Mentor For
CEOMasako Ikehara

Graduate of Waseda University and its Graduate School. She earned a Master’s degree from INSEAD while working at a PR firm, an education-focused NPO, and a consulting firm. She founded her company in 2014. When her partner was posted overseas during her pregnancy and childbirth, she experienced solo parenting firsthand. Confronting the structural barriers women face in building their careers, she pivoted her business in 2018 to an external mentoring service advancing Diversity Equity& Inclusion (DE&I). After living between Germany and Japan, she expanded the business and is now based in Japan. In February 2026, she joined the Gakken Group through an M&A.

▶︎Awards
Selection Committee Special Award, 23rd Japan Venture Awards (JVA), Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation (SME Support, Japan)
Tokyo Metropolitan Female Entrepreneurs Award, Sustained Growth Category
Women Entrepreneurs Award, Growth Category Excellence Award / Chairperson's Award, National Federation of Women's Committees of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women 2022
Finalist, DBJ Women Entrepreneurs New Business Plan Competition (Development Bank of Japan)
Tokyo Governor's Award, ""Women's Power Takes Flight"" Award
Grand Prix, Women's Entrepreneurship Challenge Program

▶︎Other Roles
Advisor (Operating Partner) to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's ""Vision Network of Women Mayors and Governors"" and ""Tokyo Women's Future Forum""
Member, Shinagawa Ward Citizen Science Review Committee