During its annual Summer Festival, the Venice Japanese Community Center on June 23 introduced Miss Western L.A. Marica Katie Kobayashi Snyder, who will represent VJCC and Venice-West L.A. JACL at the Nisei Week pageant in August.
Born in Tokyo, she moved to the South Bay as a young child and continued her Japanese language education at Gardena Buddhist Church Japanese Language School. She graduated from North High School in Torrance and attended California State University, Los Angeles, graduating in 2013 with a major in business administration.
Snyder cites her time working as an office manager at Elder Law Services of California for her interest in business and passion for human resources and client satisfaction.
During the summers, she returns to Japan to visit her grandparents and extended family, who live in Saitama Prefecture. She is focused on giving back to her community by getting involved in various service groups.
The daughter of Thomas and Hiromi Kobayashi Snyder and older sister of Bryan Takumi Snyder, she enjoys graphic design, cooking, karaoke, and going to Disneyland.
Snyder and other Nikkei royalty participated in the ondo dancing, one of the highlights of the festival.