Leadership
FEW Japan was founded in 1981 and has been run solely by members for its members for over 41 years. Legally incorporated in July 2020, FEW Japan Not-for-Profit Incorporated Association is continuing this important legacy of building women’s empowerment as a member-serving legal entity advancing womxn’s empowerment in Japan.
FEW Japan Not-for-Profit Incorporated Association is governed by a Board of Directors who are elected for a two-year term. Chosen from amongst the membership as well as selectively recruited talent with skills that strengthen our organizational capacity and impact in Japan, the Board of Directors mobilizes diverse professional expertise and bilingualism within each of the 2-person teams comprising the Co-Presidency, Co-Vice Presidency, Finance Director, Communications Co-Directors, Corporate Memberships Co-Directors, Individual Memberships Co-Directors, Programs Co-Directors. Our board is supported by paid professionals for accounting, social media and executive support. We also have a Career Strategies Seminar Committee, and other Committees. Our corporate members invest in our mission along with paying individual members, allowing us to build a multi-stakeholder community of actors committed to advancing women’s empowerment in Japan.
Bringing together womxn from diverse nationalities and professional backgrounds, welcoming womxn of all cultural backgrounds, mother tongues and sexualities, and bringing an explicitly trans-inclusive commitment to our safe space for womxn in Japan, FEW directors serve on a purely volunteer basis and have separate professional activities and family responsibilities outside of their board role. As a membership-based community including individuals, organizations and corporations committed to our mission, we are grateful for these individual directors’ willingness to contribute their precious time and talent in support of womxn’s empowerment in Japan.
Get to know more about our current Board of Directors by clicking the "Learn More" button under each of their names below. If you are interested in getting more involved with FEW, please talk to one of us at our next event or contact us via email anytime!
2021-2023 FEW Japan Board of Directors
Jackie F. Steele
President
Representative Co-Director since 2020
Jackie F. Steele
President
Representative Co-Director Since 2020
Dr. Jackie F. Steele is a trilingual, Canadian political scientist, author, and longtime Japan resident. Jackie has taught at leading universities in Canada (UOttawa, SFU) and Japan (UTohoku, UTokyo, Nagoya Law). As CEO of enjoi Diversity & Innovation, she shares her expertise on how to design and implement diversity-positive ecosystems and corporate cultures. Using best practices from Canada, Dr. Steele offers evidence-based change management strategies to guide leaders in creating healthy and diversified corporate decision-making and flat, inclusive workplaces that are empowering for diverse talent. For two decades Jackie has also supported grassroots organizations and public/private sector policy leaders in the creation of policy designs for diversity, gender equality, and inclusive innovation. She represented Canadian civil society leadership on women’s equality to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (2008/2009), and served as gender/diversity advisor to the Japan Women’s Network for DRR for revisions to the UN international Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015). Since April 2022, Jackie is Senior DEI Business Partner, Amazon Japan G.K. In her volunteer life, she is a Governor for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, serves as an angel Activator with SheEO Canada, and is the Strategic Advisor of WomEnpowered International (UTokyo). She is mother to two adorable children and considers Chikuma (Nagano) her hometown community in Japan.
Terri MacMillan
Co-President
Deputy Representative Co-Director from 2021
Terri MacMillan
Co-Vice President
Deputy Representative co-Director from 2021
Terri MacMillan was born in Harlem in 1958, grew up in New York City, attended the High School of Music & Art as a voice and piano major. She went to Fordham University for 2 years as an English major. Terri was Manager, then Director of Business Affairs for CBS Records International for 10 years. She moved to General Manager of Paisley Park Music for 2 years. Having fallen in love with the Shibuya-kei scene in Tokyo, she left the corporate world to run a non-profit, Medius Entertainment, whose mandate was to promote cultural exchange by bringing excellent Japanese underground bands to the US. After almost 15 years of artist management (Pizzicato Five, Buffalo Daughter, FEED), Terri was living in Tokyo and moved into other areas of multimedia and became more active in the community, including producing a short series about national differences in healthcare: National Healthcare Mythbusters. In 2003, she wrote the Kobunsha – published Bushisms book “Bush in Wonderland.” Terri is re-starting her podcast: Hello Human Show, which is, ironically, about creative consistency. It’s meant for older women who would love to build a creative practice. If I can do it, you can too!
Kyoko Nagano
Vice President
Deputy Representative Co-Director since 2020
Kyoko Nagano
Vice President
Deputy Representative Co-Director since 2020
Kyoko is a Japanese national who has lived overseas in countries such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, USA, Thailand for 17 years as an expatriate together with her family. Since she was little, she has learned Japanese traditional culture and it has been her passion to introduce beautiful Japanese culture to people for many years. She launched 3 companies together with her partners in 2018 and 2019 - they are all centered around Japanese culture. Mypal Inc is supporting Japanese cultural teachers and artists as an agent and she also works for foreign media. For Sake Lovers Inc, she supports small craft sake breweries with exports and online & physical sake tours. With Hakko Farm, the company introduces Japan’s unique fermented food with fermented food experts. This is her 4th year serving FEW Japan as a board member. She has been inspired by talented and like-minded women in FEW and is passionate about helping the community to grow through physical and virtual lunches, peer to peer mentoring and support programs. In her role as a vice president, she hopes to support the program directors, finance directors with her experience.
Stephanie Bay
Co-Vice President
Stephanie Bay
Co-Vice President
Stephanie Bay is a Civil Engineer from Germany with over 10 years of experience in the construction industry. After graduating university in Germany, she worked over 8 years for Northern Europe’s largest construction company Skanska in Sweden’s capital Stockholm. She was one of the few female managers on railway and highway projects when she started off her career and is eager to see more women enter that industry. "Women need to see more role models in the construction business!". Now Stephanie works for Japanese company Nohara Holdings as Project Manager implementing and supporting the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on construction projects. Coming to Japan was a long-held dream and Stephanie made it happen in 2019. With a plane ticket and two bags, she left Europe hoping to find a job in Tokyo and the rest is history. Her message to the FEW community is “dare to dream and make that dream come true! Getting out of your comfort zone by living and working abroad in different countries, helps you develop more cultural awareness and exposes yourself to different ways of thinking. I would like to encourage everyone to give it a try and let nothing and no one stop you!”
Shizuka Suzuki
Finance Director
Shizuka Suzuki
Finance Director
Shizuka Suzuki was born and raised in a traditional Japanese family in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo. She lived for four years with her family in the U.S. where she received her high school diploma. Her experience in the U.S. broadened her view on life and opportunities. After graduating from the Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, Shizuka joined a US-based advertisement firm and started her career in marketing communication. Ever since, she has engaged in various fields, including management planning at both Foreign-based and Japanese companies. Throughout her career, her role has focused on developing happy relationships with clients and customers. Shizuka is excited to work with the empowering members of FEW as Finance Director.
Jemma Gallagher
Special Events Director
Jemma Gallagher
Special Events Director
Jemma Gallagher has spent more than half of her life living abroad, between Japan, Germany and the US. She currently works for Amazon in their student programs, guiding young professionals into their new jobs when they graduate from university. She has a passion for bringing out the best in people through their work, and is hoping to continue that vision through her role on the board of FEW Japan. Before moving to Amazon, she worked for two years in human resources solutions, finding talented bilingual Japanese university students to work in broadcasting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Through her work in that role she discovered the breadth and depth of incredible talent in Japan. She feels that working with FEW Japan is an invaluable opportunity to continue providing professionals and women in Tokyo and around Japan with the tools and learning opportunities that they need to pursue their career goals with intention and drive. She returned to Tokyo after 2 years as a JET in Amakusa, an MA at Kyushu University in Fukuoka and a year in Yokohama at the InterUniversity Center. Jemma was born in Tokyo but spent most of her childhood on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. She has a BA from Bard College where she majored in Japanese studies. When she can find the time, Jemma likes to cook, knit, lift weights, ride her bike long distances, and sail.
Léa Perceval
Program
Director
Léa Perceval
Program Director
Léa Perceval was born and grew up in Haiti before moving to Canada, where she graduated from the University of Montreal with a bachelor’s degree in political communication (2015). She is currently completing an MBA with a focus on Project Management from the University of Laval (2022) while working at the Haitian Embassy in Japan as a Councilor. Prior to coming to Japan, she worked in Haiti as a Political Attaché at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in Montreal she worked in the fields of communication, marketing, and sales for various institutions. These experiences allowed her to develop skills and knowledge that she enjoys sharing with others, mainly by volunteering. Léa is a proud mom of two, who’s life journey is about empowering others, especially those who are vulnerable. She believes that helping others is a way of helping oneself, whether the purpose is to grow as an individual, learn new skills or help create value and sustainable growth within a community.
Tracey Northcott
Corporate Membership
Director
Tracey Northcott
Corporate Membership Director
Australian Tracey Northcott of Enfour, Inc., Tokyo Family Stays and Tracey Northcott Consulting, is a serial entrepreneur and multi-preneur based in Tokyo, Japan. She is one of the most successful Airbnb hosts in Tokyo, at one point having 23 properties for rent in the Tokyo 23 Wards growing her business, Tokyo Family Stays, to a 7-figure business. She also runs a Software development company, Enfour, Inc. with her family. Tracey Northcott Consulting is where she helps other hosts discover the true potential of their STR business maximizing their investment, enjoyment and hospitality standards.
Tia Haygood
Co-Corporate Membership
Director
Tia Haygood
Co-Corporate Membership Director
Tia Haygood is an optimistic adventurer and entrepreneur from Charlotte, North Carolina, who ventured to Japan in 2005 after reading numerous Japanese folklore and novels as a teenager. After studying abroad at Aoyama Gakuin University High School (2005) and Kanda University (2009), she decided that she wanted to make Japan her home after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2010). After spending 4 years as an ALT for a Japanese private school in Kamakura, she decided to follow in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother, running her own business as a photographer. Five years in, her business, TOPTIA Photography, has helped over 200 other businesses, both large and small with marketing, branding and headshot photography services. Tia is a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), awarded by the Professional Photographers of America Association. Tia is also dedicated to service in her community and is also the News/Media chair of the Legacy Foundation Japan and volunteers for NPOs such as YouMeWe, Mirai no Mori, Run for the Cure and Second Harvest. In her free time, Tia enjoys cooking her favorite childhood Southern and Belizean dishes.
Tiffany Rossdale
Membership
Director
Tiffany Rossdale
Membership Director
Born and raised in Manila, Philippines. Tiffany Rossdale has been a resident of Tokyo for over 25 years. After moving to Tokyo in late 90’s, she discovered vibrant opportunities in Japan’s VIP nightlife scenes and became one of Tokyo’s mega-socialites. Through Tokyo Fashionista, Tiffany began curating her own events and has spent a decade hosting and designing some of the most luxurious parties for five star hotel's, luxury fashion brands, and megaclubs, including annual Halloween and New Year's Eve Parties. She has served as a judge at the International Pole Dance Fitness Competition, worked with International artists and musicians like Kat deLuna, Vita Chambers, and Lavelle Smith Jr., who is a choreographer to American pop stars like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyonce and many more. In 2010, she began her career as a DJ, playing at various fashion parties, private/corporate events, and some of the famous clubs in Japan and the US. Since the global pandemic struck Tokyo, she pivoted into hosting a podcast called "Breakfast With Tiffany Show" dedicated to LGBTQ+ wellbeing and community, and is open as a transgender woman activist who believes in the power of our voices to change the world in order to make it a safer community for all of us.
Christine Brown
Co-Membership
Director
Christine Brown
Co-Membership Director
Christine grew up in the Midwest of the United States then moved to New York to study Journalism. Over the course of 16 years, she worked for multiple start-ups in human resources, event and retail management, and real estate. A love of animals inspired her to become an entrepreneur and found Wags to Whiskers, a pet care service in Brooklyn. Following her dream to live in another country, she moved to Nagasaki in 2007 and taught English on the JET Program for five years. After relocating to Tokyo in 2014, she continued to teach Business English and Cross-Cultural Communication skills to professionals. Three years ago, after studying and training with her mentor for eight years, she founded an Intuitive Life Coaching business, Clarity with Christine. Her hobbies include traveling, practicing yoga, reading books, and trying new foods. She is excited to serve on the FEW Board of Directors and looks forward to sharing her personal and professional experiences with the FEW members.
Amy Fujii
Communications
Director
Amy Fujii
Communications Director
Amy Fujii spent most of her adult life in Washington, DC after graduating from the College of Wooster in Ohio (USA) where she studied English and history – both of which became cornerstones to her varied professional and volunteer experiences. Although she has worked for the American federal government, most of Amy’s professional experience has been in small American companies in diverse industries such as content management, lease accounting, and cybersecurity. Working in small dynamic teams, Amy filled many roles from marketing to technical writing and learned the importance of valuing each team member’s diverse strengths and ability to make meaningful contributions. Recognizing the need for individuals to contribute to ensure strong communities, Amy also volunteered extensively for an international service organizations and groups supporting her children’s education. Amy moved to Tokyo in 2020 with her husband and children in support of her husband’s job. She now explores Japanese history and culture and shares her experiences with other English speakers through tours and activities. Amy recognizes the value of FEW as both a learning opportunity and a diverse community that celebrates and accepts others based on where they are now and where they hope to be in the future.
Corinn Wilson
Co-Public Relations
Director
Corinn Wilson
Co-Public Relations Director
Corinn Wilson considers Phoenix, Arizona USA to be her hometown, although she grew up in a military family. The experience growing up as an “Air Force Brat” shaped her love of travel and learning more about different cultures. After graduating (UArizona), Corinn moved to Japan to teach English for a private English conversation school in Okayama city. She was only in Japan for one year but the experience resonated with her greatly and she discovered her love for helping students pursue their educational goals. Since completing a Masters in Higher and Postsecondary Education, over the past 10 years she has been working with both domestic and international students in the US and alongside foreign officials, sponsors, and governmental agencies to develop policies and programs that best support their students studying abroad. Corinn returned to Japan in August 2019 as part of the Phoenix Sister Cities Teach Abroad program where she currently serves as an Assistant Language Teacher for the municipal Junior High and Elementary schools in Himeji. She is looking to transition into a role that allows her to continue helping students pursue their post-secondary goals here in Japan. With FEW Japan, she is looking forward to sharing the mission of FEW and forging new relationships with women around Japan.
Past FEW Board Presidents
The 2021-2023 FEW Board is also very grateful for all of the hard work and dedication of the Boards before them, led by the following past FEW Board Presidents.
- Elyse M. Rogers (1981~1984)
- Mary Kathryn Clubb (1984~1985)
- Virginia Kouyoumdjian (1985~1987)
- Ruth Morris (1987~1990)
- Catherine Moss (1990~1992)
- Patti Salvagio (1992~1994)
- Diane Morris (1995~1997)
- Alison Pockett (1997~2002)
- Verena Urbschat (2002~2007)
- Julia Maeda (2007~2010)
- Lisa Gravestock (2010~2011)
- Sarah Everitt Furuya (2011~2013)
- Joy Fajardo (2013~2015)
- Sarah Achilles (2015~2018)
- Riya Rapp (2018~2019)
- Kirsten O'Connor (2019-2021)