The Japanese Women's Leadership Initiative (JWLI), in partnership with East-West Center, is hosting a women’s leadership global summit. The summit will be hosted in-person in Hawai‘i and live-streamed globally. The summit will feature a panel of speakers from around the world, exploring crises as opportunities and showcasing women’s leadership behind them. Global women leaders will come together and share their experiences and expertise in crisis response. It aims to empower women leaders to make a difference and build a global network for positive impact.

Join us for this unique and transformative event and be part of a worldwide dialogue on crisis response and women’s leadership.

Mahalo to our Generous Event Partners:

Asia Gender Network, AVPN, Child & Family Service, ITO EN, Fish Family Foundation, the Japan Times, and the U.S.- Japan Council.

Schedule:

2:00-2:15 PM HST Opening Remarks
2:15-3:30 PM HST Keynote Address by Suzanne Vares-Lum
3:45-5:15 PM HST Global Panel
5:30-7:00 PM HST Networking Reception

Distinguished Speakers:

• Dawn Amano-Ige, Former First Lady of Hawai‘i
• Cathy Betts, Director, Department of Human Services, State of Hawai‘i
• Anisa Kamadoli Costa, Chief Sustainability Officer, Rivian Automotive, Inc.
• Atsuko Fish, Founder, JWLI Ecosystem/ Co-Founder, Fish Family Foundation
• Larry Fish, Co-Founder, Fish Family Foundation
• Joshua Green, Governor, State of Hawai‘i
• Megumi Ishimoto, Executive Director and co-Founder, NPO Women’s Eye
• Roz Lee, Head of Philanthropy, The Equality Fund
• Patricia Mathias, Head of Gender Platform, AVPN
• Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum, President, East-West Center
• Yasuhiro Yamakawa, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College

Dawn Amano-Ige

Former First Lady of Hawai‘i
Dawn Amano-Ige became the first lady of Hawai‘i when her husband, Governor David Ige, was sworn in on December 1, 2014. She served as the Governor's designee to the East-West Center Board of Governors through 2022. Mrs. Ige was born in Ewa, Hawai‘i and received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Hawai‘i, and Masterʻs Degree in business from Chaminade University. As a mother of three children, she returned to school for a professional diploma in elementary education and began her career as a teacher in 1997, becoming the vice principal of an elementary school. Mrs. Amano-Ige has dedicated herself to community and public service through education and health care and looks forward to what the next chapter has instore, most importantly more time with their three children, Lauren, Amy, and Matthew.

Cathy Betts

Director, Department of Human Services, State of Hawai‘i
Cathy Betts is the Director of the Hawai‘i Department of Human Services, a role in which she has served throughout the pandemic. She served as the deputy director from 2017 through August 2020.  Prior to serving as deputy, she successfully lead the Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women for nearly six years and oversaw several legislative and policy successes.  Betts has also practiced in government and private legal practice since 2006. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association, and previously chaired the HSBA Diversity, Equality, and the Law Committee (DEAL). She also sits on the Committee on Equality and Access to the Courts. She formerly served on the Board of Directors for Hawaii Women Lawyers, Hawaii Women in Filmmaking, and the National Association of Commissions for Women.

Anisa Kamadoli Costa

Chief Sustainability Officer, Rivian Automotive, Inc.
As Rivian's first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, and an experienced philanthropic executive, Anisa Kamadoli Costa is responsible for the company’s overall sustainability strategy. She also serves as Trustee and President of the Rivian Foundation. Anisa most recently held the position of Chief Sustainability Officer at Tiffany & Co. and Chairman and President of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation. Under Anisa’s leadership, Tiffany & Co. consistently earned top sustainability ratings and was ranked #4 on Barron’s “Most Sustainable Companies” list in 2020. Anisa holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master’s degree from Columbia University, and completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.

Atsuko Toko Fish

Founder, JWLI Ecosystem
Co-founder and Trustee, Fish Family Foundation
Atsuko Fish is a founder and a trustee of the Fish Family Foundation in Boston. In 2011, Fish established the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund – Boston (JDRFB) to support immediate relief in the affected regions of Tohoku. JDRFB raised approximately $1 million and distributed 24 grants to 19 organizations and projects in Tohoku. It has been reported by the grantees that JDRFB’s $1 million grants were leveraged to have $6 million of economic impact. Fish also founded The Japanese Women’s Leadership Initiative (JWLI) in 2006, the Champion of Change Japan Award (CCJA) in 2017, the JWLI Bootcamp in 2019 and the JWLI Scholarship in 2021. In 2013, the White House named Fish a recipient of the Champion of Change Award. In 2018, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette was conferred by the Emperor of Japan.

Larry Fish

Co-founder and Trustee, Fish Family Foundation
Larry Fish, along with his wife Atsuko, founded the Fish Family Foundation in 1999, and has supported thousands of immigrants along the path to citizenship. Larry is the former Chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and the former Chairman of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the largest educational publishing company in the U.S. He currently serves as chairman of the United States-Japan Foundation and the Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Boston’s foremost organization supporting homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth. He has a long record of leadership positions in business and the community. In 2001, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Federal Advisory Council and later served as Director of The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from 2002 through 2004. In 2003, he was named to the MIT Corporation. A 1966 graduate of Drake, Fish earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. 

Governor Joshua Green, M.D.

Governor, State of Hawai'i
Governor Josh Green is a proud husband, father and physician. For the past 20 years, Governor Green cared for Big Island families as a doctor. He served in the State House of Representatives and the State Senate from 2004 to 2018. As chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, he passed “Luke’s Law,” which provides care for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as tobacco and e-cigarette regulations, which increased the legal age for purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21. Passionate about housing solutions, Governor Green helped create “Kauhale” communities to get unsheltered veterans, kūpuna and others into safe housing options. These efforts are ongoing and will continue to be one of his top priorities as Governor. Governor Green expanded the role of Lieutenant Governor by spearheading the largest healthcare response in state history during the COVID pandemic. These critical emergency efforts resulted in Hawaiʻi having the nation’s lowest COVID-19 fatality rate. 

Megumi Ishimoto

Executive Director and Co-Founder, NPO Women’s Eye
Director, NPO “Human Security Forum” and NPO Potentia
Advisory Board, True Data Inc.
Megumi worked in GE Capital Japan for 10 years prior to the current role. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, she led a Women Support Team at a citizen’s volunteer organization, supporting women in evacuation centers and temporary houses complex in Tohoku, and founded a women’s support organization in June 2011. Women’s Eye focuses on empowerment of women who are active at the community grassroots level. In the context of local gender issues and cultural background, Megumi founded “Grassroots Academy Tohoku,” a leadership training focused on personal growth for the next generation of women leaders and local entrepreneurs in Tohoku, where more than 100 young women participated since 2015. For the COVID-19 crisis, she formed a research project with support groups and researchers, and conducted 16 surveys from 2020 to 2022, including "Socio-economic Impacts of Covid-19 on Children in Single Mother Households in Japan Marking the Children’s Day, May 2021", and advocacy. She served as W20 Japan delegate from W20 Japan (2019) to W20 Indonesia (2022) and currently serves as a member of W7 Japan Steering Committee as well as W7 Advisor.

Roz Lee

Head of Philanthropy, The Equality Fund
Roz Lee (she/her) has dedicated her life to advancing racial, gender, economic and LGBTQ justice through community organizing, advocacy, political education, and social justice philanthropy. Currently, Roz serves as Head of Philanthropy at the Equality Fund, a global organization committed to funding feminist futures. She formerly worked at the Ms. Foundation for Women, where she led efforts to support gender and racial justice led by and for women and girls of color, including indigenous and transgender women and girls. As Director of Social Justice Initiatives at the Arcus Foundation, she created innovative global and local philanthropic initiatives at the intersection of race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. Roz is the first-ever Professor of Practice at the Alice Paul Center/Gender Studies and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Roz lives with her spouse and daughter in Harlem.

Patricia Mathias

Head of Gender Platform, AVPN
Patricia joined AVPN in April 2020 as Head of the Gender Platform. With support of the Gates Foundation, she launched the Asia Gender Network, to bring philanthropists together and improve outcomes for women and girls. She leads AVPNs work in gender equality. This includes working with funders across the continuum of capital i.e. philanthropic capital (focus on women’s economic empowerment), investment capital (focus on gender lens investing) and corporates to promote ‘women in leadership’. Some of this work influenced the agenda at the G20 in Indonesia.

Previously, Patricia spent 20 years with Procter & Gamble where she held marketing and leadership roles and was responsible for multiple brands across various consumer goods categories. She currently lives in Singapore with her husband, 17-year-old daughter and pet dog, Rafa!

Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum

President, East-West Center
Ms. Suzanne (Suzy) Puanani Vares-Lum serves as the President of the East-West Center since January 2022. Born and raised in Hawai‘i, with a mother from Japan and father from Maui, she is the first woman and Native Hawaiian President since the Center’s opening in 1960. Vares-Lum’s executive leadership experience spans several decades, culminating in five years advising the most senior officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, where she cultivated vital relationships with nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region. As a retired Major General with 34 years of service, Vares-Lum held roles addressing national security challenges in the region.

Yasuhiro Yamakawa

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College 
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Venture Café Tokyo
President, CIC Japan
Executive Coach, JWLI
Yasuhara (Yasu) teaches at the intersections of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and International Business, and his research interests include entrepreneurial failure and growth. He spearheads the effort of cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and building an ecosystem for startups and corporate innovation. Yasu comes from a multi-cultural background, having lived in eight different countries around the world. He completed his Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Dallas.

 

The Japanese Women's Leadership Initiative (JWLI), in partnership with East-West Center, is hosting a women’s leadership global summit. The summit will be hosted in-person in Hawai‘i and live-streamed globally. The summit will feature a panel of speakers from around the world, exploring crises as opportunities and showcasing women’s leadership behind them. Global women leaders will come together and share their experiences and expertise in crisis response. It aims to empower women leaders to make a difference and build a global network for positive impact.

Join us for this unique and transformative event and be part of a worldwide dialogue on crisis response and women’s leadership.

Mahalo to our Generous Event Partners:

Asia Gender Network, AVPN, Child & Family Service, ITO EN, Fish Family Foundation, the Japan Times, and the U.S.- Japan Council.

Schedule:

2:00-2:15 PM HST Opening Remarks
2:15-3:30 PM HST Keynote Address by Suzanne Vares-Lum
3:45-5:15 PM HST Global Panel
5:30-7:00 PM HST Networking Reception

Distinguished Speakers:

• Dawn Amano-Ige, Former First Lady of Hawai‘i
• Cathy Betts, Director, Department of Human Services, State of Hawai‘i
• Anisa Kamadoli Costa, Chief Sustainability Officer, Rivian Automotive, Inc.
• Atsuko Fish, Founder, JWLI Ecosystem/ Co-Founder, Fish Family Foundation
• Larry Fish, Co-Founder, Fish Family Foundation
• Joshua Green, Governor, State of Hawai‘i
• Megumi Ishimoto, Executive Director and co-Founder, NPO Women’s Eye
• Roz Lee, Head of Philanthropy, The Equality Fund
• Patricia Mathias, Head of Gender Platform, AVPN
• Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum, President, East-West Center
• Yasuhiro Yamakawa, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College

Dawn Amano-Ige

Former First Lady of Hawai‘i
Dawn Amano-Ige became the first lady of Hawai‘i when her husband, Governor David Ige, was sworn in on December 1, 2014. She served as the Governor's designee to the East-West Center Board of Governors through 2022. Mrs. Ige was born in Ewa, Hawai‘i and received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Hawai‘i, and Masterʻs Degree in business from Chaminade University. As a mother of three children, she returned to school for a professional diploma in elementary education and began her career as a teacher in 1997, becoming the vice principal of an elementary school. Mrs. Amano-Ige has dedicated herself to community and public service through education and health care and looks forward to what the next chapter has instore, most importantly more time with their three children, Lauren, Amy, and Matthew.

Cathy Betts

Director, Department of Human Services, State of Hawai‘i
Cathy Betts is the Director of the Hawai‘i Department of Human Services, a role in which she has served throughout the pandemic. She served as the deputy director from 2017 through August 2020.  Prior to serving as deputy, she successfully lead the Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women for nearly six years and oversaw several legislative and policy successes.  Betts has also practiced in government and private legal practice since 2006. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association, and previously chaired the HSBA Diversity, Equality, and the Law Committee (DEAL). She also sits on the Committee on Equality and Access to the Courts. She formerly served on the Board of Directors for Hawaii Women Lawyers, Hawaii Women in Filmmaking, and the National Association of Commissions for Women.

Anisa Kamadoli Costa

Chief Sustainability Officer, Rivian Automotive, Inc.
As Rivian's first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, and an experienced philanthropic executive, Anisa Kamadoli Costa is responsible for the company’s overall sustainability strategy. She also serves as Trustee and President of the Rivian Foundation. Anisa most recently held the position of Chief Sustainability Officer at Tiffany & Co. and Chairman and President of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation. Under Anisa’s leadership, Tiffany & Co. consistently earned top sustainability ratings and was ranked #4 on Barron’s “Most Sustainable Companies” list in 2020. Anisa holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master’s degree from Columbia University, and completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.

Atsuko Toko Fish

Founder, JWLI Ecosystem
Co-founder and Trustee, Fish Family Foundation
Atsuko Fish is a founder and a trustee of the Fish Family Foundation in Boston. In 2011, Fish established the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund – Boston (JDRFB) to support immediate relief in the affected regions of Tohoku. JDRFB raised approximately $1 million and distributed 24 grants to 19 organizations and projects in Tohoku. It has been reported by the grantees that JDRFB’s $1 million grants were leveraged to have $6 million of economic impact. Fish also founded The Japanese Women’s Leadership Initiative (JWLI) in 2006, the Champion of Change Japan Award (CCJA) in 2017, the JWLI Bootcamp in 2019 and the JWLI Scholarship in 2021. In 2013, the White House named Fish a recipient of the Champion of Change Award. In 2018, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette was conferred by the Emperor of Japan.

Larry Fish

Co-founder and Trustee, Fish Family Foundation
Larry Fish, along with his wife Atsuko, founded the Fish Family Foundation in 1999, and has supported thousands of immigrants along the path to citizenship. Larry is the former Chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and the former Chairman of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the largest educational publishing company in the U.S. He currently serves as chairman of the United States-Japan Foundation and the Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Boston’s foremost organization supporting homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth. He has a long record of leadership positions in business and the community. In 2001, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Federal Advisory Council and later served as Director of The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from 2002 through 2004. In 2003, he was named to the MIT Corporation. A 1966 graduate of Drake, Fish earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. 

Governor Joshua Green, M.D.

Governor, State of Hawai'i
Governor Josh Green is a proud husband, father and physician. For the past 20 years, Governor Green cared for Big Island families as a doctor. He served in the State House of Representatives and the State Senate from 2004 to 2018. As chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, he passed “Luke’s Law,” which provides care for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as tobacco and e-cigarette regulations, which increased the legal age for purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21. Passionate about housing solutions, Governor Green helped create “Kauhale” communities to get unsheltered veterans, kūpuna and others into safe housing options. These efforts are ongoing and will continue to be one of his top priorities as Governor. Governor Green expanded the role of Lieutenant Governor by spearheading the largest healthcare response in state history during the COVID pandemic. These critical emergency efforts resulted in Hawaiʻi having the nation’s lowest COVID-19 fatality rate. 

Megumi Ishimoto

Executive Director and Co-Founder, NPO Women’s Eye
Director, NPO “Human Security Forum” and NPO Potentia
Advisory Board, True Data Inc.
Megumi worked in GE Capital Japan for 10 years prior to the current role. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, she led a Women Support Team at a citizen’s volunteer organization, supporting women in evacuation centers and temporary houses complex in Tohoku, and founded a women’s support organization in June 2011. Women’s Eye focuses on empowerment of women who are active at the community grassroots level. In the context of local gender issues and cultural background, Megumi founded “Grassroots Academy Tohoku,” a leadership training focused on personal growth for the next generation of women leaders and local entrepreneurs in Tohoku, where more than 100 young women participated since 2015. For the COVID-19 crisis, she formed a research project with support groups and researchers, and conducted 16 surveys from 2020 to 2022, including "Socio-economic Impacts of Covid-19 on Children in Single Mother Households in Japan Marking the Children’s Day, May 2021", and advocacy. She served as W20 Japan delegate from W20 Japan (2019) to W20 Indonesia (2022) and currently serves as a member of W7 Japan Steering Committee as well as W7 Advisor.

Roz Lee

Head of Philanthropy, The Equality Fund
Roz Lee (she/her) has dedicated her life to advancing racial, gender, economic and LGBTQ justice through community organizing, advocacy, political education, and social justice philanthropy. Currently, Roz serves as Head of Philanthropy at the Equality Fund, a global organization committed to funding feminist futures. She formerly worked at the Ms. Foundation for Women, where she led efforts to support gender and racial justice led by and for women and girls of color, including indigenous and transgender women and girls. As Director of Social Justice Initiatives at the Arcus Foundation, she created innovative global and local philanthropic initiatives at the intersection of race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. Roz is the first-ever Professor of Practice at the Alice Paul Center/Gender Studies and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Roz lives with her spouse and daughter in Harlem.

Patricia Mathias

Head of Gender Platform, AVPN
Patricia joined AVPN in April 2020 as Head of the Gender Platform. With support of the Gates Foundation, she launched the Asia Gender Network, to bring philanthropists together and improve outcomes for women and girls. She leads AVPNs work in gender equality. This includes working with funders across the continuum of capital i.e. philanthropic capital (focus on women’s economic empowerment), investment capital (focus on gender lens investing) and corporates to promote ‘women in leadership’. Some of this work influenced the agenda at the G20 in Indonesia.

Previously, Patricia spent 20 years with Procter & Gamble where she held marketing and leadership roles and was responsible for multiple brands across various consumer goods categories. She currently lives in Singapore with her husband, 17-year-old daughter and pet dog, Rafa!

Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum

President, East-West Center
Ms. Suzanne (Suzy) Puanani Vares-Lum serves as the President of the East-West Center since January 2022. Born and raised in Hawai‘i, with a mother from Japan and father from Maui, she is the first woman and Native Hawaiian President since the Center’s opening in 1960. Vares-Lum’s executive leadership experience spans several decades, culminating in five years advising the most senior officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, where she cultivated vital relationships with nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region. As a retired Major General with 34 years of service, Vares-Lum held roles addressing national security challenges in the region.

Yasuhiro Yamakawa

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College 
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Venture Café Tokyo
President, CIC Japan
Executive Coach, JWLI
Yasuhara (Yasu) teaches at the intersections of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and International Business, and his research interests include entrepreneurial failure and growth. He spearheads the effort of cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and building an ecosystem for startups and corporate innovation. Yasu comes from a multi-cultural background, having lived in eight different countries around the world. He completed his Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Dallas.