On November 18th, the Danish Chamber of Commerce is organising an event on DEI in management, together with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Global Perspectives.
For many companies, increasing the number of women in management roles is a high priority – but targets that are realistic in Europe can be very hard to reach in Japan. This event will bring together representatives from different industries to share their challenges and successes, and brainstorm actions that can help everyone move forwards in the journey towards gender equity.
The event will open with a panel discussion with representatives from 4 Scandinavian companies: Ericsson, IKEA, MAERSK and Novo Nordisk.
The panelists will share challenges and success stories regarding achieving diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace in Japan - especially on management level.
Then all participants will break out for a workshop session to identify specific issues that prevent progress, and work together to share ideas and learnings, and brainstorm practical actions that can help.
The workshop will be facilitated by Tove Kinooka, Founder of Global Perspectives. Key takeaways from the panel discussion and action ideas from the workshop to be collated in a short report that will be shared afterwards with all participants and member organisations.
PANELISTS
Siweon Carrie Park (Moderator)
Director of Customer Experience for Northeast Asia
MAERSK
Carrie became Head of Customer Experience for Northeast Asia Area in Maersk in Sep 2022. She joined Maersk in 2010 as a sales representative in Seoul and has held various positions in the company in locations such as Chengdu, Tokyo, and Shanghai. Her experience spans Customer Service, Sales, Global Service Center, Marketing, Trade and Network, with the latest position being in Copenhagen as a Network and Market manager.
Carrie’s experience of working and living in different organisations and cultures has made her very conscious of the importance of DEI, and she has become an active promoter on the topic in Maersk.
Satoru Harada
VP Head of People & Organization
Novo Nordisk
Before joining Novo Nordisk in 2020, Harada-san held several R&D roles and HR roles in pharmaceutical companies including Japanese, Swedish and German organisations.
He was born in Osaka, and now lives in Fujisawa city with wife, where he enjoys surfing and jogging at the weekends.
Yuriko Iwasaki
Country Communication Manager
IKEA
Yuriko joined IKEA Japan in 2006 attracted by IKEA’s vision and values. She worked at food department at IKEA Tokyo-Bay during the opening period of fist store in Japan then moved to Property and Expansion department and worked for 7 years as Market researcher and Real Estate and Development Manager. In 2013, she became Local Marketing Manager in IKEA Kohoku and from 2016 took current position and became a member of country management team. She studied International Relations at University of Tsukuba and spent 1 year in Lidkoping, Sweden during high school as Rotary exchange student. Mother of 9 years daughter and 7 years son.
Aya Asama
People Business Partner
Ericsson
Aya joined Ericsson Japan in 2022 and a People Business Partner in the Network division. She is a member of the DI project across Asia in Networks and promoting it. She has over 10 years of HR experience in American and Japanese companies, including publishing and human resources, across a variety of industries. In her personal life, she quit her job once and went to art university in NY and learned about space design. Now, she has been volunteering to help her friends weddings and interior design. Lately she likes to create a cozy space for camping and reading a book near the river.
Tove Kinooka
Director & Co-founder
Global Perspectives
Tove is a bicultural (British/Danish) consultant who has worked in Japan since 1998. She co-founded Global Perspectives in 2015, and works across Asia with major global corporations, SMEs, NPOs, Embassies, Chambers of Commerce, and social venture organisations to amplify and accelerate actions for a more equitable and sustainable future. Her work focuses on transforming leaders and company culture to support social and environmental sustainability strategy and ambitions. She holds certifications in business sustainability management, team coaching, and organisational change consulting. Tove lives in Yokohama with her husband, two children and two cats, and enjoys hiking and Spartan Racing in her spare time.