Hosting Committees: Kansai Diversity & Inclusion, Kansai Business Programs and Women in Business
主催委員会：関西ダイバーシティー & インクルージョン、関西ビジネスプログラム、ウィメン・イン・ビジネス
SponSORSHIP opportunities 2026
For further details, please contact kansai@accj.or.jp
D&I Summit Series 2026
The Future of Inclusive Leadership
Day1 October 7th : Mindfulness Workshop [Virtual] 14:30-17:00
Day2 October 27th : Mindfulness Workshop - Follow up Session [Virtual] 14:30-17:00
Fees (Two days set of Day1 & Day2 ): Members ¥1200, Guests ¥2400
Registration Deadline: October 4 (23:00)
Cancellation Deadline: September 30 (15:00)
Day3 November 16th: Panel Discussion and Networking [In-person]
17:00-20:00 @ Osaka (See details in member data center)
Fees (Day3 only): Members ¥3000, Guests ¥4000
Registration/Cancellation Deadline: November 6 (15:00)
Day1 & DAY2
MINDFULNESS Workshop by SARAH SUYOM
Building Inclusive Leaders Through Mindfulness:
Practical Skills for Lasting Impact
Is the stress of day-to-day work keeping you from sleeping soundly at night? Discover how practical mindfulness techniques and practices can help you manage stress, sharpen your focus, and recharge—enabling you to perform at your peak every day. Through this session, you’ll learn simple, practical tools you can integrate into your daily life to create greater calm, clarity, and resilience—both at work and beyond.
Join us to explore how mindfulness strengthens empathy, improves work dynamics, and builds stronger personal and professional relationships. Through practical and interactive exercises, discover tools you can immediately apply to support greater wellbeing, inclusion, and connection in your daily life. While each session can be attended independently, we encourage participants to join both sessions to deepen their learning and maximize the impact of the experience.
Sarah SUYOM
Founder and chief visionary officer, BECOMING
Holistic Transformation and Identity Upgrade Coach
day3
pAnel Discussion
Why BOard DIVERSITY MATTERS
Join the ACCJ for an engaging discussion on the importance of board diversity and its impact on corporate performance and governance. This session will explore the business case for diverse boards, the current
state of board diversity in Japan, and how a broad range of perspectives—across backgrounds, skills, nationality, and experience—can strengthen decision-making and board effectiveness.
Bringing together corporate executives, experienced leaders and practitioners, the panel will also touch on the challenges and opportunities in building a strong and diverse talent pipeline for future board leadership.
The program includes a panel discussion, audience Q&A, and networking with fellow professionals.
Facilitator
Mie Kitano
Japan Representative and Partner, SynFiny Advisors
Panelist
STEPHEN Irish, Ph.D.,
Managing Partner at Boyden
Managing partner at Boyden, Stephen Irish is a seasoned executive search and leadership advisory expert with more than 25 years of experience in Japan. Specializing in healthcare and life sciences, he has deep expertise in board and executive recruitment and advises organizations on leadership strategy, succession planning, and building high-performing, diverse boards.
Irish currently serves as director of healthcare and life sciences for Japan and regional practice head for Asia-Pacific healthcare and life sciences at a leading executive search firm focused on multinational organizations in Japan. He has 30 years of experience in Japan and spent his first five years working in research and development as the first gaijin seishain for Kewpie Mayonnaise before moving into search.
Panelist
nobuko sekiguchi
Corporate Executive and Board Director
Nobuko is an experienced corporate executive and board director with deep expertise in corporate planning, governance, finance, and human resources. She spent over a decade at CAPCOM Co., Ltd., where she held several senior leadership positions, including Managing Corporate Officer and Head of Corporate Planning & Human Resources Division.
Since 2019, she has served in a number of outside director and audit & supervisory committee roles at major Japanese companies, including H2O Retailing Corporation and Kobe Steel, Ltd. Her extensive experience across corporate strategy, governance, and board oversight brings a valuable perspective on leadership, organizational effectiveness, and board diversity in Japan.
Panelist
Jin Montesano
CEO, Pulse Works
Independent Board Director, Yamaha Motor Company
Jin Song Montesano is an experienced global executive and board director with extensive expertise in corporate transformation, organizational culture, diversity and inclusion, and purpose-led leadership. She has held senior leadership roles across global organizations including GSK, GE, Kraft Foods, and LIXIL Corporation.
As former Representative Executive Officer and Chief People Officer at LIXIL, Jin played a key role in shaping and embedding the company’s Purpose, Behaviors, and Diversity & Inclusion strategy, helping strengthen organizational alignment and advance its transformation. She also provided leadership to SATO, LIXIL’s award-winning social business, which has helped bring safe sanitation to more than 100 million people across Asia and Africa.
ACCJ THANKS THE GENEROUS SPONSORS OF D&I Summit 2026:
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