Community Partners CFO Mamie Funahashi was in Tokyo last month for the 6th annual GOLD conference - an annual gathering designed to promote global workforce diversity and cross-cultural relations between the US and Japan.
Mamie was impressed by the breadth of industries represented (finance, nonprofit, entertainment), the high level of the participants (top execs of Fortune 500 companies) and, most significantly, the strong mix of both women and men. "Real change can only happen if both men and women are working together in support of the cause. It was heartening to see," she said. Speakers included Caroline Kennedy, US Ambassador to Japan and Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations.
GOLD, a project of Community Partners, was founded in 2006 by Hiroko Tatebe, a former executive vice president and treasurer of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of California. Her goal is to foster professional development opportunities for women in Japan and to cultivate professional exchanges between Asia and the United States.