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Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion Key Visual

Our society is made up of a diverse community of people of different genders, ages, disabilities, nationalities, religions, cultures, sexual orientations, and gender identities. The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) firmly believes that the diversity of the people involved in our projects and the pursuit of inclusion drives the creation of new values and supports the foundation’s efforts to address complex global challenges.

As we develop our research projects, policy proposals, and international exchange programs based on the flexible and unconstrained approaches available to us as a private foundation, we believe that creating an environment that accommodates a diverse workforce is a crucial element to all of our work.
 
Accordingly, SPF has undertaken a range of initiatives informed by discussions among staff members in order to promote diversity and inclusion (D&I) throughout our organization.
Graphic outlining diversity and inclusion
  • Message from the Executive Director in Charge of D&I
  • Voices of Our Staff
  • Supporting the Activities of a Diverse Range of Employees
  • Project Team

Message from the Executive Director in Charge of D&I

Executive Director Akinori Sugai

SPF’s central mission is to address the multi-faceted and increasingly complex issues facing our global society in the 21st century. In the face of these challenges, we strive to promote novel solutions by taking approaches that respect diversity. To this end, we believe that all staff members should be allowed the freedom and flexibility to reach their full potential to work toward tackling these issues.

Accordingly, SPF has assembled a diverse workforce. More than half of our staff are women, and our team also includes people with disabilities and non-Japanese staff who bring their depth of experience and expertise to their work at the foundation. In addition, many of our employees – both men and women – are raising young children while working.

Many of SPF’s projects have also focused on themes related to diversity and inclusion including gender innovation, multiculturalism, and interfaith dialogues. Through these actions and more, the concept of diversity has remained front and center in the foundation’s activities.

With this focus on D&I, SPF has committed to working toward developing greater awareness and understanding at all levels of the foundation while fostering a working environment that allows our staff to tap into their individual experiences, abilities, and expertise. To this end, SPF strives in all of its actions to respect the autonomy of each individual employee by offering maximum support, promoting issue awareness, and bolstering areas for collaboration and professional development. By incorporating these reforms within SPF, we also seek to adopt these perspectives in our projects, with the ultimate aim of contributing to our society as a whole.

Making progress toward D&I may not be easy, but SPF is committed to taking on this challenge driven by the conviction that tackling this task with determination will help us achieve our core mission.

Executive Director Akinori Sugai

Voices of Our Staff

Gender perception at workplaces and households, observed over 30 years

Gender perception at workplaces and households, observed over 30 years

Director, Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund, Zhan Yu

June 1, 2021
Pursuing work and research while raising a child

Pursuing work and research while raising a child

Mai Fujii, Research Fellow, Policy Research Division, Ocean Policy Research Institute

June 1, 2021
Acting as bridge between Japan and my home country with lessons learned in a diverse working environment

Acting as bridge between Japan and my home country with lessons learned in a diverse working environment

Michael C. Huang, Research Fellow, Policy Research Department, Ocean Policy Research Institute

June 1, 2021
Handling work including overseas business trips thanks to reasonable accommodations

Handling work including overseas business trips thanks to reasonable accommodations

Sanae Hayashi, Program Officer, Asia Peace Initiatives Department

June 1, 2021

Supporting the Activities of a Diverse Range of Employees

One of the characteristics and strengths of SPF is the fact that we have staff members from a variety of backgrounds. All of us respect each other's diversity and strive to create an environment where everyone can work comfortably. We are also working to improve our environment to meet the rapidly changing social conditions, and support flexible work styles.

References
For more information on the universal design of SPF's building, please click here.

Project Team

In order to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the foundation, SPF has implemented various initiatives led by our staff.

In November 2020, a special D&I Project Team was set up at the foundation to pursue specific initiatives to support greater diversity and inclusion throughout the foundation’s work. SPF will make maximum use of its strengths by employing the talents and unique perspectives of our staff who are informed by their own diverse backgrounds and experience.

Over the past year, we have worked to promote awareness of D&I within the foundation and held discussions with our board members to clarify SPF's position on integrating D&I into the foundation's work. We also published the "Diversity and Inclusion Handbook," which provides tips for our staff regarding working with diverse people in a variety of situations, and published new content on SPF's D&I initiatives on our website.

We are excited to work together with our staff and board members to continue to deepen our understanding of D&I and expand our efforts in the foundation.

The D&I Working Group held a study session on the theme "Information Security for People with Disabilities" for the project team members on December 1, 2021. The online study session featured three speakers, including experts in the field of disabilities in general as well as lecturers with visual and hearing impairments. The participation of sign language interpreters throughout the session also gave the project team members new insights into the topic.

We look forward to continue holding such study sessions to further our awareness on D&I issues.
Image from the December 1 Study Session on Information Security
Image from the December 1 Study Session on Information Security
Images from the December 1 study session on information security

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