NEWS RELEASE
— Updated May 3, 2019 —
WASHINGTON, D.C. After a competitive selection process, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership are excited to announce the fifteen experts composing the fifth cohort of the “U.S.-Japan Network for the Future” program. These specialists on the U.S.-Japan relationship will begin a two-year program this June, and bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the bilateral policy-making process.
Ambassador Mike Mansfield firmly believed that the U.S.-Japan relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, “bar none.” This conviction is honored through the Network, which identifies and supports professionals who demonstrate potential for becoming policy intellectuals in the mid- and long-term. The program assists in building the professional networks of the participants and enhances their opportunities and abilities to engage with policy-relevant research.
Cohort Five includes:
Cdr. John Bradford, U.S. Navy
Ms. Naomi Gingold, Freelance Journalist
Dr. Kathryn Goldfarb, University of Colorado Boulder
Dr. Kristi Govella, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Dr. Scott Harold, The RAND Corporation
Mr. Jordan Heiber, MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Dr. Hilary Holbrow, Harvard University
Dr. Akira Inayoshi, Niigata University
Ms. Kazuyo Kato, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA
Dr. Ryosuke Maeda, Hokkaido University
Ms. Anna Nagamine, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Dr. Crystal Pryor, Pacific Forum
Dr. Anand Rao, State University of New York at Geneseo
Dr. Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Southern Methodist University
Mr. Timothy Webster, Case Western Reserve University
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, since 2009, have been building and providing opportunities for the network of fifty-four trained specialists in the academic, government, non-profit, and corporate sectors of the United States. The 2019-21 cohort, which includes experts based in Japan, represents the strongest and most diverse addition to the Network to date.
Cohort Five’s planned program agenda includes a two-day workshop in Washington, DC this June, followed by a retreat held in the Mansfields’ home state of Montana. Next year, the cohort will conduct week-long study trips to Washington and Japan before culminating in a public symposium in June 2021.
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that promotes understanding and cooperation in U.S.-Asia relations. The Foundation was established in 1983 to honor Mike Mansfield (1903-2001), a revered public servant, statesman, and diplomat who played a pivotal role in many of the key domestic and international issues of the 20th century as U.S. congressman from Montana, Senate majority leader, and U.S. ambassador to Japan. Maureen and Mike Mansfield’s values, ideals, and vision for U.S.-Asia relations continue through the Foundation’s exchanges, dialogues, research, and educational programs, which create networks among U.S. and Asian leaders, explore the underlying issues influencing public policies, and increase awareness about the nations and peoples of Asia. The Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tokyo, Japan; and Missoula, Montana.
The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), founded in 1991, is dedicated to both strengthening the global U.S.-Japan partnership and cultivating the next generation of public intellectuals necessary to sustain this partnership. To achieve these ends, CGP operates grant programs as well as self-initiated projects and fellowships. CGP has offices in Tokyo, Japan and New York, New York.