Our Network

Where else could you meet a hedge fund manager, NPO director, Buddhist priest, international banker, United States Navy fighter pilot and a female race car driver all in the same day?

Since its inception in 2000, the United States-Japan Foundation's US-Japan Leadership Program has grown into a vibrant network of 500 top leaders in the U.S. and Japan. Members come from every imaginable background, including national and local government, academia, business, education, finance, labor, law, law enforcement, media (TV and print), military, NGOs, non-profit, science and technology, engineering, medicine, politics, religion, the arts (theatre, film, music, graphic), entertainment, and sports. Americans and Japanese from all these sectors form deeply personal trust-based relationships through their experiences in USJLP. It is the Program's long-held intention and belief that it is strong bonds of mutual understanding, respect and friendship that form the underpinnings of the US-Japan relationship and will be what continues to serve and benefit the relationship far into the future.
 
Once selected for the Program, members gain lifelong access to the unique pool of USJLP talent and are able to engage in activities, from intellectual gatherings to informal meetings, that take place virtually as well as throughout the U.S. and Japan. An annual "Fellows Weekend" held during the final two days of each conference serves as both a reunion for Fellows (alumni who have completed their two Delegate years) as well as a time for Fellows and current Delegates to meet one another and continue to expand their personal connections within the USJLP community. The Program's immersive design affords each new member the opportunity to get to deeply know approximately 60 other Delegates in their own two-year cohorts, as well as meet and interact with 100+ Fellows in the greater USJLP community during just their two conference week commitments alone.
 
Exploring new, innovative projects, business ideas, and international cross-sector collaborations are realistic and possible through the dynamism of our network. The fundamental goal of the US-Japan Leadership Program comes to life when, after meeting through the Program, our members continue to deepen their relationships, make connections and pave the way for new opportunities for members as well as for the Foundation to further it's larger mission, and ignite the network to rally around initiatives that serve our greater global society.
 

In their own words:

"The USJLP is a truly special group where members from both countries so naturally live up to its founding purpose (developing a network of communication, friendship and understanding). This alone proves that the USJLP provides a powerful and worthy platform to fill the void that governments cannot otherwise fill."

-Claire Chino (USJLP 2008-2009), Managing Executive Officer, Head of Corporate Communications, ITOCHU Corporation

"It was a very intense week of interesting discussions in Seattle in 2000. The Fellows' network in Japan and in US was very helpful during the 3/11 Fukushima Nuclear Crisis. This Program will forever be a bridge over the Pacific!"

-Taro Kono (USJLP inaugural class of 2000), Member, House of Representatives; Digital Minister, Minister for Administrative Affairs and Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety; Former Chairperson, Public Relations Headquarters, Liberal Democratic Party; Minister for Administrative Reform & Regulatory Reform, Minister in Charge of COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out (2020-2021); Former Minister for Foreign Affairs (2017-2018) and Former Minister of Defense (2019-2020) of Japan  

"By exposing today's brightest and most promising civic-minded citizens in the U.S. and Japan to established and well- positioned government and industry elite, USJLP methodically empowers up-and-coming leaders to aspire to great attainment, to acquire the necessary skills and to triumph in sealing the deal, all the while creating an unbreakable unique lifelong bond of family, friendship and fun among Delegates and Fellows."

-P. Mona Khanna (USJLP 2007,2010), MD, MPH, FACP, FACPM, FACEOM Facebook.com/AskDrMona, @AskDrMona Emergency Medical Relief Provider and Humanitarian; Center Affiliate, Center for Global Health, University of Illinois; Member, Consortium of Universities for Global Health