Steve Tatsukawa was born in the West Jefferson area of Los Angeles and raised in Gardena. In 1970, Steve entered the Ethno-Communications department at UCLA and received a BA in Theater Arts. Later he got an MBA from UCLA's Graduate School of Management. During this time, he worked five years as editor at a progressive newspaper Gidra: Monthly of the Asian American Community. Dedicated to promoting a more complex image of Asian Americans in the media, he also devoted his time to Visual Communications. In 1978, he became the executive director of VC and secured federal funding for 'Hito Hata.' He was involved in founding the National Asian American Telecommunications Asssociation, which aired 'Silk Screen,' the first Asian American television series, on PBS. Steve joined KCET in 1981 to become the Manager of Program Development. [Source: Pauline Stakelon]