The very50 team consists of passionate, experienced professionals from a number of industries
Staff
Ryosuke gained experience at Denso Japan, an automobile company, before working as a consultant for McKinsey & Company at their Hong Kong Branch. In 2008 he co-founded very50.
Ryosuke Sugaya
Cofounder & CEO
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Aya previously worked at Johnson and Johnson's Japan office as the Human Resources Manager. She participated in a MoG project in 2013, and joined the very50 staff in 2017.
Aya Kitano
Talent Development/HR Manager
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Nozomu has served as the leader for many problem solving projects in developing Asian countries. He was a full time intern at very50 prior to becoming the General Manager in 2015.
Nozomu Tanihiro
General Manager
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Prior to very50, Tomomi worked for Softbank, a telecom carrier in Japan, as a marketing coordinator. She joined the very50 team in 2017
Tomomi Iguchi
Global Social Entrepreneur Support
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Interns
Kanazawa University,
International Relations
Miyabi Ueta
Event Planning/Management, Marketing ​
University of Pennsylvania,
East Asian Area Studies
Morgan Thweatt
Product Development
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University of Tokyo, Graduate School
Sophia University,
International Relations
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Hanna Miura
Product Development
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Meiji University,
Law
Amon Konishi
Product Development
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Cornell University,
Graduate School of Public Policy
Soka University, International Liberal Arts
Kiichi Ohshima
Marketing & Fundraising
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Aoyama Gakuin University,
International Political Science and Economics
Saki Ozawa
Product Development
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Directors
Gaku worked as a programmer for an internet-affiliated company and has developed many PC and smartphone applications. In 2008, he co-founded very50, and is now in charge of WEB & systems.
Gaku Takeno
Director & Co-founder
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Takato is a managing executive officer and part of the development team for the Pokemon Company. He has been a director for very50 since its establishment in 2008.
Takato Utsunomiya
Director
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Haruto is the managing director of MEDIWILL Co Ltd, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs in Japan. He joined very50 as a director in 2008.
Haruto Shiroma
Director
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Yusuke worked at IMB Japan in the public sector before moving to a US based consulting firm. Before joining very50 as a director in 2012, he worked on new business development and incubation at Archetype Corporation.
Yusuke Utsumi
Director
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