George Nishinaka is best remembered for his leadership with Special Services for Groups, a Los Angeles agency committed to diversity in social services, where he refined group work methods. Nishinaka was not able to participate in his Hollywood High School graduation in 1942, because he and his family were “relocated”, first to a receiving center in Pomona, and later to a relocation center in Wyoming. Nearly 30 years later he organized social workers, Asian Americans and others to support legislation to assure there could not again be a legal rationale to incarcerate citizens based on their color or heritage. With the 1944 change in the draft status for Japanese Americans, he enlisted in the U. S. Armed Forces, serving in Europe. In 1953 he graduated from the University of Southern California School of Social Work, and his distinguished career in social work began.

From 1953 to 1955, George served as an Area Coordinator for the Los Angeles Youth Project. He then became the Director for the South Central Area Welfare Planning Council until 1959 when he was hired as the Executive Director of SSG, a small, struggling United Way Agency working with juvenile gangs. The agency grew to exemplify multicultural social work practice with low-income communities and families. Well ahead of his profession he advocated for, and demonstrated, social work practices geared to the needs of low-income ethnic populations. He led a diverse team of social workers that initiated new programs to counter the conditions of poverty and develop community-based leadership. The agency opened the first half way house for youth authority wards, was the first to place a social worker in a police station, and established the first family counseling program to work with juvenile police officers. Well ahead of society, SSG had programs to support youth from the ghettos and barrios in an educational career path through college.

Locally, statewide and nationally he provided active leadership in the social work, the Japanese-American, and the military veteran arenas. From 1956 to 1981, George held many positions in NASW including President of the California Chapter in 1966 and national First Vice President in 1971. An active USC alumnus, he served as President of Los Amigos de la Humanidad and the USC Social Work Alumni Association. He also worked with the National Conference on Social Welfare, the Alcoholism Council of California and others.

He received awards commendations and recognition from the Koshland Award, National Asian-American Mental Health Research Center, Vietnamese Community Foundation of San Diego, National Conference on Social Welfare and Community Youth Council. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the USC School of Social Work Asian Pacific Caucus and the Social Work Pioneer Award from NASW.