James Kondo (近藤正晃ジェームス ''Kondo Masaakira James'', born December 9, 1967) is an executive whose career spans social, technology, government, business and academic sectors. From January 2019, he is Chairman of International House of Japan.

Biography

Education

After graduating from Keio High School, Kondo studied at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, graduated from

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

with a BA in Economics and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

with an MBA. He is also a Yale World Fellow at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Social sector

On January 1, 2019, Kondo was appointed as Chairman at International House of Japan after serving as a Trustee and a Director in previous years.
He also serves as a Global Trustee of Asia Society and Co-Chair of Asia Society Japan Center. He is also a Kenjin-Tatsujin Member of nonprofit organization Ashinaga.
In 2011, he co-founded Beyond Tomorrow, a global fund for educational assistance to support youth in need, offering scholarship programs mainly focused on leadership training. It first began as an educational fund supporting young victims of 2011 Tohoku disaster. In 2007, Kondo co-founded a nonprofit organization TABLE FOR TWO International with fellow Young Global Leaders from World Economic Forum.

Technology

Kondo serves as Co-Chair of Silicon Valley Japan Platform which connects business leaders in Silicon Valley and Japan.
He also serves as Representative Director at

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan which is one of four global centres set up in the world to help shape governance for new technologies that are transforming our world.
He also serves as Senior Advisor at Geodesic Capital.
Previously, Kondo served as Chairman of Twitter Japan and Vice President of

Twitter Inc Twitter, Inc. is an American social media company based in San Francisco, California. The company operates the social networking service Twitter. It previously operated the Vine short video app and Periscope livestreaming service. Twitter ...

Government and policy

Kondo co-founded Asia Pacific Initiative in 2011, and has been serving as a board member and President.
Previously in 2010, he joined the Government of Japan and served in various capacities as Counsellor at the Prime Minister's Office. From 2011 to 2012, he became a Special Adviser to the Cabinet Office.
He was a management consultant at

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

for fifteen years from 1990 where he served as a core member of the firm's global strategy group and its economic think tank, McKinsey Global Institute. He co-founded Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) in 2004 and served as Vice Chairman and President until 2009.

Academia

Kondo is a visiting professor at Hitotsubashi University Business School conducting ''Business Government and International Economy'' course since 2011.
He joined MIT Media Lab as a visiting scientist from 2014 to 2017.
In 2003, Kondo joined University of Tokyo where he co-established Healthcare and Social Policy Program (HSP) and served as a Co-Director until 2009.
From July 2019, Kondo is a visiting professor at Department of Health Policy and Management,

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

School of Medicine.

Awards

* New Asian Leader (2003),

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

(2005), World Economic Forum * Global Agenda Council member, World Economic Forum *US-Japan Leadership Program Delegate (2005-2006), The United States-Japan Foundation * Asia 21 Fellow (2006), Asia Society * International Fellow,

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

* Inamori Fellow (2006), Inamori Foundation *Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow (2016),

Robert Bosch Academy The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH () is a German foundation that owns a majority shareholding in Robert Bosch GmbH, from which it derives its funding. The foundation was established in accordance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, who died in 1942, an ...