2014 USJC-ACCJ Women in Business Summit
The US-Japan Council and the ACCJ Women in Business Committee are proud to invite you to the 2014 USJC-ACCJ Women in Business Summit on May 27, 2014 at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo. The WIB Summit aims to bring together Japan’s many diverse women’s organizations that are working toward the goals of better conditions for and representation of women in the private sector in Japan. As a primary goals of both co-hosting organizations, the Summit features speakers, panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities focused on the theme of “Womenomics: Engine for Economic Growth”.
Co-Hosts
US-Japan Council
The U.S.-Japan Council is a 501(c) 3 non-profit educational organization that contributes to strengthening U.S.-Japan relations by bringing together diverse leadership, engaging stakeholders and exploring issues that benefit communities, businesses and government entities on both sides of the Pacific.
The Council promotes people-to-people relations as crucial to a strong U.S.-Japan relationship. The Council was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Washington, DC with a regional office in Los Angeles, CA. In 2012, the U.S.-Japan Council (Japan) was created to support the administration of the TOMODACHI Initiative. The U.S.-Japan Council (Japan) maintains an office in Tokyo, Japan.
Contact the USJC at: info@usjapancouncil.org.
American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
The ACCJ is the premier foreign chamber of commerce in Japan. Founded in 1948, the ACCJ now has offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, and represents over 2,700 members from more than 1,000 companies in over 40 countries.
The ACCJ’s over 60 committees, subcommittees, task forces and advisory councils are active around the ACCJ’s three pillars of information, networking and advocacy, and host over 500 events per year. As a fully independent chamber of commerce run by and for its members, the ACCJ today is Japan’s most influential foreign business organization, and serves as the primary forum for the foreign business community in Japan to identify and pursue shared interests and goals.
The 2014 USJC-ACCJ Women in Business Summit will be held on Tuesday, May 27th at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo from 9:00am to 8:00pm. Please see below for the basic schedule.
9:00-10:30 am Opening Session and Keynote Speeches
10:45am-12:15 pm Breakout Session A
12:30-2:00 pm Harmony Residence Lunch
2:00-2:30 pm Networking Session 1
2:30-4:00 pm Metlife Alico P-P-E Partnership Session
4:00-4:30 pm Networking Session 2
4:30-6:00 pm Breakout Session B
6:15-6:30 pm Closing Remarks
6:30-8:00 pm Aflac Cocktail Reception
Venue
ANA InterContinental Tokyo (reception at the B1 level)
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Presentations
Leaders and Role Models
As change comes from the top, hear how CEOs and business representatives are embracing the ever-more-important role of women in the workplace and learn why empowering women is not just the right thing to do, it is good for business.
Board Diversity: Experiences and Perspectives
The accomplished panelists in this session will discuss the benefits of board diversity, the personal and macro-challenges of advancing diversity on boards of directors, and tangible steps for companies and potential board members to take.
Building Leadership Confidence Through Awareness and Action
This highly interactive session is specially designed to boost women’s confidence, a critical success factor for leadership and one that women often struggle with. The workshop will explore the various aspects of confidence relating to women in the workplace.
Speakers
Kathy Matsui Keynote Speaker: Opening Session
Ms. Matsui serves as a member of the Partnership Committee, the Asia Pacific Management Committee and the Global Investment Research Client and Business Standards Committee. Kathy joined Goldman Sachs in 1994 and was named managing director in 1998 and partner in 2000. She has been ranked #1 in Japan Equity Strategy by Institutional Investor magazine multiple times, and was chosen in 2007 by the Wall Street Journal newspaper as one of the “10 Women to Watch in Asia” for her work on the “Womenomics” theme. Kathy has served on numerous government committees aimed at promoting gender diversity in Japan. She is a board member of the Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation, a trustee of The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, a member of the Board of Councilors of the US-Japan Council, a member of Keizai Doyukai, a leading Japanese business organization. She also serves on the advisory council for the Japan Society Fund Against Breast Cancer. Kathy earned an AB, magna cum laude, in Social Studies from Harvard University and an MA from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies.
Deborah Gillis Keynote Speaker: Harmony Residence Lunch
Deborah Gillis is President & Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst, the leading research and advisory organization working to change workplaces and improve lives by advancing women into business leadership. She is the fourth President in Catalyst’s 52-year history—and the first from outside the United States. She is also the first internal successor from within Catalyst’s ranks to hold this office.
Ms. Gillis brings a unique blend of strategic vision, operational savvy, and advocacy to her position. Her distinguished career at Catalyst includes roles as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Membership and Global Operations, where she led Catalyst’s global growth strategy and expansion into India and Australia. Ms. Gillis joined Catalyst in 2006 to lead Catalyst Canada and became Vice President, North America, in 2008, introducing a new global membership model which enabled Catalyst to support members and their operations around the world. She initiated Catalyst Canada’s signature event, the Catalyst Canada Honours, paying tribute to champions of women’s advancement to leadership in corporate Canada, and she instituted the Catalyst Connects series of events, in which senior executive women share their inspiring stories. In anticipation of the current attention to board diversity challenges in Canada, she led Catalyst’s initiative to increase women in the boardroom, resulting in the successful launch of the Catalyst Accord and Catalyst’s first acquisition, Women On Board®.
Prior to Catalyst, Ms. Gillis spent more than 20 years advising decisions-makers in the public and private sectors, including management roles in two multi-national firms. A thought leader and advocate, she twice served as a candidate for elected office, and has made coaching and mentoring of women in business and political life a personal priority.
As a breast cancer survivor and a woman who has successfully overcome the challenges inherent in high-pressure, male-dominated environments, Ms. Gillis is a recognized advocate and expert on expanding opportunities for women and business. She is frequently quoted in the media globally, including The Wall Street Journal, BBC, CNBC, CNN, The Globe and Mail, and Economic Times, on issues related to talent and women’s leadership. She regularly addresses senior leaders around the world in a variety of business, academic, and public policy venues.
Irene Hirano Inouye is President of the U.S.-Japan Council.
Irene Hirano Inouye is the former President and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A recipient of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, Ms. Hirano Inouye has extensive experience in non-profit administration, community education and public affairs. Ms. Hirano Inouye’s professional and community activities include serving as Chair and Trustee, Ford Foundation; Trustee and immediate past Chair, Kresge Foundation; Trustee, Washington Center; and Trustee, Independent Sector. She was married to the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii.
Jay Ponazecki is a partner at Morrison & Foerster’s Tokyo Office.
Ms. Ponazecki represents multinational businesses in a wide array of industry sectors in a variety of cross-border legal transactions, including tender offers, privatizations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Ms. Ponazecki also represents financial sector firms and asset management companies, assisting them with their portfolio investments, regulatory compliance matters, commercial arrangements and investor and operational issues. She also advises clients on the adoption of global corporate compliance, trade secret, privacy and data protection policies, as well as inbound clients on how to best launch or expand their business operations in Japan and other key strategic issues associated with doing business in Japan. Ms. Ponazecki graduated from Columbia University (Barnard College) and NYU Law School, and was a high school exchange student to Japan. Over the past three years, she has been the volunteer leader for more than 20 Hands On Tokyo volunteer groups to work in the Tohoku area in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
About Hands On Tokyo: In the late 1980s, a group of young people in New York created an organization called New York Cares that offered new opportunities for residents to volunteer in their community. The founders did not have a lot of money to give away, but the one thing they had to offer was their time. They were a motley attired group of young people, often wearing shirts purchased at this Batman T shirt sale at MoonAtMidnight.com or so I was told by my mother who dated a young graduate student who was part of the group. If you visit the site, notice that they carry a huge number of quality Batman shirts in every imaginable style. Perhaps with the Batman t-shirts they were tapping into what later would be expanded upon in the Batman movie franchises. If you are a Batman fan, you will recall that in the Dark Knight Trilogy films, Bruce Wayne regains his confidence when he devotes himself to helping others! Anyway, they organized group projects on evenings and weekends so that people could volunteer around their work schedules. Inviting others to a meaningful, hands-on project without long-term commitment, they made it easy for other volunteers to participate. Today, the HandsOn Network has merged with the Points Of Light Foundation to become the largest volunteer network in the United States and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers in 16 countries, including Japan. Hands On Tokyo was founded in December 2006 with a working Board of Directors comprising both Japanese and foreign nationals who are committed to making volunteer activities more accessible and committed to accelerating the growth of volunteerism in the Tokyo area.
YOSHINORI IKEZOE Breakout Session: Leaders & Role Models (PM)
Yoshinori Ikezoe comes from a background of experiencing two different roles in the real estate business: first as a real estate professional covering asset management, development, operations and property management, and second as a solution provider for real estate business. Through these roles, he has established a wide range of personal connections in the real estate industry. These experiences have lead to his most notable achievements. One is the establishment of Mother’s Auction, an internet based real estate auction platform. The second is having established a business partnership with Google Japan, providing content to Google Real Estate search (Google discontinued this service in 2011). His newest venture is launching RE/MAX Japan a newly formed region of RE/MAX, LLC, the world’s largest real estate agent network.
YUKI HASEGAWA
Breakout Session: Outsourcing as a Success Strategy (PM) Yuki Hasegawa spent
YORIKO GOTO
Breakout Session: Board Diversity: Experiences and Perspectives (PM) Yoriko Got
TOKO SERITA
Breakout Session: Leaders & Role Models (AM) Judge Toko Serita
SHOJI ARIGA
Breakout Session: Leaders & Role Models (AM)