By Jackie F. Steele
The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.
Welcome to the last episode of season 1 of the Diversity rocks innovation! livestream and podcast! Thank you to everyone that has supported this first season.
Maneesh Kalra grew up in an Indian household in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He studied pharmacology and was about to enter med school when he had a moment that propelled him in a different direction towards Osaka, Japan. Maneesh’s experience traverses modern big business to the ancient concepts of Ayurveda. He brings his unique mix of experiences and talents to his current endeavours that seek to prepare people physically, emotionally and mentally to better handle whatever comes their way. We are pleased to welcome Maneesh as a guest speaker for the 2022 enjoi Wolfpack offering DEI discussions for men.
Please enjoy this last episode of season 1 as Maneesh challenges us to ask some important questions about wellness and what we are spending our precious time and finite breaths on. And keep an eye out for updates about season 2 on social media while we are on hiatus!
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Maneesh:
Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the finance, health wellness and fitness industry. Yoga, meditation & mindfulness advisor and instructor experienced with customized training for individuals and companies, corporate wellness courses, and offsite and retreats. Skilled in Japan & India market entry and strategic planning. Strong business development professional graduated from Ivey Business School at Western University.
Connect with Maneesh:
Website: https://www.manthan-wellness.com/?lang=ja
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
Akiko Domoto experienced World War II as a child, became a renowned journalist uncovering stories of child neglect in Japan’s “Baby Hotels”, was elected as a member of parliament, and later served as Governor of Chiba for eight years. It is my great pleasure to bring this interview with a living legend and to share Domoto-sensei’s insights into a bygone era of Japanese politics and how that era differentiates from the Japan we experience today.
In this episode you’ll hear:
堂本暁子さんは、子供の頃に第二次世界大戦を経験され、日本の「ベビーホテル」での怠慢な育児についての事例を取材・報道したことで著名なジャーナリストとなり、国会議員に選出され、その後8年間千葉知事を務められました。 この生ける伝説である堂本さんへのインタビューを通じて、過去の時代の日本の政治と、その時代が私たちが今日、経験している日本と、いかに違うのかついての洞察を共有できることは、私の大きな喜びです。
このエピソードの聞きどころ
About Akiko Domoto:
Akiko Dōmoto is a graduate of Tokyo Woman's Christian University.
After graduation, Akiko worked as a reporter and director at TBS. From 1981, she was engaged in enacting the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society and the Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims. She was Governor of Chiba Prefecture from 2001 for eight years. She was the first woman to be governor of Chiba and the third in Japanese history. She is currently President of the Japan Women's Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (JWNDRR).
堂本暁子さんは、東京女子大学を卒業後、TBSでレポーター兼ディレクターを務めました。 1981年から、男女共同参画社会基本法と、配偶者からの暴力の防止、被害者の保護に関する法律の制定に従事。 2001年から8年間千葉県知事を務めました。 千葉県知事になった最初の女性であり、日本史上3番目でした。 現在は、日本女性災害リスク軽減ネットワーク（JWNDRR）の会長を務めています。
Connect with Akiko:
https://jwndrr.org
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
We host Tove Kinooka, the co-founder and director of Global Perspectives, a company helping create sustainability driven organizations and leaders on Diversity rocks innovation!
In this conversation, you’ll see how Tove’s immersion in the natural world from an early age, and her various journeys in work and travel, led her to co-found Global Perspectives in order to promote sustainability in the corporate world. She also shares some insights on how COVID has actually helped shift the conversation around sustainability in Japan, and shines a light on the benefits of flexible working arrangements in Japanese companies.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Tove:
Originally from the UK, Tove has worked in Japan developing people and organizations since 1998. Transforming leaders and organizations for positive impact is her “ikigai”, bringing together her combination of scientific training, business experience and people skills. She is an Executive Committee member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, where she is involved in designing strategy and delivering events on sustainability, leadership & organizational change.
Useful links:
Mothers as Leaders by Steliana van de Rijt – Economu
Connect with Tove:
Website: http://www.globalperspectives.biz/
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
Welcome to Vol. 16 of Diversity rocks innovation! Darren Menabney helps individuals and organizations learn how to collaborate, communicate, and create remotely and across cultures. Darren was born in Belfast in Northern Ireland and moved to Toronto as a small child, finally moving to Japan for study and work. His global perspective has been one that was seeded early on and has continued to be utilized in his life and work, including now as he teaches business students and organizations about global business leadership, and the future of work. We are thrilled to have Darren as one of our speakers in the men’s DEI executive education program: Wolfpack.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Darren:
As a remote work communication and creativity consultant, Darren helps individuals and organizations overcome the challenges of communicating, collaborating, and creating when working with hybrid and remote teams.
His mission and passion are to help individuals and organizations harness their innate creativity and, through storytelling, share that with the world.
Darren spent over 20 years working for the Canadian federal government, working with startups, and running programs to boost Ontario's innovation ecosystem. In 2011 he decided to take his career in a new direction by moving to Japan.
Darren has extensive experience teaching to corporate clients through the corporate education department at GLOBIS University and through his own practice. He has created and taught sessions on Leading Global Virtual Teams, Storytelling, Leading Hybrid Teams, Design Thinking to leaders and executives at Japanese and global corporations like Cartier, NTT Data, RAC Insurance of Western Australia, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, or public sector entities such as the US Navy.
As a professor and partner faculty at the Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University, he teaches international MBA students, with an average student satisfaction rating of 95%.
He loves sharing knowledge and insights to help others get better. As a contributing writer for Forbes.com and FastCompany.com, he writes articles on storytelling, presentations, and working remotely or across cultures. As part of the IDEO U teaching team, he delivers online courses on design thinking, storytelling, and presentation skills.
In his day job, he leads global human resources projects at Ricoh Company Limited, strengthening employee engagement plus diversity and inclusion and building a stronger global culture among Ricoh's 90,000 employees.
Connect with Darren:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmenabney/
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram:
Trans women are very stereotypically visible in Japan. We see them on TV and in commercials, often as examples of beauty to aspire to. In this episode, Tiffany gives us an insight into her authentic journey of growing up in the staunchly Catholic nation of the Philippines to how she found her way to being the inspirational woman she is today. We are also very excited to welcome Tiffany Rossdale to the Diversity Rocks Innovation! series and to announce that she will be joining enjoi Diversity and Innovation as an enjoi Educator. She is going to be a great addition to our team!
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Tiffany:
Tiffany Rossdale went from being a provocative top trans "Showgirl" in Tokyo’s Shinjuku red light district to a powerhouse in the “Ginza Hostess” scene. Leveraging her experiences in both of these worlds, she went on to become for many, the "Queen of Tokyo's nightlife" before freeing herself of the toxicity of the underground party scene and making a drastic change to a daytime career doing PR, Marketing and Sales. She has become a force for positivity, growth and self-improvement in the lives of the people around her; all while working through the process of her own mental and physical transition and transformation. Bringing in influential guests both in the LGBTQ+ community and out, Breakfast with Tiffany Show is all about evolution, empowerment, spirituality, self-love and ultimately how to find a better you; by listening to people who have made great life transitions themselves.
Connect with Tiffany:
Website: https://www.tiffanyrossdale.com/
TIffany's Podcast: Breakfast With Tiffany Show (Available on any music apps)
https://www.tiffanyrossdale.com/podcast
Breakfast With Tiffany Show Official Facebook Page ~ https://www.facebook.com/breakfastwithtiffanyshow
Instagram ~ https://www.instagram.com/TokyoHottie
Official Facebook Page ~ https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTiffanyRossdale
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
In Vol. 14 of Diversity rocks innovation! I talk with Bryan Sherman, founder and president of Gramercy Engagement Group, a global HR consulting company. Bryan has been a mentor to me in my entrepreneurial journey over the last couple of years, and has a wealth of experience and knowledge that he uses to help companies evolve and shift their HR functions and people systems. Bryan is also a trusted Guide for the enjoi Wolfpack DEI Executive Education Program for Men in 2022.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Bryan Sherman:
Born and raised in the United States, Bryan is a Global Human Resources professional with 20 years experience of involvement with Japan. Prior to founding the company, Bryan got his start in global human resource management by working in both the US and Japan as an external consultant and as an internal HR manager in the IT and retail sectors.
Bryan is a trusted Guide for the enjoi Wolfpack DEI Executive Education Program for Men in 2022.
Useful links:
Bryan’s book: https://www.worklifejapan.com/pages/eigodejinji
Connect with Bryan:
Website: https://www.gramercyengagement.com/index.html
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-sherman
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
In Volume 13 of Diversity rocks innovation! we talk to the inspiring Catherine O’Connell, a lawyer and entrepreneur who runs her own boutique law firm, Catherine O’Connell Law, and hosts the podcast, Lawyer on Air. Catherine is originally from New Zealand and has been an inspirational leader as a lawyer in Japan, she has particularly been an inspiration to me during the journey of hosting this livestream and podcast, and also as you’ll find out in the conversation, we have inspired her too!
Join us and listen to this conversation as we discuss Catherine’s amazing career and life as a lawprenuer in Japan!
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Catherine:
Catherine O’Connell is Principal & Founder of her award-winning boutique law firm, Catherine O’Connell Law. She is the first foreign woman to set up a law practice in Tokyo and winner of the British Chamber British Business Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2020.
Prior to launching her commercial & corporate law practice in 2018, Catherine most recently served as Head of Legal and APAC Regional Legal Counsel for Molex Japan LLC. She has held senior In-House Legal Counsel positions at global brand name companies Panasonic, Olympus and Mitsubishi Motors, and has extensive private practice experience at Hogan Lovells (Tokyo and London) and Anderson Lloyd (New Zealand).
Her business experience includes promoting legal services to SMEs and women entrepreneurs, legal support for launching businesses/services in Japan, legal & compliance risk-opportunity strategic consulting (pre-acquisition) post-acquisition integration of legal systems and legal literacy, bicultural and bilingual commercial transactional support, transcultural management issues, compliance policies and procedures, ethics investigations, in house legal department operations, management and procedures. Catherine is also the President of Women in Law Japan.
Catherine has lived in Japan since 2002 and is host of the award-winning “Lawyer on Air” Podcast sharing inspirational stories about business and life in the law from women working in the law in Japan. She believes that no two lawyers are the same and every lawyer has an inner lawyer extraordinaire whose story is just waiting to be unlocked. She has three passions: empowerment of women in Japan, wellness and flexible working for lawyers and the intersection of law and entrepreneurship.
Connect with Catherine:
www.catherineoconnelllaw.com
https://www.instagram.com/lawyeronair/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oconnellcatherine/
https://www.facebook.com/catherine.oconnell.148
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn:
This week we are joined by Joy Jarman-Walsh (JJ), the host of the Seeking Sustainability Live Podcast and talk show. JJ Walsh started the show in April 2020 after organizing a number of in-person events promoting and facilitating sustainable living. The events had to be put on hold when the pandemic hit, so JJ started the live show and podcast instead. She has gone on to do over 300 episodes, inspiring many to seek sustainability in their own lives, and inspiring us at enjoi in our journey with the Diversity Rocks Innovation livestream.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About JJ Walsh:
Joy Jarman-Walsh (jjwalsh) grew up in Hawaii and has lived and worked in Japan for more than 25 years. Originally she came to Japan after university with a degree in Psychology, to experience life in Japan for a year as an ALT on the Monbusho sponsored JET program. Teaching and travel around Japan opened Joy’s mind to new possibilities for work, culture and lifestyle prompting settling into a long-term investment in Japan.
In 1999, Joy co-founded GetHiroshima with her partner, Paul Walsh, and they have developed close ties to residents, visitors and local businesses in the community over many years. Raising two bilingual kids in Hiroshima helped make connections in an even wider community circle.
In 2019, after 21 years teaching English communication, business studies, gender issues, Japanese pop-culture, marketing, writing, and tourism classes to wonderful students at a local university, Joy stepped away to launch InboundAmbassador- a solo-venture company focused on developing sustainability in travel, business and social media marketing.
Connect with JJ:
Website: http://www.inboundambassador.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JJWalshInboundAmbassador
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjwalsh-inbound-ambassador/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inboundambassador/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inboundambassador/
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
As a young man, Dr. Mark Bookman developed a love for philosophy and Japanese culture through anime, which allowed him to engage with more cerebral and philosophical issues. This interest in Japan propelled him forward to travel to Japan as a high school student, a university student and again as part of his PhD scholarship. Mark was born with a rare degenerative muscle condition that very few people in the world have, and through his love of Eastern philosophy he was able to elucidate the intersections between Buddhism and disability. It was an honour to interview Mark, and listen to his stories of his experiences with disability in Japan, and hear his words of wisdom on issues of accessibility and inclusion that affect everyone.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Mark:
An esteemed enjoi Japan thought partner and collaborator on projects intersecting with accessibility, Mark Bookman is a historian of disability policy and related social movements in Japanese and transnational contexts. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tokyo College, Mark holds PhD and MA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a BA from Villanova University. Mark’s research has been supported by numerous grants and awards, including a Fulbright U.S. Student Fellowship to Japan and Japan Foundation Doctoral Fellowship.
Mark’s scholarship on disability inclusion can be found in peer-reviewed journals such as Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal and public-facing media outlets like The Japan Times and Japan Today.
Outside of the academy, Mark also works as an accessibility consultant. He has collaborated with government agencies and corporate entities in Japan, the United States, and Canada, as well as the International Paralympic Committee and United Nations, on projects related to inclusive education, equitable transportation, and disaster risk management for diverse populations of disabled people.
Useful links:
Accessible Japan website: Accessible Japan - アクセシブルジャパン (accessible-japan.com)
Connect with Mark:
Website: https://bookmanresearch.com/
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook:
田中マナさんは、日本においても、また今日でも同性愛が違法とされている途上国の国々で国際支援活動をしていたときも、自身の性的傾向について伏せなければなりませんでした。田中さんは、日本への帰国後、マダガスカル、マラウイ、モザンビーク、インド、パキスタン、バングラデシュの国々において社会的に取り残されているLGBTQのコミュニティを支援する宗像財団を設立しました。
このエピソードの聞きどころ
As a young woman Mana Tanaka had to hide her sexual orientation both in Japan and overseas as an aid worker in developing countries where same sex relationships are still illegal even today. After returning to Japan, she founded the Munakata Foundation which helps marginalized LGBTQ communities in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In this episode you’ll hear:
About Mana:
国際基督教大学卒、コロンビア大学公共政策学科修士。UNDPマレーシアインターン、JICAラオス事務所在外専門調整員、インド現地NGOプロジェクトコーディネーター、ワールドビジョン・エチオピア・プロジェクトマネージャー、JICAルワンダ短期専門家、JICAタイ短期専門家、JICAパキスタン長期専門家、日本工営株式会社コンサルタント、ワールドビジョン東日本大震災緊急・復興支援部チームリーダー、市進ホールディングス（市進HD) 海外事業部、市進インディア代表取締役、市進HD広報宣伝部、東京都英語村事業(Tokyo Global Gateway)教務部を経て現職。2019年9月より、毎週土曜日に高田馬場でノンアルコールバー（バージンバー）のバーテンダーも始めた。またインテムコンサルティング株式会社の社会開発部でシニアコンサルタントを務める。
Mana Tanaka graduated from International Christian University and has spent almost 15 years abroad starting from MPA degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, NYC. She has worked at the JICA Laos Office, local NGO in Rajasthan of India, World Vision Ethiopia, as a Short-term and Long-term Expert of JICA Rwanda, Thailand and Pakistan. As a dedicated social worker, she managed to learn Hindi and Urdu during her field works in India and Pakistan. In her 30s, she became an International Consultant for Ichishin for 5 years. Now in addition to her work with the Munakata Foundation, she also serves as a senior consultant at Intem Consulting, Inc. and works as a bartender for virgin cocktail happy hour in Takadanobaba.
Connect with Mana:
Munakata Foundation: https://www.mnkt.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/munakata.org/
Connect with Jackie:
Website: https://en-joi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation
https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/
The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.