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May 21 2012

Featured Committee: The Recently-Formed Women in Business Committee Already Makes a Powerful Mark on the ACCJ

Formed in January 2012, the ACCJ Women in Business Committee advocates for gender diversity/inclusion, equal opportunity for women to excel at all levels of organizations, and a productive work environment.

The Committee aims to be a dynamic powerhouse in supporting and influencing greater women's business leadership participation and to become a powerful voice for one of the least represented groups in the Japanese business world. Activities include networking opportunities, speaker events, training and advocacy.

The committee launch event was "Women In Business By Men" on April 16th. ACCJ President Mike ACCJ President Mike Alfant talked about why he is enthusiastic that the ACCJ has formed the Women in Business Committee and outlined his view of the needs facing women in business in Japan. He shared the podium with William Pesek, a long term Japan hand and Tokyo-based columnist for Bloomberg News. William addressed the audience on his findings resulting from a series of articles he wrote recently focusing on the role of women in business in Japan.

On May 31st, the Committee will hold a "Setting The Agenda" event that will set the path for advocacy efforts and training opportunities. The key focus will be on brainstorming, where members will break up into small groups to identify issues and opportunities for the committee to focus on. This will be a significant opportunity for members to voice opinions/ideas and debate some of the real issues that women are facing in business in Japan. We encourage as many people as possible to sign up for this seminal session to set the committee on its journey of making a difference.

The Committee joins with other ACCJ Committees to co-sponsor events of potential benefit to its members. The first of these was with the HRM Committee on 2 April, 2012, 6:00 – 9:00pm at the Tokyo American Club, Brooklyn Room where Jane Horan, Author of 'I Wish I'd Known That Earlier In My Career' facilitated a workshop on "The Power Of Positive Politics And Political Savvy At Work".

The Committee expects to work closely with other foreign chambers of commerce and welcomes participation by non ACCJ members as well.