Asia Philanthropy Congress 2024The Nippon Foundation hosts event to promote DEI across Asia

The Asia Philanthropy Congress 2024, hosted by The Nippon Foundation, was held on November 29 in Tokyo, with ​ ​roughly 200 people from across Asia attending. This was the third meeting of the Asia Philanthropy Congress, and was organized under the theme of “​​Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: To achieve an inclusive society in which all individuals can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest.” The day began with a calligraphy performance by Shoko Kanazawa, one of Japan’s leading calligraphers​ ​, with musical accompaniment by a three-stringed Japanese shamisen and shakuhachi bamboo flute. On a large piece of white paper, using a large brush and black ink, Ms. Kanazawa demonstrated Japanese calligraphy by painting the Japanese character kagayaki, which means “brilliance” or “radiance.”

She was followed by The Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa, who welcomed the attendees and expressed his hope that the day’s meetings would foster grass-roots efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across Asia. The next speaker was Yoko ​​Kamikawa, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is known as an advocate of gender equality in Japan and around the world. In her keynote address, Ms. ​​Kamikawa discussed the importance of DEI, emphasizing the importance of inclusion in particular. She also discussed how blended finance, incorporating governments, private-sector companies, and philanthropic organizations, can address issues with high impact while dispersing risks in a way that none of these sectors can do on their own.

The first plenary session, titled “Building Bridges: Philanthropy and Business United for Sustainable Impact and Regional Wellbeing,” dealt with the evolution of philanthropy and was moderated by The Nippon Foundation Executive Director Ichiro Kabasawa. The format was a panel discussion featuring Ajay Piramal, Chairman of India’s Piramal Group, Jaime Aristotle Alip, Founder and Managing Director of CARD MRI in the Philippines, and Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of the social investment network AVPN and based in Singapore.

Mr. Piramal, who is also Chairman of the Piramal Foundation, explained that in India, businesses are seen as trustees for stakeholders, which include society at large as well as customers, employees, and investors. The government actually requires large companies to spend 2% of their profit for the public good, and many companies spend more than that, which leads to a high level of collaboration between business and philanthropy. He also pointed out the importance of taking a business approach to philanthropy in terms of verifying the impact of the money being spent, and in “doing good and doing well.” In addition, if businesses and philanthropies are able to achieve a certain degree of scale in their activities, governments will be more likely to become involved as well.

Dr. Alip founded what is now the CARD MRI group of companies as a nonprofit NGO in 1986. Although initially depending on grants, the group has become self-sufficient and grown to include companies engaged in activities including banking, insurance, and health care. He points out, however, that the group’s business is poverty eradication rather than the actual banking, insurance, and health care businesses. If a person is poor, they do not have the collateral to get a loan, and cannot afford insurance or access health care. Therefore, the way to eliminate poverty is to provide access to these resources. The CARD MRI group’s role is to bridge the “last mile” between larger banks and medical institutions and individuals who would otherwise be unable to access their services.

Ms. Batra noted that AVPN’s membership has grown over the past decade as companies and investors realize that things like sustainable business practices and the inclusion of women in management have a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. A generational transfer of wealth is also taking place across Asia, with the younger generation more concerned about their businesses’ effect on the environment and on communities. This is leading to increased interest in investing in more sustainable solutions, investing with a gender lens, and looking seriously at sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. As an example, she pointed to the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), and explained that having a gender lens in blended finance does not mean simply investing in female entrepreneurs. Instead, it means looking at whether women are working in an organization and are involved in decision-making, or in other words, that business decisions are being made by actually looking at the full 100% of the population.

The second plenary session was a panel discussion on the subject of “Unlocking Diversity, Equity & Inclusion through Strategic Social Investment and Collaborative Synergies.” Moderated by Hossain Zillur Rahman, Chairperson of the BRAC Governing Body and a leading policy advisor in Bangladesh, the session featured panelists Marie Oshioka, COO of Heralbony, a Japanese company that manages the property rights of artists with disabilities, Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer and Director of the Strategy Development Division of Japan’s Financial Services Agency, and Tatjana Gerling, Ambassador for Japan of the ​​2X Global network.

Ms. Oshioka explained that Heralbony has combined an intellectual property business with social welfare. While there are many NGOs and other organizations that work with artists with disabilities, Heralbony takes this one step further by licensing and promoting their works and paying ​​royalties back to the artists. Mr. Ikeda discussed the role that Japan’s Stewardship Code and Corporate Governance Code have played in raising awareness of ESG and DEI as strategic matters that allow companies to adapt to a changing world. Ms. Gerling gave an overview of ​​2X Global, a global platform of more than 150 financial institutions that makes a business case for investing in women and investing through a gender lens. One of the groups that the platform looks to engage is highly educated women, who represent a major resource but whose economic contribution as highly qualified professionals in society tends to decrease after they become mothers.

Common themes that emerged during the discussion included the fact that philanthropic organizations are able to play a leading, unique role in promoting DEI by being able to take on risk without needing to focus on short-term returns, and that inclusion is a strategic mindset that creates win-win outcomes. In addition, building networks or platforms to increase scale is important for attracting cooperation from governments and private-sector companies. Dr. Rahman concluded the session with the observations that philanthropic organizations can have an important function in promoting DEI because of their agility and ability to play a catalytic role, and that Asia has the experiences to be a leader in this area. It is also important to focus on “last mile” specific outcomes, and to rethink the idea of efficiency by incorporating a social angle.