Ms. Atsuko Toko Fish

Ms. Fish retired as a U.S.-Japan cross-cultural consultant, and is currently involved with various social innovative movements as a philanthropist. She is also a founding trustee of the Fish Family Foundation. Ms. Fish founded the Japanese Women’s Leadership Initiative (JWLI) in 2006 to empower Japanese women to become leaders for social change in Japan. To accelerate social change by women leaders, Ms. Fish founded the Champion of Change Japan Award (CCJA) in 2017 and is launching the JWLI Bootcamp in June, 2019. In the wake of 3/11, Ms. Fish established the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund – Boston (JDRFB) to support immediate and mid-term recovery in Tohoku. Ms. Fish visited the affected region several times to assess and evaluate the fast-changing needs of the people and community. In the two years the fund was active, JDRFB raised approximately $1 million and distributed 24 grants to 19 organizations and projects working directly in Tohoku. It has been reported by the grantees that JDRFB’s $1 million grants were leveraged for $6 million of economic impact. Ms. Fish also served as a board chair of the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) for over 10 years, and a trustee of Simmons College. She was also a board member of The Boston Foundation (TBF), HANDS (Health and Development Service), the Japan Society of New York (JSNY), and Management Sciences for Health (MSH). She currently serves as an Overseer of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA), and an advisory board member of Berklee College of Music.

In recognition of her achievements to promote U.S.-Japan friendship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan awarded Ms. Fish with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2012. In 2013, the White House named Ms. Fish a recipient of the Champion of Change Award in recognition of her accomplishments for empowering women in both the U.S. and Japan. In November 2018, Ms. Fish was conferred by the Emperor of Japan the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for her contribution to the advancement of women’s leadership in the Japanese social sector.