Koyamada International Foundation, commonly referred to as KIF or KIF Global, is an

international non-governmental organization An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. NGOs are independent of government ...

, with its mission to improve quality of people's life by empowering global youth and women to reach their full potential and by providing humanitarian aid to promote

global peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

and sustainable development. It has affiliated national chapter members in seven countries. It has global partnerships with

UN agencies The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

and

international organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...

such as

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

(UNFPA),

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

Education Cannot Wait Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

(ECW),

World Karate Federation The World Karate Federation (WKF) is the largest international governing body of sport karate with 198 member countries. It was formed in 1990, is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than te ...

(WKF), Junior Chamber International (JCI), Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) and others.

History

The organization was initially formed when

Shin Koyamada is a Japanese-American actor, producer, entrepreneur, martial artist, and philanthropist. He is best known for his starring roles in ''The Last Samurai'' and the Disney's movie '' Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior'' on Disney+. He has produced numero ...

and

TEDx Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

Speaker Nia Lyte shared their passions of supporting youth, humanitarian aid and cross-cultural activities in the United States. They first begun providing relief foods and drinks to underprivileged families and individuals in Downtown Los Angeles with a group of friends and promoting cultural exchange activities across the United States. To benefit KIF's martial arts scholarship program that sponsored underprivileged youth to enroll in a martial arts school in the United States, KIF organized an international martial arts event ''United States Martial Arts Festival'' (USMAF), with over 1,000 participants representing 10 different countries and a group of world's renowned martial arts grand masters, including

Fumio Demura is a well known Japanese master of karate and kobudo (traditional weaponry).Clayton, B. D., Horowitz, R., & Pollard, E. (2004): ''Shotokan's secret: The hidden truth behind Karate's fighting origins'' (p. 108). Black Belt Books. ()Tadashi Yamashita is a Japanese American martial artist and actor. Early life Tadashi Yamashita was born in Japan in 1942, but he considers himself an Okinawan. His father died when he was three and he and his mother moved to Okinawa when he was 8, after the ...

Takayuki Kubota is a Japanese American master of karate. He founded the Gosoku-ryu style of karate, and is the founder and president of the International Karate Association. Kubota holds the title of Sōke for his development of the Gosoku-ryū style of karate ...

and businessmen who share similar international visions for the martial arts community, in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

, in 2010 and 2011. KIF signed a historic global partnership with its first UN agency named

(UNFPA) on

women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...

and

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

in December 2019, followed by second UN agency partnership with

's Education Cannot Wait (ECW) on

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

emergencies An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

in May, 2020.

Issue areas

There are 6 global causes that KIF and its all national chapter member organizations focus on in implementing programs, projects and activities catered to their communities and countries. For national causes, each national chapter prioritizes what it wants to focus on from the global causes to align all causes in all chapters, and create and carry out a new program or project based on the needs of its communities and territory.

Youth

To cultivate global mindset and

youth leadership Youth leadership is the practice of teens exercising authority over themselves or others. Youth leadership has been elaborated upon as a theory of youth development in which young people gain skills and knowledge necessary to lead civic engageme ...

, KIF's national chapter member organizations have partnered up with many high schools and

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

and

consulates A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

, and local governments and its board of education to organize a series of global speaker's programs for their youth students in Japan, Colombia,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and other countries where KIF's national chapters are based. KIF's President Nia Lyte participated as a closing keynote speaker addressing the importance of youth and women's empowerment and leadership at Junior Chamber International (JCI)'s global partnership summit at the

United Nations Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

in New York in 2018. In addition, KIF has participated numerous JCI's regional events with its global members to collaborate on

events in the United States and

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

region. In the following collaborations for a year, KIF and JCI signed a global partnership in February 2019 to continue the important efforts on fostering youth leaderships in different regions.

Gender Equality

KIF empowers all girls and women to be, do and achieve whatever they strongly believe they want to be, do and achieve in their lives. KIF national chapters have organized series of speaker's programs targeting over 300 women leaders per event to exchange dialogue on women's leaderships. In December 2019, KIF has partnered with

(UNFPA) on a new

and

initiative as part of the pledges KIF has made during the 25th

International Conference on Population and Development The United Nations coordinated an International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, on 5–13 September 1994. Its resulting Programme of Action is the steering document for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ...

(ICPD25) held in

Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

, in November 2019.

Disaster & Emergency

In emergency response to earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan, KIF started the disaster relief program and its first national chapter organization ''KIF Japan'' in Tokyo to help victims affected by the triple disaster, by providing them the relief funds of over $120,000 raised through fundraisers as well as shipping 20-foot container filled with relief goods and items, which KIF's volunteers collected in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. In 2019, KIF has partnered with Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) to assist AMDA in providing emergency medical aid to people affected by natural calamity, as well as man-made disasters in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and other regions. AMDA is an international NGOs with

General Consultative Status The consultative status is a phrase whose use can be traced to the founding of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Soc ...

with the United Nations Economic & Social Council and with an international network of 30 chapters and 47 collaborating organizations around the world. In May 2020, KIF has partnered with

's Education Cannot Wait (ECW) to support ECW's comprehensive education programmes for children and youth affected by conflicts, natural disasters, famine, displacement, and outbreaks (including

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

), right from the onset of crisis through recovery phases through the KIF's national chapters in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Exchanges

To promote mutual understanding and respect, KIF's national chapters have mobilized the series of grassroots cross-cultural networking events in partnerships with a number of different government agencies, embassies and consulates, and local nonprofit organizations in different countries. In 2013 and 2014, Hollywood celebrities

Dylan Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zack Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and its spin-off, ''The Suite Life on Deck'', where he starred along ...

and

Cole Sprouse Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor and photographer. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' (2005–2008) and its spin-off series ''The Suite Life on ...

from Disney Channel's

Suite Life ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and was also n ...

traveled to Japan for the first time ever for a KIF's new program ''United States-Japan Discovery Tour'' to exchange dialogue with thousands of Japanese youth on the importance of pursuing a higher education and interact with them on cross-cultural activities for two weeks. During the tour, the activities were shared to millions of followers and supporters on social media. To strengthen citizen diplomacy and people-to-people activities, KIF and

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...

(SCI) have partnered up to develop new bilateral summits in the United States and other countries in January 2019. In March 2019, KIF and SCI have organized the Japan-Texas Leadership Symposium, hosted by

City of San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and supported by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organi ...

to strengthen friendships between people of the United States and Japan and advance cultural and economic exchanges between two nations.

Habitat

Habitat is one of the core issue areas. Amazon Habitat is a wildlife and rainforest conservation initiative to save the world's largest tropical forest and its biodiversity, as well as support indigenous people who live in the jungle in South America. Safari Habitat initiative is to protect and promote the world's most famous fauna and indigenous community in Africa.

Space

The Foundation is committed to preserving nature, species and humankind on Earth, yet recognizes the importance of engaging in the exploration, tourism, and research of outer space.

Initiatives

* Guardian Girls, a public-private partnership program with the

(UNFPA) to prevent

Gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

for vulnerable girls and young women through martial arts. * StarAngel School, an education in emergencies program that provide educational resources and quality learning for those affected by conflicts, natural disasters and displacement. * StarAngel Center, a disaster relief program that provides relief goods and items and

humanitarian assistance Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...

to those affected by a natural disaster. * Amazon Habitat, a

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

program to help protect, preserve and promote

tropical rainforests Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

and wildlife in the

Amazon Jungle The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. * Safari Habitat, a

program to conserve

wildlife habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

and preserve and promote cultural heritage of the

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. * Spacestellar, a

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

program to attract and engage young people globally to; interact with each other; share and deepen mutual interests, passions and understanding about outer space; cultivate strong team leadership skills; and gain knowledge and experience of space science and technology through space-themed activities. * Zeal Up, a

program that empowers the next generations to create greater community change, become active community leaders and global citizens.

Structure

KIF Global is an international

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

consisting of its global board of directors, management leaderships, standing committees and its national chapter members.

National chapter members

Each national chapter member is an independent

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

exclusively licensed to operate in a specific country, governed by its own national boards and officers with national committees, and funded by its supporters and contributors of a designated country. All members of national chapters are local chapter member organizations and individual and corporate members.

Partnerships

To support and achieve the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), KIF is committed to enhance strong global partnerships and cooperation with

and leading

on global programs, advancing mutual interests and aligned purpose. For each KIF's global cause, KIF strategically collaborates with a global partner to design and plan a specific global program targeting specific regions or countries and carry it out in partnerships with KIF's national chapter members that also work closely with the partner's country office. KIF's current global partners are as follows:

UN agencies

(UNFPA) - a partnership on

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

's Education Cannot Wait (ECW) - a partnership on

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

International NGOs

(WKF) - a partnership on

* Junior Chamber International (JCI) - a partnership on

Youth leadership Youth leadership is the practice of teens exercising authority over themselves or others. Youth leadership has been elaborated upon as a theory of youth development in which young people gain skills and knowledge necessary to lead civic engageme ...

* Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) - a partnership on Disaster relief

Goodwill ambassadors

Celebrities

and

joined KIF as

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

s in 2013. To promote international education and cultural exchanges, Dylan and Cole made their first trips to Japan and empowered thousands of Japanese youth in 10

prefectures of Japan Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (, ''todōfuken'', ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (, ''ken''), two ...

in 2013 and 2014.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em

External links

Official websiteKoyamada International Foundation
on

Guidestar Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations.Wyland, Michael. "GuideStar Introduces Program Metrics Section for Nonprofit Profile ...

Organizations established in 2008 International organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Los Angeles 2008 establishments in California Charities based in California Poverty-related organizations Youth organizations International charities