July 2011 SIFJ Delegates
(c)Eric Becker/We Are Shouting
The 1st Social Innovation Forum: Japan Delegation arrived in Seattle on July 20, 2011. This inaugural group of EIGHT leaders included some of Japan's most recognized social innovators, leading change in the fields of urban planning, youth and civic engagement, women's empowerment, social entrepreneurship, and the culture & impact of the NGO sector in Japan. Each Delegate was selected based on merit, impact, and motivation for accelerating change through the growth of domestic and global partnerships.
Because of a new partnership between iLEAP and the Jolkona Foundation, i4Japan, you can support the July 2011 Social Innovation Forum: Japan Delegates by making a DIRECT DONATION through the i4 Japan site. 100% of your donation goes directly to their grass-roots efforts!
Chie Aikawa
Cross Cultural Interpreter
email Chie
Born and raised in Tokyo, Chie Aikawa has a rich background in international travel and cultural immersion from a number of study abroad experiences, international internships, and work. As of 2011, Chie has lived or visited 37 countries around the world. In 2007, Chie became an independent interpreter specialized in social-oriented events, seminars and international youth exchange. She has worked with a variety of organizations involved in international education on long and short engagements as an interpreter including Ship for World Youth program operated by the Cabinet Office to engage young people in service and education based travel experiences, the Japan committee for UNICEF, and World Campus International in Japan. Following the Tohuku earthquake, Chie has interpreted a series of workshops and dialogue sessions with various facilitators in Tokyo, Nagoya and Takamatsu. Representatives from Fukushima were among the participants at an overnight workshop. In the wake of 3/11, Chie believes that more Japanese people are starting to see that there is a wider selection of lifestyles, rather than just one "elite path". The change is coming slowly but surely, especially to younger Japanese. Chie hopes to see this shift accelerate.
Kumi Imamura
Founder
Katariba
email Kumi
www.katariba.net
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT KATARIBA
Kumi Imamura is the founder of Katariba, a nonprofit that provides a variety of career education and civic empowerment classes for high school students. In 2001, determined to create a
space where young people can articulate their dreams for the future, both in their personal careers as well for the general future of Japan, Kumi, then a senior in college, approached high schools nationwide and asked whether they would be interested in hosting events that would bring in local leaders to motivate students. In her first two years of canvassing, only two schools agreed to what what might be considered a "basic civic exercise". But as of today, prompted by students demanding such activities, Katariba has held 463 forums in 283 high schools across the country and engages over 4,000 volunteers nationwide. Katabira plays a vital role in helping to build self confidence and career awareness of high school students who will become our society’s future leaders. In August 2009, Kumi was recognized in Time magazine as a leading young NGO activist in the movement for young people to step off the traditional track to pursue their passions. Read the Time article.
Yuki Inoue
Co-Founder
Inno-Lab International
email Yuki
Yuki holds a Master of Media and Governance from Keio University and specializes in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Since 2004, Yuki had been working in Caux Round Table, an international network of business leaders working to promote corporate social responsibility, and also had been on loan to Standard Chartered Bank. In 2007, Yuki joined the Keio University Research Institute of SFC as a Senior Visiting Fellow conducting the Designing Social Innovation projects to broadly spread the concepts of "theory of change" and "scaling out" in social entrepreneurship in Japan. Since 2007, Yuki has served as a consultant for social entrepreneurship businesses on strategic planning, program construction to increase their impact on society. Shortly after joining Keio University, Yuki became a member of Social Venture Partners Tokyo, a venture philanthropy organization which supports social entrepreneurship in Japan. Most recently, Yuki just co-founded a new social enterprise, Inno-Lab International.
Tomohiko Okabe
CEO
Koto-Lab
email Tomohiko
www.koto-lab.com
WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT KOTOBUKI CHO
Since 2004, Tomohiko Okabe has implemented a neighborhood revitalization project called Yokohama Kotobuki Style, in the Kotobuki-cho area of Yokohama, 20 minutes south of Tokyo by train. This district is known for their high number of unskilled day laborers who live in cheap lodging. Okabe is interested in transforming the area by adding artistic elements to the neighborhood and finding ways to make good use of the area’s resources to create new industries. Essentially, he wants to create new “phenomena” instead of only making “things.” For example, the Yokohama Hostel Village project, aims to transform cheap lodging houses into youth hostels that cater to foreign backpackers. He also created a promotional movie called Kotobuki Promotion, which explains the current situation of the towns and the projects they are working on. Additional projects include: Kotobuki, let’s vote for the election campaign, which helped transform the neighborhood by putting up colorful posters encouraging day laborers to vote; and One tsubo (3.3 square meters) outdoor board project, which set up 3.3 square meter shogi boards (Japanese chess) around town so people in the community could participate in playing shogi. Okabe is a graduate of Tokyo University’s School of Architecture and a member of Japan Society’s Innovators Network.
Kenyuu Shimizu
Student Delegate
Ganbaare Inc.
Kenyuu was born and raised in the Miyagi Prefecture in the small fishing village of Kesennuma. Kesennuma was one of Japan’s most important fishing ports with a long history in the fishing and fish processing indus-tries. Kenyuu’s family owned and operated a seafood processing factory for two generations. The town of Kesennuma was one of the hardest hit by the 3/11 tsunami. Kenyuu’s fathers’ factory was completely destroyed and 200 employees were left with no work.
In the face of this devastation, Kenyuu’s family has engaged in vital community rebuilding activities. Kenyuu’s father has created a new venture known as GANBAARE Inc. or “go for it!”. From the destroyed fishing boats, GANBAARE salvages the sails of damaged boats to create tote bags and aprons. This company was created to create jobs and also to generate revenue to support other rebuilding activities.
Ayumi Suzuki
Communications Director
The Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizen's Organizations (C's)
email Ayumi
www.npoweb.jp
The Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizen’s Organizations is dedicated to passing legislation and building support structures to strengthen the third, NGO sector in Japan, ranging from a law for promoting the activities of non-profit organizations to preferential tax measures. C’s is also one of 17 organizations designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide consulting services to NGOs. In a partnership with NPOWEB, a non-profit corporation, The Coalition has built a social networking site and media outlet producing reports that take a critical and analytical look at the development and impact of the NGO sector in Japan.
Ayumi Suzuki’s involvement at C’s began over 15 years ago. As Communication Director she has published a number of articles and regularly conducts seminars on nonprofit operations, development, and fundraising strategies throughout Japan. In 2007, Ayumi was selected as an NPO Fellow at the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership to share her experience and knowledge of the challenges facing the NGO sector in Japan. Following the Tohuku earthquake Ayumi has been active in the field of the Northeast region and has helped to push some vital legislation providing assistance to organizations operating in disaster areas as well as the launch of a national network supporting recovery efforts.
Ayumi hopes to gain insight into the increase in Japanese individual and corporate giving trends following the earthquake. The average household donation in Japan was last year at 2,625 yen, the cumulative amount of donations in April and May of this year was already totaled 4,042. This year quickly became the largest in 10 years for corporate donations also are just over 500 billion yen. Ayumi hopes to see this donation awareness to continue and recognizes that in order for that to happen there needs to be better defined NPO regulations that allow individuals and corporations to make donations with more confidence.
Koji Yamauchi
Director
Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC)
email Koji
www.etic.or.jp/english
Koji Yamauchi is a founding member and the current Managing Director of ETIC. ETIC trains future leaders to, "discover problems in society, take action and to approach these challenges in a way that lays the foundation for future innovation." ETIC focuses its programs and training opportunities on young people to help them build entrepreneurial skills and develop social ventures that ignite greater social innovation in Japan.
Under Kojii's leadership, ETIC has emerged as a key leader the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Tohoku area. Through a public-private partnership, ETIC is focusing their efforts on young community leaders and encouraging them to direct their entrepreneurial skills toward the impacted areas of Japan. ETIC is working with hundreds of trainees on issues that range from emergency relief to longterm rebuilding of industry and community. Through this initiative, ETIC is accelerating the growth of more socially-minded, adaptive leaders and entrepreneurs who will lead the recovery and pave the way for future generations of social innovators in Japan.
Maco Yoshioka
President & Founder
Madre Bonita
email Maco
www.madrebonita.com
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT MADRE BONITA
Maco Yoshioka is the President and Founder of Madre Bonita ("beautiful mother" in Spanish), a Japanese nonprofit organization founded to support the mental and physical well-being of women through the process of pregnancy, childbirth, and post-natal care. Madre Bonita is unique in Japan in its whole systems ap-proach to this process and places a high value on educating women in such topics as child development, domestic violence prevention, and health and wellness. Her work also focuses on raising awareness and promoting research on issues like postpartum depression, which are often overlooked by the mainstream.
Maco is very active in her community and in the wake of the March 11th Tohoku earthquake, focused on supporting the thousands of mothers and families who continue to struggle with loss, fear, and depression. She is also a member the Social Entrepreneurs Network Asia in Thailand.
