Make the Most of Your Environment and Pursue Your Interests | Yumiko Umehara (1998 Graduate, Faculty of Policy Management; 2000 Master's, Graduate School of Media and Governance)

August 24, 2023

Yumiko Umehara

President and Representative Director, Value Frontier Inc.

Outside Director, Shin Nippon Air Technologies Co., Ltd.

Jazz Vocalist, Yumii

1998: Graduated from the Faculty of Policy Management

2000: Completed the master's program at the Graduate School of Media and Governance

In 2006, I co-founded Value Frontier Inc., where I provide environmental management and policy consulting for corporations and governments. In recent years, I have been particularly focused on SX (Sustainable Transformation), which aims to enhance corporate value while addressing issues like climate change and biodiversity. As an outside director for a listed company, I am also involved in governance reform and promoting diversity. In the past, environmental considerations were seen only as a cost, so I have also been involved in policy proposals and lectures aimed at making environmental awareness a standard for quality and value. Today, ESG has become an essential management issue for companies. I believe the reason I have been able to continue creating this business for nearly 20 years, despite being told that "the environment isn't profitable," is due to the frontier spirit instilled in me at SFC and the proactive learning attitude of "discovering issues and finding solutions on your own."

However, the journey to this point has been a continuous process of "groping in the dark." Inspired by my high school study abroad experience in Australia, I entered SFC with the desire to "create a society where people and nature can coexist." At the time, however, there were no classes that directly addressed this. I tried to force an environmental connection in my reports for economics and data analysis classes, and I attended every symposium I could find with "environment" in its name. As I continued this "brute-force" approach of trying everything I could think of, in my fourth year of university, I was fortunate to have the chance to participate as a scholarship student in the Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) program, an international environmental leadership training program, for two years. Since I had also started raising a child around that time, I decided to go on to graduate school instead of seeking employment. There, I was able to immerse myself in research, focusing on the question of how to "internalize" the "externality" of the environment within the economy. However, it involved joint research with European universities, which meant traveling back and forth between Japan and overseas while raising a child, reading a vast number of papers, and struggling with data analysis. It was a grueling two years, but now, 25 years after graduation, I am filled with renewed gratitude for my family, friends, and the faculty and staff who always gave me their full support, as they are the reason I am who I am today.

Now, approaching the age of 50, I feel a desire to give back as much as I can in the second half of my life. As one way of doing so, for the past three years, I have been focusing on training and accelerating young environmental leaders. Having become someone who supports young people, I now understand why my professors at the time so generously shared their knowledge with me. Young people are the future and hope itself. Youth is a privilege, so I want students to make the most of the environment they are given and pursue their interests to the fullest. Another thing is that a few years ago, I resumed performing live for the first time in 20 years. In the SFC jazz club, I met unique and talented friends, and performing live with them was a source of healing for my own heart as I continued my journey of groping in the dark. I hope to share the beautiful melodies packed into jazz, as well as the deep flavors and healing of life, with someone special. With this feeling of giving back in my own way, I want to continue singing.

Related URL: DO!NUTS TOKYO

A project in agreement with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Environment, fostering young environmental leaders and a movement for consumer behavior reform. Promoting acceleration toward a zero-emission society through an idea pitch competition.