PULLING UP A CHAIR: Never one with a shortage of things to do, Josie Natori is taking over one other hefty responsibility. The Asian Cultural Council’s board of trustees has elected the dressmaker as its latest chairman.

Removed from a newcomer to the organization, Natori, who was born within the Philippines, has served on ACC’s board since 1995. Five years later she helped establish its Philippines Foundation and ACC’s affiliate office in Manila. That location is considered one of the organization’s five international offices.

Having began her namesake company 46 years ago, Natori, chief executive officer and chief creative officer, is as tireless as ever. She routinely flies forwards and backwards between her homeland and her home base in Recent York. After each 10-hour flight to and from Manila, she is understood to go on to the office for a full day’s work. That was the case Thursday, when the designer was reached in Manila and she or he had mentioned that she was en path to her office there.

Actually, the designer said her love for the humanities began as a toddler growing up in Manila studying piano, which became a lifelong passion. “While I am keen on my work, success in fashion just isn’t enough. I would like to find a way to present something back, to make a difference in people’s lives. Serving as a trustee, and now taking over the role of chairman in ACC’s Recent York headquarters, is emblematic of that desire,” she said, adding that she is looking forward to working with the board and staff “to proceed providing artists, scholars and humanities professionals with singular opportunities to further expand their practices and pursuits through dynamic cultural exchange.”

In her latest role on the helm of the ACC’s board of trustees, she succeeds Wendy O’Neill, a 14-year board of trustees veteran, who had acted as chairman since 2012. In May of this yr, O’Neill was tapped as a life trustee.

Announcing Natori’s appointment, the ACC’s executive director Judy Kim said, “Josie Cruz Natori has been a stalwart champion of ACC’s mission, generously sharing each her deep-seated passion for the humanities and her business acumen for over twenty years.”

Natori began her profession on Wall Street, where she became the primary female vp of investment banking at Merrill Lynch.

Since launching the Natori Company, her namesake fashion and international lifestyle brand, in 1977, Natori has been bringing art to life with an East-meets-West sensibility. Previously, she had a profession on Wall Street, becoming the primary female vp of investment banking at Merrill Lynch. Along with being a long-standing member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, she is a board member for each the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Statue of Liberty — Ellis Island Foundation.