EVENT DETAILS
JCIE USA is pleased to announce the first event in a two-part webinar series that will highlight the role of Japanese nonprofit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in addressing challenges facing foreign residents and promoting “multicultural coexistence” (tabunka kyosei). The first webinar, “Supporting Youth with Foreign Roots in Japan,” will address one of the most pressing challenges facing foreign residents in Japan—education and employment support for children and youth with foreign roots—from the perspectives of Japanese NGOs, highlighting their experiences, approaches, and lessons learned.
The event will promote solution-oriented dialogues between representatives of Japanese NGOs and experts from the United States and Japan on immigration policy and identify effective approaches and lessons learned to successfully integrate foreign residents into society.
The details for the event and registration information are below:
September 15, 2026 (USA) | 8:15–9:30 pm EST
September 16, 2026 (Japan) | 9:15–10:30 am JST
VENUE: Online via Zoom
Save the date for the second webinar in the series, “Japan’s Immigration Politics and Policy – Roles of Japanese NGOs in Refugee Assistance,” on September 23, 7:30 pm (USA) | September 24, 8:30 am (Japan)!
SPEAKERS
Professor Hiromi Ishizawa
Associate Professor of Sociology & Co-Director of the Center for Immigration and Migration Studies, George Washington University
Hiromi Ishizawa is an Associate Professor of Sociology and a co-Director of the Center for Immigration and Migration Studies at George Washington University. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she spent two years as a post-doctoral research associate at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests are in the areas of social and family demography, immigration, sociology of language, and urban sociology. Her research focuses on understanding how immigrants integrate into their destination societies, with particular emphasis on the role of contexts, such as family and neighborhood, in shaping the integration process. A central part of her current research examines immigrants’ well-being and experiences of integration in Japan.
Ken Silverman
PhD Candidate for Political Science, The City University of New York; Population Dynamics Department Researcher, Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
Ken Silverman is a Political Science PhD candidate at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and a Population Dynamics Department Researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS). Research for his doctoral dissertation, Who Inherits Japan? Boundaries, Belonging, and the Children of Immigrants, has been supported by the Fulbright Program and Japan Foundation. Ken has held visiting researcher positions at the University of Tokyo and Keio University and was also an Immigrant Integration Fellow at the State University of New York’s Rockefeller Institute of Government. Previously, he covered international news for Japan’s largest private television network.
Miho Kitagawa Pedroso
Founder & Director, immi lab
Miho Kitagawa Pedroso is the founder and director of immi lab, a nonprofit organization that creates cycles of dialogue between immigrant youth and Japanese society. immi lab advocates for immigrant voices and empowers second-generation youth in Japan. Miho is a trained expert in Human-Centered Design (HCD), with engineering degrees from MIT (BS) and UC Berkeley (MS). Previously, as a Senior Design Strategist in California, she led global projects for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID, working on the ground in countries such as Ethiopia, India, and Brazil. Combining an engineer’s analytical mindset with an ethnographer’s empathy, she believes that embracing ambiguity creates new paths for society and individuals.
Yuka Aoki
Executive Director, Alece Takaoka
Yuka Aoki is the Executive Director of Alece Takaoka, a nonprofit organization in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture. She spent two years in Paraná, Brazil, as a JICA Nikkei Community Youth Volunteer, supporting school operations within the Japanese-Brazilian community. This experience sparked her interest in the language development and identity of children who move between Japan and Brazil. After returning to Japan, she supported children from international backgrounds and their families in Takaoka schools. In 2010, she founded Alece Takaoka to provide educational and informational support outside of school. Since 2020, with support from JCIE, she has led civic education programs focused on youth from international backgrounds. She currently serves on several Toyama Prefecture and Takaoka City advisory committees focused on multicultural coexistence, foreign residents, and education for children from international backgrounds.
Moderator: Kazuyo Kato
Executive Director, JCIE USA
Kazuyo joined JCIE USA as Executive Director in April 2021, after spending nearly two decades at nonprofit organizations dedicated to US-Japan relations and international affairs in both the United States and Japan. Prior to JCIE USA, she was Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Initiatives at Japan Society in New York. As a member of the executive team, she focused on developing funding support and expanding the society’s network across the country and in Japan through online initiatives and partnership programs, and she helped keep the Society active during the global pandemic. She also led the Society’s multifaceted program on the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Read more…
