Lena Ruth Yasutake has been an educator for over 20 years. Lena has channeled her passion for Austen into creating engaging, interactive programming about Austen’s life and work. She’s been interviewed about her love for Austen in The Washington Post in 2016, The Guardian in 2019, The Daily Beast in 2020, the Janite Spotlight, and the Queen’s Chronicle in 2025.

She has presented interactive educational programming at the Morgan Library & Museum and through her nonprofit work with the Imaginists, she has co-conducted educational programs on Austen for all ages in libraries and schools across the country. She is dedicated to sharing Austen with new, inclusive and diverse audiences as well as fellow Janeites. 

Her popular program Jane Austen Spills the Tea, a combination of gossip from Jane Austen’s life and letters served with Regency era tea and etiquette, made its debut at the King Manor Museum. Since then, she’s presented at the Jane Austen Festival, and libraries and museums across the country.

A member of the Jane Austen Society of North America since 2016, she is slated to speak at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Tucson, and has spoken at two previous AGMs; in Chicago about the power of adaptations to create avenues of access for audiences new to Austen and in Cleveland about forging a more diverse and welcoming Austen community. 

She adapted and directed Sense and Sensibility for the stage at the Mertens Theater. She was delighted to bring Mrs. Bennet to life in the immersive play, Meanwhile at Longbourn, by Evelyn Gard at the Osborne Homestead Museum. She enjoys playing in the annual theatricals of the Jane Austen Summer Program, written and directed by Adam McCune. She has featured in multiple plays for the Jane Austen Society of North America, directed by Sarah Rose Kearns and Emilee Dupré. 

Lena is also a historical costumer and costume designer who has a special love of Regency fashion. She has designed and created costumes for multiple Jane Austen stage adaptations, beginning with her own adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. She was the mistress of ceremonies for Regency Looks from Jane Austen’s Books, a diverse and inclusive fashion show at the Baltimore AGM 2025. She’s well known for her collaboration with talented black American costume and fashion designer Trenell Mooring who created a line of gowns and accessories with African print fabric in Regency silhouettes.

Like Marianne she loves dancing, almost above all things! As an event coordinator and mistress of ceremonies she has hosted several sold out Jane Austen Balls to benefit The Historic Joseph Teel House.