本融資には株式会社日本格付研究所(JCR)によるソーシャルローン評価が付与されており、ソーシャル性評価(資金使途) と管理・運営・透明性評価の両方の指標で最高評価を得ております (総合評価 Social 1)。詳しくはこちらのリンクをご参照ください。管理・運営・透明性評価においては、インパクト・レポートの充実度やガバナンス体制の強固さを特に高く評価いただきました。
Milena Nikolova氏は、スタートアップ向けアドバイザーのTherion Advisersの共同創業者兼Managing Partner、気候変動の課題解決に取り組む革新的なソリューションに投資するグローバル・ベンチャーキャピタルであるAera VCのVenture Partner、ベンチャーキャピタルAntlerのVenture Partnerを務めています。以前はロンドンでUBSグループ投資銀行部門のExecutive Director、シンガポールのウェルスマネジメントのコンサルタントを歴任しました。慈善活動にも力を注いでおり、複数のNGOのパートナーや創設者でもあります。米国証券アナリスト、London School of EconomicsでInternational Accounting and Financeの修士号を取得しています。
Arnaud Ventura氏は2013年に世界経済フォーラムのYoung Global Leaderに選出されたほか、フランスと中国間の若手リーダー育成を目指すネットワークであるFrench China Foundation、アフリカにおけるイノベーションの促進を目指すプラットフォームであるShare Africaを共同創業しました。フランスのEFREI Parisでコンピューターサイエンスを、Sorbonne Universityで哲学を専攻しました。
本最終クローズでは、既存株主である第一生命保険株式会社、株式会社丸井グループ、東京理科大学ベンチャーファンド(無限責任組合員：アストマックス・ファンド・マネジメント株式会社)からの追加出資に加え、新規投資家としてリコーリース株式会社、Beyond Next Ventures株式会社、GMO VenturePartners株式会社を含む複数の機関投資家及び個人投資家を新規投資家として迎え入れ、合計27.2億円を調達しました。
Beyond Next Venturesは”誰もが挑戦できる世界を作る”をVisionに掲げ、テクノロジーを活用し社会変革に挑戦するスタートアップに出資をしています。私も畑は違えども同じ金融のフィールドで同時期に創業した起業家として、五常・アンド・カンパニーが掲げる ”民間版の世界銀行を作る”という壮大な構想に強く共感し、世界を舞台に着実に実現する慎社長を心から尊敬しています。五常の有するテクノロジーとグループ戦略により、近い将来その構想が実現すると信じています。
GMO VenturePartners株式会社 取締役 / ファウンディングパートナー 村松 竜
Gojoという試み。マイクロファイナンスに規模による力を与える試み。しかしそれだけではない。その本質は、人類史上最大級の資本の流動性を、それが本当に必要だが届いていない世界の人達に、日本の資本市場・金融テクノロジーの力を使って届け、貧困問題を解決し生活に革新をもたらす「グローバルな日本発の社会実験」であると思っています。そのような試みに「日本と世界のFintechを繋ぐことが目的のGMO Global Fintech Fund」として参加させて頂くことが出来て大変光栄です。
TGVest Capital DC Cheng, Chairman TGVestは、グロースキャピタルのプライベートエクイティファンドとして、テクノロジーを応用して既存の産業に変革を起こす革新的な企業に関心を持っています。五常・アンド・カンパニーは、アジアでのプレゼンス強化とESGの実践を探求する我々にとって新たな1ページを開く注目すべき存在です。発展途上国で金融包摂を届けるという五常のミッションと、金融セクターの長年の課題を解決しようとする革新的なアプローチに当初から共感していました。五常は、マイクロファイナンスを再定義するような先駆者であると考えており、そのユニークなビジネスモデルと極めて大きな成長可能性が我々のポートフォリオにもたらす付加価値は計り知れないと考えています。
Sheetal joined Gojo in the Internal Audit Team as a consultant in Apr-23. In Apr-24, she joined Gojo as a full-time member. At Gojo, she is responsible for conducting/supporting HoldCo and Partner audits. Also, she would assist in developing the risk framework for Gojo and Partner companies.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 15 years experience in Process & Internal Audit, IFC (Internal Financial Controls), development of RCM (Risk Control Matrix), SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) & CSA (Control Self Assessment), SOX documentation. Prior to Gojo, she has worked at consulting firms, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Trent, Axis Bank in full-time/part-time roles.
In her free time she likes to read, travel and write.
Works in: India
Kshama Fernandes
Outside Director
Kshama has three decades of experience in Capital Markets, Risk Management, and Structured Finance, with the last 15 years focused on the financial inclusion space in India. Respected for her knowledge and commitment towards the cause of unleashing the power of finance for the greater good, Kshama has been a member of various High Powered Committees set up by the Government of India and has worked on consulting assignments for the World Bank, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and NSEIT. Through her innovative and pioneering work, she has been instrumental in creating and developing the market for debt for the underbanked in India. Kshama is recognized as a leading figure in the Indian financial markets, and in the world of impact investing. She is also the Vice Chairperson of the Northern Arc Group, a leading finance company in India that invests and connects underbanked institutions and businesses to capital markets investors.
She has a Bachelor's in Mathematics, a Master's in Management, and a Ph.D. in Finance. An adventure sports enthusiast, Kshama is a trained mountaineer, sailor, skydiver, and an ardent biker.
Almira Zejnilagic
Outside Director
Almira has two decades of experience in risk and crisis strategy management, having worked as an advisor, board member and management, as well as having extensive Investment Committee experience. Most recently she was a senior executive in a global, fast-growing Web 3 financial services business and previously a Partner at FTI Consulting where she spent a decade and helped build and ran Global Risk and Investigation Practic in Europe, Central Asia and Africa.
During her formative years, as a Bosnian refugee, Almira experienced challenges relating to remittances and access to finance, which later shaped her keen interest in finacial inclusion and digital finance as well as broader issues of social justice.
Almira is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She speaks English, Serbo-Croatian and Russian (as well as some basic Tajik). She enjoys reading and cooking with her family.
Abhishek Iyer
Regional Finance
Abhishek has joined Gojo & Company as part of the Finance team. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has over 6 years of experience across the banking and financial sector & has worked across housing finance, NBFC, microfinance, and fintech. He is originally from Mumbai (India) and is currently living in the city of Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka in India.
Prior to joining Gojo, he worked at Rupeek Fintech which is asset backed gold lending co. At Rupeek he was responsible for managing the financial reporting & audits of Rupeek Fintech & its subsidiary Rupeek Capital.
Outside of work, he enjoys playing cricket and badminton, and loves cooking.
Works in: India
Vidary Inthamone
Debt Fundraising & Treasury Manager
Vidary joined Gojo in September 2022, working part of her time in the finance team. She has over 10 years of experience in microfinance - in the investment department at the holding company Advans International, and in the operations department whilst working for a Mexican MFI at the beginning of her career.
The other part of her time as an independent consultant is still dedicated to the microfinance industry, working mostly on ESG related matters.
Vidary graduated from EM Lyon, Master of Science in Management, specialized in Finance & International business. She speaks French, English, Spanish fluently and can be conversational in Slovak and Laotian.
Vidary loves soul music, cooking, travelling, mountain climbing and surfing. She’s the mother of 2 young boys.
Starting in October 2023, Yoko is responsible for legal and compliance matters at Gojo. She is a qualified attorney-at-law in Japan.
After becoming a registered attorney-at-law in 2009, Yoko spent five years working in the corporate department of Clifford Chance's Tokyo office. Subsequently, she joined Recruit Co., Ltd. right after its initial public offering, where she handled a wide range of legal matters, including major M&A transactions, venture investments, stock-based compensation, and disclosure requirements.
In her personal life, Yoko is a mother of two children. She aspires to balance her work at Gojo with parenting and actually enjoying the process. Yoko loves browsing stunning photographs from around the world while contemplating her next vacation destination.
Location: Tokyo
Rania Manayra
Corporate Planning Officer
Rania started her journey with Gojo in January 2022 as an intern, working closely with the Corporate Planning and SPM/IM team. She mainly helped develop Gojo's Impact Reports, write and implement group-wide policies, and conduct social and environmental due diligence. She transitioned to becoming a full-time member in October 2023.
Prior to joining Gojo full-time, Rania studied at Keio University as a MEXT scholarship recipient and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in strategic management. During her time in university, she was a seminar lead for the International Business and Entrepreneurship Research lab, where she often served as student consultant for various companies and published several papers. She also interned at a global manufacturing company and volunteered at an Indonesian education NPO.
In her spare time, Rania enjoys cooking, reading sci-fi, and going to museums and art galleries.
Works in: Japan
Pooja Kumari Singh
Junior Internal Auditor
Dedicated to analyzing, assessing, and mitigating risks, Pooja is a part of the Internal Audit team at Gojo. She earned her master's degree in Post Graduate Diploma in Management with her major in Finance from Management Development Institute Murshidabad in April 2023. Certified as an ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management Specialist, Pooja started her journey with Gojo in June 2022 as an intern, working closely with the IA team, taking care of the data room, managing communication with the partner companies and building reports to be submitted to the Audit committee. Post completing her studies, she successfully transitioned her internship into full-time work at Gojo in July 2023 and is currently supporting the team with Audit functions and developing various policies such as the Internal Credit Risk Policy. Pooja had previously worked as an intern in a CA firm in India, where she drafted financial statements and was a business analyst for Purv Technologies, among other organisations.
Outside of work, she enjoys taking part in case study competitions primarily in finance and marketing. She is a sports enthusiast and loves travelling.
Grateful for the opportunities that have shaped her career so far, she is motivated to explore the world of finance!
Kana joined Gojo's finance team in June 2023, where she is the IPO Project Lead and is involved in investor IR and debt/equity financing.
Prior to joining Gojo, she worked at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) since 2015, where she was mainly in charge of structuring and managing loans for various overseas projects in which Japanese companies participate, including infrastructure projects in developing countries. She also gained experiences in developing ALM strategies based on profitability and market risk analysis for the bank at the Treasury Department. In 2022, she graduated from the University of Cambridge, UK, with a Master of Public Policy.
She enjoys cafe-hopping, cooking, travelling and hot springs. Mother of one child.
Location: Japan
Ignacio Mas-Ribo
Board Member
Ignacio is a non-executive director at Gojo & Company, Senior Fellow at the Fletcher School's Council on Emerging Market Enterprises at Tufts University, and an independent consultant.
During 2015-2020, Ignacio was co-founder and executive director at the Digital Frontiers Institute, a not-for-profit that develops professional development training courses around digital money and payments. Previously, he was Deputy Director in the Financial Services for the Poor program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Senior Advisor at the Technology Program at CGAP. I have been Director of Global Business Strategy at Vodafone Group, Executive VP of Marketing and Account Management at DoCoMo interTouch, and Senior Manager responsible for telecoms investments in Europe for Intel Capital.
Ignacio has undergraduate degrees in maths and economics from MIT and a PhD in economics from Harvard University. He has been Adjunct Professor at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.
Mehnaaz Rehman
Deputy Manager - HR & Admin
Mehnaaz joined Gojo in March, 2023 as an Deputy Manager- HR & Admin. She has 7 years of experience in HR and has managed Recruitment, Employee Engagement along with managing end to end employee lifecycle. Prior to joining Gojo, Mehnaaz was associated with Universal Sompo general insurance company where she worked as a HRBP heading North region , taking care of various employee greviances , and conducting GPTW surveys . Apart from Universal Sompo, she has also worked with Maxbupa Health insurance company which has given her exposure across industries.
At Gojo, she works under Human Resource and manages end to end employee life cycle with Admin related activities.
Mehnaaz did her Masters in Business Administration from RIT, Roorkee and did her BCA from her hometown Roorkee.
Mehnaaz lives in Ghaziabad , Uttar Pradesh with her family. She has a keen interes in Decoring , Dancing and travelling . She also loves to socialize with all age group people to establish more powerful bonds.
Charm takes care of Gojo team members as the office manager. Having worked in various industries and a strong understanding of different cultures and people from all walks of life, she always strives to make a difference for others. In Gojo, she is dedicated to creating a positive, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone.
In her spare time Charm likes to cook, play with cats, doing volunteer work, and watch the sea. She is thankful for her peaceful life with family and friends.
Hiroko is a Certified Public Accountant and works at Gojo as a member of the finance team, primarily working on accounting and financial reporting.
She passed the CPA exam in Japan while studying at Keio University and after graduation, she joined PwC Aarata LLC, where she engaged in audits of the asset management industry, internal control verification services, financial regulatory advisory services, and experienced audits under IFRS and J-GAAP.
Outside work, she enjoys playing the clarinet and watching baseball games.
Works in: Japan
Arya Murali
SPM & Impact Measurement Officer
A Master's in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship graduate from the London School of Economics and a Chevening Scholar, Arya cares deeply about poverty alleviation, gender equality, education and youth development. At Gojo, Arya works on social performance management of Gojo’s partners and runs initiatives to measure impact of Gojo’s partners’ products and services on clients’ lives.
Prior to Gojo, she worked for 5 years in strategy, business development, community building, program management and leadership in NGOs, social enterprises and for-profit enterprises. Most recently, she served as the Vice President, India at Women in Technology International, a 30 year old pioneer in empowering women in technology across the globe, where she built and led WITI’s business for India. She has in the past built communities of 5000+ women in tech and conducted several online learning and mentorship programs.
Arya is also a TEDx speaker and one of the 18 young women to receive the prestigious WeTech Qualcomm Global Scholarship. In her spare time, she enjoys reading non-fiction books, writing blogs on her website (aryamurali.com) and listening to countless hours of Indian music.
財務計画・分析を担当。JP Morgan の元金融アナリストとして、財務分析、予算編成、予測、差異分析などを専門としていた。以前は、DeloitteにTax seniorとして勤務し、Tax戦略等を担当したほか、恵まれない人々のコミュニティを向上させ、社会的、経済的、慈善的な意識を広めるための同社イニシアチブである「Impact Days」に積極的に参加していた。
Jai Hind Collegeで商学を学び、IBSでMBA（Management Finance）を取得。分散型金融とデジタル通貨プロトコルに情熱を注いでいる。
For Gojo, Ishaq works on Financial Planning & Analysis. As an ex-financial analyst at JP Morgan, he specialised in analysing financials, budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis. Before being an analyst, he worked with Deloitte as a tax senior taking care of all statutory compliances for its clients, assisting in quarterly projections and annual tax planning strategy. At Deloitte, he actively participated in ‘Impact Days’- the company’s initiative to spread social, economical and philanthropic awareness by uplifting underprivileged communities.
Ishaq did his MBA from IBS in Management Finance and graduated in Commerce from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. He is passionate about decentralised finance and digging deep into digital currency protocols.
Ishaq is scrupulous and professionally valued for using agile methods in executing financial analysis. Driven, he targets to grow in leadership positions pertaining to finance. He enjoys watching sports and comedy.
ミレーナは、スタートアップ向けアドバイザーのTherion Advisersの共同創業者兼Managing Partner、気候変動の課題解決に取り組む革新的なソリューションに投資するグローバル・ベンチャーキャピタルであるAera VCのVenture Partner、ベンチャーキャピタルAntlerのVenture Partnerを務めています。以前はロンドンでUBSグループ投資銀行部門のExecutive Director、シンガポールのウェルスマネジメントのコンサルタントを歴任。慈善活動にも力を注いでおり、複数のNGOの創設者やパートナー。米国証券アナリスト。London School of EconomicsでInternational Accounting and Financeの修士号を取得。
数社の起業を経験の後、マッキンゼー・アンド・カンパニーの日本およびドイツを拠点に主に海外企業の経営支援に従事。その後、オックスフォード大学に移籍し、経営学の優等修士号と博士号を取得。立命館大学経営学部を経て、2016年より現職。専門は、経営戦略、国際経営、および、制度と組織の関係。慶應義塾大学政策・メディア研究科委員、オックスフォード大学サィードビジネススクールアソシエイトフェロー、上場企業を含む複数のスタートアップの社外役員を兼務。著書に『STARTUP優れた経営者は何を考え、どう行動したか』、『経営戦略原論』、『領域を超える経営学』、分担著に『Japanese Management in Evolution』などがある。
2022年8月、人事部のアシスタント・ディレクターとして五常に入社。12年の人事経験を持ち、採用、従業員エンゲージメント、業績評価、従業員のライフサイクル管理などを行ってきた。五常入社前は、EYで職場におけるウェルビーイングを推進するプロジェクトを担当し、調査、従業員の考え方の理解、ウェルビーイングプログラムのカスタマイズなどの仕事を経験した。また、Genpact、HCL、Max Bupa Health Insurance、Pearl Academyなど様々な企業で働き、業界を超えた経験を積んできた。
キャリアをスタートさせた当初から、イノベーションとインパクトに関心があり、現在ドイツ1位にランクインする初の完全自動化オンラインクレジットソリューション、easyCreditを開発。五常入社以前は、Vision Fund MyanmarのCOOとして、完全デジタル化されたマイクロファイナンスシステムを開発・導入し、貧困顧客30万人以上にローン、預金、教育へのアクセスを提供。現在は、デジタル化と変革のプロセスについて、いくつかの銀行にアドバイスをしている。
大学在学中にバングラデシュのNGOにおけるリサーチ・インターンを通じて、マイクロファイナンスの可能性と課題を認識。大学卒業後、インドの英文校正スタートアップの立ち上げに関与したのち、モルガン・スタンレー証券 投資銀行本部においてM&Aアドバイザリー業務に従事。Och-Ziff Capital Management(Hong Kong)を経て、2008年にライフネット生命保険に入社し、経営管理、事業開発、組織開発、韓国におけるJV設立などを担当。IPO準備の責任者として同社を東証マザーズ上場に導き、執行役員CFOに就任。
投資銀行業務の専門家。以前はBank of Americaにシニアアナリストとして勤務していた。グローバル投資銀行チームに所属し、ヘルスケア分野に重点を置き、数十億ドル規模のM&A取引に関与。それ以前は、インドのFortune Financial Services LtdとNYのCrucible Capital Groupの投資銀行チームに所属していた。
Jacques Attaliとムハマド・ユヌスの支援を受け、プラネットファイナンスを共同設立し、世界中でアドバイザリーサービスを提供。またアフリカ9カ国と中国でBaobab（旧MicroCred）を設立・CEOとして主導。退職前の2019年にBaobabは100万人の顧客に10億ドルを貸し出し、約2億ドルの総収益と4000万ドル以上の経常利益を創出。
世界経済フォーラムのヤング・グローバル・リーダーであり、the French China FoundationとShare Africaの共同設立者でもある。パリのEFREIでコンピュータサイエンスを、La Sorbonneで哲学を学んだ。フランス語、英語、スペイン語を流暢に話し、歴史と哲学を愛する。スキーとハイキングが好きな二児の父。
金融機関で働くかたわら、2007年にLiving in Peaceを設立し(2017年に理事長退任)、日本初のマイクロファイナンス投資ファンドを企画した。過去15年以上にわたり社会的養育を受ける子どもの支援に携わっており、2021年に日本児童相談業務評価機関を共同設立した。
単著は9冊。日本縦断1648kmウルトラマラソン完走。空手黒帯、ブラジリアン柔術青帯(2022年時点)。世界経済フォーラムのYoung Global Leader 2018選出。一般財団法人五常代表理事。朝鮮大学校法律学科、早稲田大学大学院ファイナンス研究科卒。趣味はストリート写真を撮ること。時々バンドでドラムを叩く。
取締役会議長、監査委員会及び指名委員会の委員を務める。
勤務地：日本
Michelle Chang
Innovation Product Director
Michelle joined Gojo in September 2022 as the innovation product director. She is a seasoned technology and VC executive with pan-Asian experience at leading VC funds and diverse insight spanning e-commerce marketing, venture building, and finance.
Before joining Gojo, she was venture manager at Launcho Ventures focusing on scaling consumer brands focusing on SEA and the US market. Her career has included her significant time at Vertex Venture Holdings, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. In her four years at Vertex, she made investments across the SEA market and Taiwan. Before Vertex, Michelle was the first employee of Reebonz Taiwan, scaling a luxury e-commerce platform and led the growth of the digital business from the ground up to nearly $USD1 million in its first year. She also worked at the leading grocery startup Honestbee as C-suite manager.
Works in: Singapore
Shraddha Kumari
HR Assistant Director
Shraddha joined Gojo in August, 2022 as an HR Assistant Director. She has 12 years of experience in HR and has managed Recruitment, Employee Engagement, Performance Appraisal along with managing end to end employee lifecycle. Prior to joining Gojo, Shraddha was associated with EY (Ernst & Young) where one of the most fun project she worked was around driving Wellbeing at work which included surveys, understading employee mindset and customizing Wellbeing programs under diffferent pillars like Social, Financial, Physical and mental wellness. Apart from EY, she has worked with different organizations like Genpact, HCL, Max Bupa Health Insurance and Pearl Academy which has given her exposure across industries.
At Gojo, she leads Human Resource and manages end to end employee life cycle along with focusing on building the right culture.
Shraddha did her Masters in Business Administration from IBS, Kolkata and did her Psychologu Hons. from her hometown Jaipur.
Shraddha lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan with her family. She loves to travel, enjoys going on treks and is an ardent dog lover. She also enjoys meeting new people and building meaningful connections.
Works in: India
Haruna Tanaka
Corporate Planning team
Why did you join Gojo? Since the beginning of my career I had wanted to spend my time on supporting people in developing countries. However, I ended up starting my career as a strategy consultant. After 3 years, I joined Rakuten, a Japan-based internet services company, where I worked mainly at the CEO office as an internal consultant. There were many interesting projects and I really enjoyed my time there, but I couldn't give up on my original aspiration. After spending 10 years at Rakuten I decided to shift my career to pursue my personal mission.
What does a day in your life look like? A typical day will be like this:
0700-0900 : Time with kids - breakfast, send them off to school, dish washing, laundry etc
0930-1200 : Start working at home. Morning is usually more quiet and I get time to do analysis, write / read reports etc. (if I'm lucky)
1200-1300 : Lunch
1300-1800 : Meetings with Gojo team members, group company counterparts, committees and board meetings
1800-2000 : Time with kids - dinner, bath, homework etc
2000-2200 : Not everyday but sometimes late night meetings, some additional work to be done
What do you find challenging and rewarding about your job? The best part is the people you work with. It is amazing to work with really talented people who share the same values and the goal to achieve a social mission. Everyone is very kind and empathetic, while being super professional. I also like the flat and open culture - you are encouraged to dissent without fear, almost all information is disclosed to everyone so transparency is quite high, very little hierachy. The challenges are workload management and distance with the clients. Being a startup there is always so much work that needs to be done, while as a working mother there is only limited time I can spend, so it sometimes becomes difficult. Being in Japan, it is sometimes difficult to provide effective support to clients in a timely manner. Having said that I feel that the challenges are possible to overcome with the great team members.
A word for prospective team members I think it was one of my best decisions I made in my life to come to Gojo. I am sure you will feel the same too.
Koharu Suganuma
Financial Reporting / Accounting
Koharu is a Certified Public Accountant and Tax Accountant in Japan and works at Gojo with a focus on accounting, tax, and financial reporting.
Koharu has a B.A. in Policy Management from Keio University. She passed the CPA exam when she was a sophomore in university and started her career at Ernst & Young Tokyo as an auditor. After spending 4 years focusing on statutory/internal control audits and IFRS implementation projects, she joined Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory and experienced cross-border and domestic M&A advisory, mainly financial due diligence, overall support for carve-out transactions, deal structuring, and PMI projects for 3 and half years.
Outside of Gojo, Koharu delivers several supports to start-ups by building and improving business flows and providing accounting/tax services. Koharu loves listening to music, watching movies, traveling and visiting hot springs. She also enjoys road biking and hopes to take a long vacation and go around Taiwan by bike in the future.
Works in: Japan
Joydeep Bandyopadhyay
Internal Audit
Hello Everyone
Joydeep has joined Gojo Group in the Internal Audit Department from June 2022 and would collaborate with the partners and also involve with Group Internal Audit functions. He has undetgone graduation in Computer Science and professionally undergone Insurance and stock market trading certification. Apart from that, also a diploma holder in software technology and have undergone certification in KYC and AML.
He has started his career way back in 2004 and have a total experience of almost 18 years in the Banking and Financial Services industry with experience in Retail Banking Business and operations, Micro-Banking Operations, Internal Audit functions for different verticals, Fraud Investigations, Process Reviews, Compliance Testing. He has worked with various organizations such as Microland Ltd, Wipro Infotech, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank at different capacities and lastly with Bandhan Bank in the Internal Audit Department.
On the personal side, he likes to spend leisure time with family and also take out playing time with his adorable two pets, that is a Beagle and a Rottweiler. He is from Kharagpur and now settled in Kolkata with his family and his wife is a homemaker and they are blessed with a son of age of 13 years.
Works in: India
Grace Leung Wing Yan
Financial Reporting / Accounting
Grace has joined Gojo & Company as part of the Finance team with a focus on accounting and financial reporting. She earned her Bachelor's degree in professional accountancy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Grace started her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) Hong Kong and later relocated to PwC Japan in 2012. At PwC, she engaged in statutory audits and financial reporting advisory projects including IFRS/USGAAP conversions and accounting policy advisory. She was also seconded to the IFRS Foundation Asia-Oceania Office between 2014 - 2016, performed research on tax disclosure and IFRS reporting by jurisdictions. Just prior to joining Gojo, she spent 2 years at Japan Computer Vision Corp., an IT startup company where she was responsible for leading the accounting and financial planning and analysis team.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time outdoor with her family and she also loves watching soccer games.
Works in: Japan
Sajin J S
Software Engineering
Sajin has over 7 years of experience in Android application development. He joined Gojo as a Software Engineer as part of the technology team. He is a Bachelor of Engineering graduate, passed out from Nagarjuna college of Engineering and Technology, Bangalore, India.
Before joining Gojo, Sajin was a Lead Engineer at Seqato, and was responsible for leading the mobile team and developing mobile applications. Prior to Seqato, Sajin worked in companies Rainconcert Technologies, Codeleven Technologies and Businocrats. In his career, he developed Android applications in different categories like Weather, Health & Fitness, Finance, Social, Business, Productivity, Food & Drink, Maps & Navigation etc.
Sajin likes spending free time with family and friends. He loves playing cricket, chess and carrom board, also he loves to listen to all types of songs.
Works in: India
Milena Nikolova
Outside Director
Milena has over 20 years of finance experience spanning across investment banking, wealth management, venture capital investing and startup advisory. She is a strong believer that directing capital for impact can be a powerful force for good without compromising financial returns.
Milena currently works with Aera VC, a global venture capital firm investing in radical solutions to climate change. She is also Founding Partner of Therion Advisers, a startup advisory firm as well as Venture Partner in Antler, a global early stage VC that enables the founding of about 200 startups per year. Prior to that as Executive Director at UBS Investment Bank in London, she advised leading European banks and insurance companies on mergers, acquisitions and IPO transactions totaling over $10bn in deal value. In Wealth Management in Singapore, she worked with ultra high net worth individuals on financial assets allocation, wealth planning or corporate structuring.
Milena also devotes considerable time to charitable causes and is a partner/founder in several NGOs. She has 3 children and is an adventurer, outdoor sports and salsa dancing lover. She is a CFA charterholder and has a MSc degree in International Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics.
Works in: Singapore
Karthik Pai Nejigar
Regional Finance Manager
Karthik has joined Gojo & Company as part of the Finance team. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has over 8 years of experience across multiple areas of the finance function. He is based out of the city of Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka in India.
Prior to joining Gojo, he worked at Avanti Finance, a fintech startup. At Avanti he was responsible for the entire finance function and was part of the team that successfully closed Avanti's first equity fund raise of USD 26 Million. He has also worked at CapitaLand where he was responsible for financial reporting for India business and led the setup of the treasury function for their India business.
Outside of work he enjoys cooking and also tries to keep fit by cycling and running. He is an avid traveler and has traveled extensively across India.
Works in: India
Rajnish Roy
Head of Internal Audit
Rajnish has joined the Gojo Group as the Head of Internal Audit from Dec 2021. He is responsible for internal audit function in Gojo Group and collaborating with the internal audit functions with each partner of Gojo. He is a Chartered Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and ISO9001:2015 Lead Auditor. He has a total experience of 20 years in the Banking and Financial space and has worked in various banks and financial institutions.
In his last assignment with Axis Bank, he was responsible for Anti Money Laundering Compliance. He has also worked with the Lulu Financial Group as the Chief Internal Auditor, at their Global Headquarter in Abu Dhabi. In his other job assignments, he has worked with ICICI Bank, PwC, YES Bank and HDFC Life.
In his free time he runs marathon, hikes and listens to music.
Works in: India
Haruna Tanaka
Head of Corporate Planning
Haruna is a professional with expertise in strategy, business development and incubation. She is the Head of Corporate Planning of Gojo, working on strategy development, post merger integration, corporate governance, social performance management, impact measurement, stakeholder impact management and any other projects that are needed to further enhance Gojo's work.
Prior to Gojo, she worked for Rakuten, a Japanese internet services company for 10 years. As a member of the CEO's office, she worked on special projects and other items on the CEO's agenda, including acquisition of overseas companies, enrollment of Englishnization at Rakuten, strategy development of Rakuten Mobile and more. Amongst other things, she also led Rakuten's ebook business as business manager in Japan and Taiwan, Asian business development, and innovation activities, including internal and external accelerator programs. Before Rakuten, she was a strategy consultant at Booz and Company. She graduated from Tokyo University majoring in Economics. She has lived 3 years in UK and a year in US in her childhood and is fluent in Japanese and English.
Outside of work, Haruna is a partner and board member of Social Venture Partners Tokyo, an NPO supporting seed stage social entrepreneurs to succeed. She is also a mother of 2 children, and enjoys reading and playing the flute.
Works in: Japan
Royanne Doi
Outside Director
Royanne Doi is the former Corporate Chief Ethics Officer of Prudential Financial Inc., and former Advisor for Global Legal, Ethics & Compliance to Yamaha Corporation.
Prior to Yamaha, Royanne held senior legal positions with major global financial institutions. At one point, she managed 200+ staff around the world, with business experience in North and South America, Asia, and Europe. During her tenure as a global ethics officer, Prudential Financial received Ethisphere's designation as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the first time in 2015, and multiple times thereafter. As a member of Gojo's board, she will further accelerate the strengthening of internal audit and corporate governance to enable the sustainable growth of Gojo group.
Royanne has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, from Washington University in St. Louis, graduating Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law. She is married to her law school sweetheart and has lived in Japan since 1994. She has three passions: economic empowerment for women, Asia with an emphasis on Japan, and the intersection between neuroscience and behavioral ethics.
Works in: Japan
Rahul Rokade
Data Engineering
Rahul holds a masters degree in Computer Science & Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay, India.
After graduating, he joined Quikr India Pvt. Ltd. and led implementation of various in-house systems there. Prior to joining Gojo, Rahul worked for leading Indian matchmaking platform Shaadi.com in their Data Engineering team, and was responsible for implementing and enhancing cloud-based data lake and data warehousing systems. At Gojo, Rahul is working as a part of the Technology/Data team on building a data management platform to support the company's data strategy.
Rahul likes photography and cooking. He has a keen interest in topics related to the existence and evolution of life, and has recently developed an interest in learning about the influence of religion and mythology on modern technological advancements. Rahul is an animal lover. He loves to spend his free time with family, friends and his dog Eathen.
Works in: India
Arnaud Ventura
Managing Partner
Arnaud has founded and led two of the leading European financial inclusion groups active in Micro and SME finance, as well as digital finance.
Between 1998 and 2008, Arnaud cofounded and led PlaNet Finance with the support of Jacques Attali (Chairman) and Muhammed Yunus (Chairman Advisory Board). It was one of the most successful European financial inclusion groups, providing mainly advisory services in the sector. Between 2008 and 2019, Arnaud founded & led Baobab (formerly MicroCred), the leading Micro&SME digital bank in Africa & China. In 2019 alone, Baobab lent $1 billion to 1 million clients, generating around $200 million total revenues and more than $40 million pre-tax profit.
Arnaud is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He also cofounded the French China Foundation, the leading network of Young Leaders between France and China, and Share Africa, a platform to promote Africa's innovation and creativity. Arnaud graduated from EFREI, Paris, in Computer Science, and La Sorbonne in Philosophy. He speaks French, English and Spanish fluently and loves reading history & philosophy. He loves skiing and hiking in the mountains (particularly in the south of France), and has 2 young boys.
Works in: France
Ryo Satake
Head of Accounting and FP&A
Ryo is a Certified Public Accountant and works at Gojo as a head of Accounting and FP&A. Ryo has a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Keio. While at university he passed the CPA exam, the youngest to do so that year. He did an internship at Ernst & Young Philippines, where one of his clients was a microfinance institution, and was impressed with the purpose of microfinance and its business model.
After graduating, he joined Ernst & Young in Tokyo, where he engaged in financial audits, internal control audits, operations/financial management advisory and financial due diligence for potential M&A. He also spent 2 years on secondment at the EY Los Angeles office, where he was in charge of supporting a unicorn startup company headquartered in the United States. He has experience auditing under IFRS, US-GAAP and J-GAAP.
Ryo is very fond of traveling, reading books, watching soccer and going to the sauna.
Works in: Japan
Marco Giancotti
Technology team
Why did you join Gojo? I come from a science/tech background, but originally I was making satellites and web platforms for satellite data, not financial services. Working on tech projects was great in itself, but I felt that I wanted to channel that fun to solve non-first-world problems as directly as possible. I started looking to pivot my career in that direction and found Gojo to be the perfect match for that. Even better than I hoped, actually.
What does a day in your life look like? When there is no pandemic bringing the world to its knees, I usually work from Gojo's office in Tokyo. Otherwise, I work from home. My team is scattered around the globe, so we communicate online most of the time anyway.
What do you find challenging and rewarding about your job? In the half-year that I've been working here (it flew by like a flash!) I've learned lots already, and it's really fun to work with the best of the best professionals from very different fields. Everyone is both highly-skilled and committed to doing good. No one is fooling around. Best of all for me, they are all simply nice people. Of course, working with team members spread across many countries and cultures is not easy. You have to step up your interpersonal skills and get used to the overheads. But if you can do that, it's extremely rewarding and, I repeat, fun. We get to meet our clients, team up with our partners, and solve some of the toughest problems of our society. What better job can I wish for?
A word for prospective team members You have to be a little crazy and very empathic to work at Gojo. If you are, you are going to love it!
Sohil Shah
Investment team
Why did you join Gojo? Prior to joining Gojo, I worked with one of India’s largest impact investing groups covering many sectors like healthcare, financial services, agriculture, education etc. After 5 years, I felt the need to build deep expertise in a particular area so as to make a meaningful contribution. With financial inclusion as its core theme, Gojo not only gave me an opportunity to work directly on the field but also think about how I can make real impact.
What does a day in your life look like? Even after a year at Gojo, my days are still intellectually stimulating! Typically I have a bunch of calls/meetings on various issues – managing partner companies, fundraising, building investment pipeline, technology strategies for a group, etc. Initially, it did look overwhelming, but I like the fact that it gives me an opportunity to cover multiple facets related to building a strong foundation for the group. There are also a lot of casual chats with colleagues between meetings which make for a fun day!
What do you find challenging and rewarding about your job? The only challenge I see at Gojo is our remote style of working. Throughout my career, I have worked with colleagues co-located in a physical office so this was definitely new to me. But the rewards outweigh the challenges and make it all worthwhile. The opportunity to understand the hardships of our clients, experience their lives, and constantly strive to make them better keeps me going. You feel that you’re making a dent in the universe, in your own small way, and that feeling has been very satisfying for me.
A word for prospective team members Despite the large scale, Gojo still operates like a start-up. If you want to make a difference to the society while working in a flat organization with a high level of ownership, then this is the place for you!
Cheriel Neo
Impact Measurement
Cheriel works on initiatives to measure and learn from the impact of Gojo's partners' products and services on our clients' lives. She has a BA (Hons.) in History and English from Exeter College, Oxford University, and an MSc. in Translation Studies from the University of Edinburgh. Cheriel got started in the world of social impact during her time in Oxford, where she ran a homeless outreach, and helped found what would become a national student-led charity for social justice.
After graduating, she joined Social Finance, a social investment financial intermediary, where she designed Impact Bonds in the UK, Cameroon and the West Bank, and helped create an app to track young people’s outcomes after leaving state care. She is a founding director of Proof Bakery, a social enterprise training and employing refugee women in the UK.
In her spare time, Cheriel enjoys reading, snacking, and exploring her neighbourhood. She is an accomplished knitter and an avid home cook.
Works in: Japan
Takao Takahashi
Chief People and Inclusion Officer
At Gojo, Takao leads corporate planning, strategy setting, and HR. Before joining Gojo, Takao was an Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, based in both Washington DC and Jakarta. In his 7 years with IFC, he led investments in microfinance institutions, banks and fintech startups in emerging markets. Before IFC, Takao worked as the Bhutan Prime Minister’s Fellow, developing microfinance regulations and financial inclusion policy to contribute to Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH). He also worked for 4 years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company based in Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Takao graduated from Georgetown University, USA, with a Master of Science in Foreign Service and completed his Bachelor of Laws from Kyoto University, Japan.
Takao loves singing, both opera and karaoke. Tennis is his favorite sport. He has authored a book in Japanese, the English translation of the title being; ‘What is true happiness? Thoughts from Bhutan’
Works in: Japan
Yoshinari Noguchi
Researcher in Residence
Yoshi joined Gojo and currently is leading the company’s analytics projects. Having graduated from Tokyo University and worked for Dai-ichi Life Insurance for 2 years, he spent 10 years as a quantitative analyst at Goldman Sachs Asset Management where he used to work for Global Alpha, a hedge fund of the investment bank.
At Goldman Sachs, Yoshi managed quantitative global tactical asset allocation of the fund and developed various quantitative investment management products and tools. After leaving Goldman Sachs, he founded his own company and used to run a music studio business while providing consulting services for financial institutions. He loves finance theory, music, and skiing.
Works in: Japan
Tomasz Ociepka
Data Analytics
Tomasz graduated from Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, with a Master of Science in Mathematics.
Before joining Gojo, Tomasz was an independent data scientist based in Oxford, United Kingdom. He was providing services in the area of data analysis and data management for startups and SMEs. He was also a consultant for academic research using advanced quantitative methods.
In 2019 he joined Gojo to fight income inequalities in the world. Among others, he is responsible for data analysis and data projects in Gojo as well as support partner companies with his knowledge and experience.
Likes hiking and ink paintings. When inspiration strikes, he writes haiku.
Works in: Tokyo, Japan
Marco Giancotti
Systems and Knowledge
Marco studied physics and aerospace engineering, up to doctoral studies at the Sapienza University of Rome and the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA). Before joining Gojo in 2019, he worked as an engineer and then as a project manager at Axelspace, a maker of small commercial satellites.
At Gojo, Marco participated in several tech initiatives, ranging from DX support for partners around the world to the creation of novel financial service platforms. He led the creation of a digital field application (DFA) as product manager from 2020 to 2022.
Marco reads and writes most of the time. He speaks Japanese and is doing independent research in several scientific fields.
Works in: Tokyo
Kaung Set Lin
Innovation
Kaung Set Lin studied Liberal Arts at Sarah Lawrence College in the United States and returned to Myanmar at the end of 2012. He has over 6 years of experience in the financial sector in Myanmar. He started out his career in microfinance managing the MIS while exploring digital products and partnerships at one of Myanmar’s leading MFIs, Proximity Finance. After this, he entered Myanmar’s banking sector with KBZ Bank, where he worked with different stakeholders in partnership with Huawei to develop KBZ Pay to expand the outreach of the bank. Before joining Gojo & Co in late 2019, he worked for Yoma Bank’s Digital Division, where he created and launched a digital lending product called SMART Credit.
When he is not busy working, Kaung Set likes to travel and read along with learning new skills. He also likes going to music festivals and would travel to go to different events around the region.
Works in: Myanmar
Shun Ito
Deputy CEO, MIFIDA / IR and Alliance, Gojo
Based in Myanmar, Shun is the Deputy CEO at Microfinance Delta, and also takes on a role in fundraising and business development activities for all Gojo's partner companies
After studying at Keio University, Faculty of Economics, and graduating from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Shun joined Roland Berger and worked in the Japan and Singapore Offices. As a management consultant, he was involved in multiple projects across Southeast Asia.
As a freelance consultant, Shun worked in rural Japan in Akita for a local supermarket chain. His early childhood was spent in the UK and Brazil. Proficient in English and Japanese, he also has basic Burmese skills. Tennis is his favourite sport. During an earlier stint in Myanmar, Shun ordained at a Buddhist monastery and practiced meditation.
Works in: Myanmar
Tomohiro Isozaki
CEO, Maxima
Tomo joined Gojo in 2018 as a Country representative of Cambodia and became the CEO of Maxima Microfinance Plc. in 2022. He oversees the strategic and operational development of Cambodian business. He leads the MFI by managing strategy, corporate planning, operation, credit, HR, digital initiative, marketing, fundraising, and social performance management.
Prior to Gojo, he worked for Healthbank Pte.Ltd. as a Business Development Associate, working in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore. Next, he joined McKinsey (Tokyo office) and was involved in multiple projects. Later, as a member of the strategic planning division of the Food Business Unit of Mitsui &Co., Ltd. Tomo was engaged in projects of strategy, investment, research, and group company management.
Tomo is proficient in English and Japanese and is also learning Khmer. His motto is “Be tough, wise and tolerant, enjoying your own life.” Throughout the business activity, he tries to establish a fair and free society based on trustworthy relationships.
Works in: Cambodia
Arisa Oba
IR Manager
Arisa works on investor relations and funtraising with the team.
After graduating from Keio University, Department of Political Science, and studying abroad at the University of Manchester as an exchange student, Arisa joined the Investment Banking Division of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley. She was involved in cross-border and domestic M&As, equity offerings and financial advisories, primarily for the real estate industry.
Building on her long-standing interest in global inequality and her experience interning at a local NGO in Tanzania providing empowerment programs for women and children, she aims to dedicate herself to solving injustice in the world.
She loves yoga, traveling, and reading books to find beauty and peace inside and outside.
Works in: Japan
Sohil Shah
Principal/Head of VC
Sohil graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a Masters in Finance and completed his under graduation in Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai. Before joining Gojo, Sohil was a part of the Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group where he led Intellecap Impact Investment Network, an early-stage angel network focused on making investments in social impact start-ups. In his five years with the group, he led around 35 investments in India and East Africa of which they exited from 6 companies and another 15 companies raised follow-on round of investment.
An Investment Banking professional with over six years of experience in India and US, Sohil previously worked as a Senior Analyst at Bank of America. He was part of the Global Investment Banking team, with a key focus on the healthcare sector, where he was a part of a few billion-dollar M&A transactions. Prior to that, he worked with the investment banking teams at Fortune Financial Services (India) Ltd and Crucible Capital Group in New York.
Apart from being an avid brewer, Sohil is an angel investor in his personal capacity as well. He lives in Pune with his family.
Works in: India
Gürol Sari
Chief Operating Officer
Gürol Sari joined Gojo in June 2020 as our Chief Operating Officer, and oversees the strategic and operational development of our partner institutions. Gürol has extensive leadership experience in retail banking, SME finance, microfinance & financial digitalization, as well as experience in turnarounds of several institutions. He has worked in the banking sector for over 30 years in many countries, including Germany, Austria, Myanmar, Turkey, Albania, Russia, Australia, and Tanzania.
From the start of his career, his interest was drawn towards innovation and impact: Gürol created the first fully automated online credit solution in Germany, easyCredit, which is ranked No.1 today in Germany. Prior to joining Gojo, Gürol worked as Chief Operating Officer of Vision Fund Myanmar, where he developed and implemented a fully digitized microfinance system that provided over 300,000 clients in extreme poverty with access to credit, savings, and education. He currently advises several international banks on digitization and change processes.
Gürol has a creative spirit and is always active. He is passionate about architecture, gardening, handicraft (particularly remodeling houses), and loves to bike and to play tennis. He dreams of sailing with his wife once his two children are independent.
Works in: Germany
Kohei Katada
Chief Financial Officer
Prior to joining Gojo, Kohei has served as Senior Vice President of Finance at SmartNews, Inc., a developer of a news discovery app. As its 7th employee and part of its management team, he led $80 million of equity financing and undertook a wide range of responsibilities including financial control, accounting, recruiting, people operations, legal, and investor relations.
As one of the founding members and as Chief Financial Officer at LIFENET INSURANCE COMPANY, a leading online life insurer in Japan, Kohei led it’s successful $100 million Initial Public Offering in 2012, and also setup a joint venture in Korea.
Kohei started his career at Morgan Stanley in its Investment Banking Division, where he was involved in multiple cross-border M&A transactions. In 2005, he moved to Hong Kong and joined Och-Ziff Capital Management, a global asset management company.
Kohei has a B.A. in Law from the University of Tokyo. While at school, he did an internship at a local NGO in Bangladesh where he was inspired by the power of microfinance that can unlock the potential of micro-entrepreneurs.
Kohei enjoys playing with his two boys over the weekends. He loves sports and has successfully finished the long-distance triathlon.
Works: Tokyo, Japan
Sanjay Gandhi
Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Sanjay co-founded Gojo in 2014 as Gojo's Chief investment Officer and has led the Investment Division since then. Apart from recommending the investments to be made by Gojo, he also represents Gojo on the Board and Committees of the partner entities and contributes actively towards strengthening the governance at the partner level.
Sanjay qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CPA) before graduating from Delhi University. After his first job as an Audit Manager in India in early 1990s, he led the Corporate Banking (North India) team for a Finance company.
Sanjay joined the microfinance industry in 2003 and has been part of it ever since: conducted about 125 MFI ratings & assessments in 29 countries; approved more than 400 MFI Rating reports. Some of the assignments were for the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, Cordaid, and Mercy Corps. After his CEO assignment at a Cambodian MFI in 2013, Sanjay and Taejun got together to set up Gojo, where Sanjay’s extensive experience in the microfinance sector has been invaluable.
Sanjay operates from India, where he stays with his wife and two daughters. He speaks English, Hindi, and Punjabi. Loves reading; movies; and music. “The Beatles” is his all-time favourite music band.
Masahiro Kotosaka
Outside Director
Masahiro Kotosaka is an Associate Professor at Keio University and an Associate Fellow of Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. He is a non-executive director of Gojo & Company since March 2017. He is an expert in Internationalization strategy and early stage business development, and advisor/non-executive director of several start-up/multinational companies.
Before moving to Keio, he was an associate professor of multinational management at Ritsumeikan University, a teaching & research associate at the University of Oxford, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company based in Frankfurt and Tokyo. As a practitioner, he worked for strategy/marketing projects with sixteen client organizations across nine industries and nine countries and spent four years running three profitable IT/Retail businesses before joining McKinsey.
He graduated from the University of Oxford with D.Phil. (Ph.D) in Management Studies and MSc in Management Research with Distinction. His recent publication includes STARTUP (Co-authored, NewsPicks Publishing, 2020), The Element of Strategic Management (Toyo Keizai, 2018), and The Japanese Business in Evolution (Co-authored, Routledge, 2017).
Works in: Japan
Taejun Shin
Founder & CEO
Taejun cofounded Gojo in 2014 and has led the company's growth until today as the CEO. Before Gojo, Taejun worked as an investment professional at Morgan Stanley and Unison Capital. To deal with an enormous number of investment projects, Taejun studied programming and automated many financial models, some of which are used even today.
While working in the sector, Taejun founded Living in Peace, an NGO, in 2007 and created the first microfinance investment fund in Japan. Taejun has been involved in Japan's child foster care for more than a decade and co-established Japan Office for Standards on Children Services in 2021 to conduct third-party inspections on the local authority children services in Japan.
Taejun is the Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and is the youngest founding board member of Endeavor Japan. He is an author of 9 books, a finisher of the 1648 km ultra-marathon, and a Karate black-belt holder (he just recently started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and owns a blue belt as of 2022). Taejun is fluent in Japanese, Korean, and English. He plays drums and loves shooting street photos of the world.
