Yukako Uchinaga

Ms. Yukako Uchinaga is currently board chair of J-Win (Japan Women’s Innovative Network), a non-profit organization that promotes diversity in the workplace. From 2008 to 2013, she served as the Chairman of the Board, CEO & President, and the Honorary Chairman of Berlitz Corp, and as the Director and Executive Vice President of Benesse Holdings, Inc.

Ms. Uchinaga began her career in 1971 at IBM Japan, where she held several positions in development, marketing and management. She was appointed Director of the Board of IBM Japan in 1995, and then Director of the Board and Senior Executive Officer in 2004. She also assumed the position of Vice President, Asia Pacific Technical Operations (Research, Development & Manufacturing) of IBM Corporation the same year. In 1999, Ms. Uchinaga became the first woman from outside the United States to be inducted into the Women in Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame. She has served as an advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Prime Minister’s Council for Gender Equality. She was awarded the ‘Prime Minister’s Commendation for Efforts Toward the Formation of a Gender-Equal Society’ in June 2013.

She holds a degree in physics from the University of Tokyo.