Fluent on both sides of a divide

The organization was invited, along with the foundation's other grantees, to a two-day gathering. They needed someone who could communicate across contexts, build relationships, and help them become part of the grantee community — moving from funded participant to genuine member.

I helped organize the forum by finding speakers from outside Japan, drawing on my network to identify the people best suited to the forum's purpose and audience.

I help source speakers from the US nonprofit sector and its supporting players — foundations, think tanks and others — bringing perspectives from outside Japan into a Japanese conversation about nonprofit management and fundraising.

I help them complete the application itself, framing their work and story for an international selection process they may not know well.

I review applications as part of the selection process, bringing a view shaped by both the fundraising side and the funding side.

I applied to join the project team and wrote four of the cases. I also contributed ideas and examples from outside Japan that helped shape which companies were featured, so that global models could reach a Japanese readership. It was also first-hand experience of what it takes for a globally distributed, project-based team to achieve a shared vision, and I wrote about what it taught me about leadership and organizations. Read about the book on note → · My article →