Board Members

MIRA NAKASHIMA, President, the daughter of George Nakashima and co-owner of George Nakashima Woodworker. Born in Seattle, incarcerated in Minidoka, Idaho in 1942, moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania in 1943, Mira attended New Hope-Solebury until High School, where she received her diploma from Solebury School. Graduating cum laude from Harvard University in 1963, she received a Masters in Architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo in 1966, married one of her classmates, Tetsu Amagasu, and has four children: Satoru, Maria, Shanti and Misha, plus seven grandchildren. Mira returned to New Hope in 1970, began working part-time at Nakashima’s, and took over as creative director of the woodworking operation when her father, George, died in 1990. She has been a member of the Foundation since its inception in 1984 and is now married to Jonathan Yarnall.

JONATHAN YARNALL, Vice President, born in Germantown of Quaker background and attended Germantown Friends School and Earlham College, where he majored in Political Science. He started as an assistant to the late master carpenter Robert Lovett, then apprenticed to the Austrian-trained Adam Martini in the Chair Department, where he has worked since 1974, and married Mira in 1985. He is a student of mysticism from Quakerism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Japanese Zen and Tibetan Buddhism to Sri Aurobindo, George’s guru

JOHN LUTZ, Treasurer and Secretary, woodworker, furniture designer, manager, and educator. He received his BFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design in 1984 from Rochester Institute of Technology. Lutz’ career began working in the furniture industry and taught woodworking at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Penland School of Crafts. He worked for Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers in Maine, for over 18 years as designer, where he was awarded design patents and innovation design awards. In 2008, John began as General Manager of George Nakashima Woodworker, and continues to create his own works while focusing on the process of making traditional forms. John earned a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from LaSalle’s Nonprofit Center and is a Board Officer for the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia.

BARBARA SIMMONS, served as executive director for 30 years at The Peace Center, a peace and justice organization. She helped implement programs in violence prevention, intervention and tertiary and addressed conflict, racism and bigotry. Simmons was founding producer of PeaceTalks radio, creating audio documentaries focused on peace-building from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Rwanda, South Africa, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Canada and the United States, which aired on NPR, PRI and many other stations. Walter Cronkite hosted several of the programs. She currently serves as Ambassador to L.O.V.E. is the Answer, which brings together police and the community they serve in an effort to address racism and police brutality; she serves on the Board of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace and Alpha Community Education Foundation; and serves on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee of Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition. Simmons is an adjunct instructor at Arcadia University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution master’s program. 

The Foundation’s advisors

Miriam Belov

Irene Goldman

Julian Lines

Katherine Kish

Deirdre Miller

David Verdon

Kevin Wilkes