The Eighth Annual
Women’s Leadership Forum & Networking Luncheon
Economic Equality and Empowerment
Women Aspiring and Building Financial Success
You are cordially invited to JAST’s Eighth Annual Women’s Leadership Forum & Networking Luncheon to be held in-person Thursday, October 20, 2022, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.
Join us for an inspiring event devoted to the importance of women’s financial equality and empowerment. Economic empowerment for women benefits communities and allows individuals to prosper and succeed. Four accomplished Japan and Tennessee connected women will share their personal and professional knowledge, growth, and experiences.
Keynote Speaker
Kate Burke
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
AllianceBernstein
Panelists
Maki Futami
Managing Director
PwC
Eko Ishii
Cofounder
CWell Institute
Yurina Yoshikawa
Writer, Teacher, and Book Reviewer
In addition to a catered luncheon featuring delectable Japanese inspired cuisine, participants may opt for a guided group tour of Weaving Splendor: Treasures of Asian Textiles, an exhibition featuring rarely seen Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Persian, and Turkish textiles drawn from the renowned collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A special memento of the occasion will also be presented to each participant. Discounted parking vouchers for the Frist Art Museum parking lot will be provided.
Agenda
10:00 a.m.
Guided Tour of Weaving Splendor: Treasures of Asian Textiles led by Meagan Rust, Interpretation Director at the Frist Art Museum
11:00 a.m.
Informal Networking and Refreshments
11:30 a.m.-1:30pm
Luncheon and Program, including Welcome Remarks, Keynote Speaker, and Panel Discussion
1:30 p.m.
Program Concludes
1:30 p.m.
Guided Tour of Weaving Splendor: Treasures of Asian Textiles led by Trinita Kennedy, Curator of the Weaving Splendor exhibit
Through our respective connections, we all share in the important work of shaping the future of Japan-Tennessee relations. Reserve your spot today for this year’s Women’s Leadership Forum and Networking Luncheon.
Keynote Speaker
Kate Burke
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
AllianceBernstein
Kate Burke is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of AB, responsible for overseeing all corporate functions of the firm, including corporate communications, diversity, equity & inclusion and corporate citizenship, finance, global technology & operations, human capital & administrative services, legal & compliance, quantitative research & data science, responsibility, and strategy. She was previously Head of Bernstein Private Wealth, Chief Administrative Officer, and, prior to that, head of Human Capital and Chief Talent Officer.
Kate has more than two decades of financial services and consulting industry experience. She joined Bernstein Research in 2004 in institutional sales, where she rose to senior vice president and managing director, overseeing institutional sales teams in the Midwest, New York and Canada. Prior to joining the firm, Kate was a manager at A.T. Kearney, where she led client cross-divisional organizational development programs. She holds a BA in economics from College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Kate has been named to American Banker’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance, Nashville Post’s 2021 Most Powerful Women in Nashville, and was the recipient of Markets Media 2021 Positive Impact Award, recognizing “a woman who not only excels at her day job but goes above and beyond in terms of giving back and making a difference.” Kate has also been featured in the following publications: Institutional Investor, FundFire, Ignites, Insider, Financial Planning, and Oprah Magazine.
Maki Futami
Managing Director
PwC
Maki Futami is a Managing Director at PwC focusing on serving private companies, mainly in automotive and manufacturing industries. She has 20 years of experience providing audit and non-audit services to public and private entities. Maki's key accomplishments include leading Japan’s first IFRS foreign private issuer GAAP conversion project and serving as a member of PwC’s global inspection team focusing on compliance and application of regulatory requirements and PwC policies and procedures. In addition, Ms. Futami maximized diversity and inclusion among the workforce by offering intricate mentorship to cross-functional team members as a Midwest Pan Asian Cultural Inclusion Network leader, engaging in various multicultural women’s events.
Maki lives in Cincinnati and has an almost 10-year-old boy. She has worked in PwC offices in New York, Tokyo and Washington DC. Ms. Futami is a Council Leader and an Audit Committee member at the U.S.-Japan Council.
Eko Ishii
Cofounder
CWell Institute
Cofounder with her husband of think-tank consultancy CWell Institute in 2000, Eko Ishii has created and organized numerous projects to educate Japanese communication companies focusing on global business. She was instrumental in organizing The U.S.-Japan Critical Infrastructure Protection Forum which began in 2004 and was held annually for 14 years thereafter.
Coming from a bi-lingual and bi-cultural family background, Eko from an early age embraced the important role of promoting U.S.-Japan bilateral cooperation. Eko's grandfather was the youngest member of the Japanese Delegation in attendance at the Peace Treaties Signing at Versailles (Paris) in 1919/20. His function as a translator interested her from the time she was a young girl.
Prior to her family's move to Chicago, in conjunction with her father’s career and where she received higher education, Eko was born in Kobe and was raised and educated in Tokyo.
Yurina Yoshikawa
Writer, Teacher, and Book Reviewer
Yurina Yoshikawa is a teacher, writer and book reviewer. She holds an M.F.A. from Columbia University and teaches fiction and non-fiction writing at The Porch Writers’ Collective. Her writing has appeared in The Tennessean, The Japan Times, Lit Hub, and NPR, and she hosts Reading Between with Lines with JAST.
Yurina was the winner of the 2020 Tennessee True Stories Contest and a 2021 recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two sons.
With many thanks to our generous sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Event Patrons
Event Sponsor
About JAST’s Women’s Leadership Forum
JAST's Women's Leadership Forum brings into focus the critical need to invest in the advancement of women in the U.S. and Japan. By advocating efforts that advance social and economic equality in this way, women from all walks of life stand to benefit from participating in society without gender bias. In turn, their contributions to our mutual society fuel jobs growth, economic and political stability, and inclusive prosperity.
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