Photo caption: Mitsuko Ito (right) receiving the COESCAC Culture Champion Award from Damon Williams, associate dean for inclusive excellence in the College of Engineering.

—

The College of Engineering’s Staff Culture Advisory Council (COESCAC) awarded Mitsuko Ito with this year’s Culture Champion Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). 

A Culture Champion winner for each College of Engineering (CoE) school was announced at this year’s CoE Staff Engagement Day event on November 15.

Ito, an academic program manager who supports the Vertically Integrated Projects program, is very involved in staff development and wellness initiatives. She is a licensed massage therapist, an accredited certified practitioner of the tapping technique, and includes “Well-being Activator” as part of her title in ECE.

She is recognized on campus for her Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and tapping sessions, available to Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff. Tapping involves targeting 12 meridian points on the body to alleviate the effects of negative experiences or emotions. 

Thanks to the enthusiasm and backing from the campus community, Tapping @ GT has a straightforward protocol that anyone can easily pick up. Its positive impacts were particularly evident during the challenging times of the pandemic. Recently she has teamed up with Christian Gallie, the ECE Culture Champion from last year, to secure approval from the Student Government Association Mental Health Joint Allocation Committee (MHJAC) to expand outreach efforts and provide additional stress management and overall wellbeing support to students.

Since joining Georgia Tech in 2017, she has proven to be an invaluable resource, consistently infusing campus with positive energy.

Chance Brown, the director of financial administration in CoE, said of Ito:
Teamwork and mental health are something that Mitsuko takes seriously. She is dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle and providing stress relief techniques to faculty and staff at many of ECE’s events. Mitsuko makes the atmosphere more inclusive and harmonious.   

Linda Dillon, the assistant director of business operations in ECE, added:
One of the most commendable aspects of Mitsuko’s work is her tireless dedication to promoting mental health and provides effective stress-relief techniques such as tapping to the faculty and staff at many of our events. 

Read a Q&A with Mitsuko to learn more about her approach to mindfulness and EFT Tapping.