It all began with a single illustration in a book by an American author.
At the starting line of a hurdles race stood a white man and a woman of color. The man faced ordinary hurdles. The woman, however, was shackled at the ankles—forced to run through thorns, with even crocodiles in her path.
The drawing was a satire of the gender gap. But what began as curiosity quickly turned into conviction. As I researched further, I was struck by the depth of the inequities. A joint 2019 report by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn revealed that what holds women back is not a “glass ceiling,” but a “broken rung” at the very first step toward promotion. In Japan, women represented only 7.4% of board directors in listed companies in 2021, and 9.1% in 2022. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, Japan ranked 120th out of 156 countries in 2021, and 116th out of 146 in 2022.
These are not abstract statistics. They reflect structural barriers that shape real lives and limit collective potential.
In 2002, I broke through my own glass ceiling. Today, I serve as an outside director of a publicly listed company. During my MBA, I chose Corporate Social Responsibility as my thesis theme, and I further deepened my understanding of sustainability through Harvard Business School Online. Through these experiences, I came to recognize my mission: to help close the gender gap and address broader social challenges connected to the SDGs and ESG.
When friends visit with their young children, I often find myself wondering:
What kind of world will they inherit?
What kind of society will we leave behind?
I firmly believe that passing on a better future is the responsibility of the adults living today.
Our ambition is to move beyond a focus on “my present” and instead build momentum around actions that shape “our shared future.”
We aim to expand a circle of support for initiatives that create lasting, systemic change—empowering organizations and individuals to act with courage, clarity, and purpose.
The future is not something we wait for. It is something we choose to build.
Yuko Nakahata
CEO