Social entrepreneur Lin Kobayashi to Join USJF Board

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned Japanese social entrepreneur Lin Kobayashi will join the United States-Japan Foundation Board of Trustees in January.

Kobayashi is best known as the co-founder of ISAK, the International School of Asia Karuizawa, which was established in 2014. In 2017, ISAK became part of the United World Colleges (UWC) movement and rebranded to UWC ISAK Japan. The fully residential international high school is now home to 200 students from more than 80 countries, with 70% receiving financial assistance. The high school and its short programs have touched over 1,500 young lives to date.

"We look forward to working with Lin and tapping into her creative energy in deepening our connections to Japan's social impact ecosystem," said USJF Board Chair Lawrence K. Fish.

"I'm honored to serve on the board of USJF," Kobayashi said. "I hope I can contribute in my humble way to further strengthening the impact of the Foundation."

Kobayashi's passion for education began when she received a full scholarship from the Keidanren business organization to study at a boarding high school in Canada. Inspired by that experience, she studied development economics at the University of Tokyo and went on to receive a master's degree in international education administration and policy analysis from Stanford University. She joined the United Nations Children's Fund in the Philippines, where she worked to develop non-formal education programs for street children.

After witnessing severe disparity and injustice firsthand, Kobayashi felt a strong need to develop transformational leaders and change agents. In August 2008, she returned to Japan to work on the ISAK project. She started her career at Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Division and also worked for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a government agency overseeing Japan's Official Development Assistance.

She was selected as a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum in 2012, "Change-maker of the Year 2013" by Nikkei Business, and "Woman of the Year 2015" by Nikkei Woman. She was also one of the 16 Yale Greenberg World Fellows in 2017. She was awarded "Entrepreneur of The Year 2019" in Japan by Ernst & Young, as well as "Bold Woman Award 2021" by Veuve Clicquot.

The UWC movement, founded in the UK in 1962, is an international network of 18 schools and 150 national committees with the shared mission of "making education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future."

The United States-Japan Foundation was established in 1980 with a mission of improving relations between the two countries. It has since given out more than $100 million in grants and oversees the US-Japan Leadership Program with a network of 500 fellows from the two countries.

Kobayashi will join on the USJF board: Chair Fish, Vice Chair Kohei Itoh, Wendy Cutler, Richard E. Dyck, Arfiya Eri, Colleen Hanabusa, James M. Kondo, Craig M. Mullaney, Santa Ono, Keiko Tashiro, and Donna Tanoue.

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SOURCE United States-Japan Foundation