allowed him to transfer to Oregon State University where he studied wildlife science. It was a move that would change everything. "I knew I wanted to be outdoors," he says. "That’s all I really knew."

After graduating from OSU in 1998, Ken landed a job with the BLM, conducting wildlife surveys for sensitive species in the Pacific Northwest. Two years later, he “switched to doing surveys for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. At the time their species was in decline in the Pacific Northwest due to logging and habitat fragmentation.” Ken monitored their population and factors impacting their occurrence on land managed by the BLM. In 2001, he took advantage of training that the BLM offered to take on a secondary role as a wildland firefighter. Ken got his certification and in addition to his spotted owl work, he would spend the summers fighting fires.

"At first, it was a way to make a little extra money," Ken says. "But once I did it, I caught the fire bug. I was hooked." Since then, firefighting has become more than a secondary duty. It’s become his life’s work. Over the past two decades, Ken has traveled across the United States to combat increasingly intense and frequent wildfires. Crews regularly travel even further afield, as far as Australia, to support firefighting efforts internationally. "Last year alone, I worked over 1,000 hours of overtime across six different fire assignments," he says. "It's pretty much from July till the rain starts in October or November here that you're essentially on fire.” Ken goes where he’s needed moving from outbreak to outbreak to try to control or manage those fires. “You're on 14 days, you take two days off, and then you're back on to your next assignment somewhere else,” he says.

Wildland firefighting is grueling work. Ken describes crews spending up to 21 consecutive days in the field, working 16-hour shifts in some of the most dangerous terrain imaginable. Ken has done it all from fire line construction with shovels and chainsaws to aerial operations. “I've worked with aviation teams supplying troops with water or operating troop shuttles with helicopters and cargo missions using helicopters,” Ken notes. “I'm an engine captain, so if there's a need for an engine, I will staff an engine with other crew members to provide support.”

Now, as a task force leader, he coordinates crews and operations on complex assignments, with his sights set on further advancement. “I'm working my way up the ladder, and I'm currently a task force leader, which means I'm kind of managing the resources on fires and making sure objectives and strategic operations are met,” Ken says. “I'm working on becoming a division group supervisor at the moment — it's all through training that's provided through the Bureau of Land Management.”

Since 2002, Ken has also shifted his year-round focus away from the owl population to hazardous fuels reduction — preventative work that involves thinning forests and conducting controlled burns to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Ken tells us the goal is to “reduce the amount of fuel available so that these catastrophic fires don't occur. The work is mostly localized around communities and strategic areas where fires can be stopped.”

"The work has changed," he notes. "Climate change has drastically changed the nature of fires. They've only gotten bigger, their duration longer, and the frequency of fires has increased." This impact for firefighters is longer shifts and working later into the summer to try and contain these fires. “Whereas fire season may have been four months out of the year,” Ken says “now it's extended to six months out of the year. And people are getting more fatigued.”

But while the challenges have grown, so has Ken’s sense of purpose. He speaks passionately about the Japanese concept of ikigai, which centers on finding meaning by combining what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. “That's kind of how I see my firefighting — taking all the things into account and how I can make a difference in the world while doing something I love and being able to provide financially for my family. I think it's meaningful work,” he says. That support system is crucial. Ken credits his wife, who holds down her own full-time job and manages their two children while he’s away for extended periods, with making his work possible. "Having that strong foundation at home is everything," he says.

Although Ken was born in New Jersey while his Japanese parents Ryusuke and Julie Fukada were stationed overseas, he grew up in Tokyo. The family — Ken’s siblings Julie ‘83, Marie ‘84, Kimie ‘87 and Jon ‘92, all attended ASIJ — returned to Japan where his father completed his career as a banker.

Ken recalls his time at ASIJ with a mixture of fondness and humility. "Growing up in Japan gave me a worldview that I don’t think I could have gotten anywhere else," he says. "ASIJ was a cultural melting pot — kind of a microcosm of the world we're in today," he says. He credits two former ASIJ teachers, Craig Olstad (FF ‘86-’02, P ‘94 ‘95), who taught English and art teacher Ki Nimori (FF ‘60-’02, P ‘83 ‘84), as key mentors who helped him navigate a turbulent adolescence. "They exuded confidence and positivity," he says. "I really looked up to them. I think they had a big impact on me growing up."

Today, Ken's story offers powerful lessons for young people trying to find their way. "You’re not going to find your purpose overnight," he says. "It took me years. But if you follow your passion, stay open, and surround yourself with support, it will come."

Ken says, “find something that you're passionate about and at least try and see if it meshes with you, if it brings you happiness … All I know is that when I started working outdoors I knew I wanted to be outdoors.” He notes that, like many federal employees, he also feels the draw to public service.

For students interested in environmental or sustainability careers, Ken offers realistic but encouraging advice. "Be prepared for hard, physical work. It’s not easy. But if you love the outdoors and want to make a difference, there’s nothing more meaningful."

Ken hopes to return to Japan soon to reconnect with his roots. For now, though, his time is spent protecting forests and communities from fire, fueled by a sense of duty that burns brighter with each passing year.

"I may not have taken a traditional path," he says. "But I found my way. And I wouldn’t change a thing."