In July, JICUF welcomed twelve ICU undergraduate students for our Global Link summer program. During the four weeks, from July 5th to 26th, the students participated in office visits, professional roundtables, networking events, volunteer activities and professional skills workshops in New York City and Washington, D.C. The activities, collaboratively scheduled by JICUF and the wide network of ICU alumni and friends, aimed to inspire the students as they contemplate their future career paths.

We’d like to thank the alumni and friends who took their time to engage with the students, whether by hosting them in their offices, participating in a roundtable, or attending a reception. We would also like to thank the wonderful students – it was a pleasure to host you!

Below is a schedule of many of the activities during this year’s program, followed by a comment by JICUF Program Assistant Luke Palermo, who accompanied the students throughout the four weeks.

 

Week 1

July 5th (Friday) – Orientation, welcome lunch at V&T Pizzeria & Restaurant, resume writing workshop with Louisa Tatum (NY Public Library), and a BBQ at JICUF trustee Takeshi Ueshima’s home.

 

Week 2

July 8th (Monday) – public speaking workshop with Toastmasters Advanced Communicator Ivan Farkas and Distinguished Toastmaster Dennis Sumlin, and a NYC neighborhood excursion activity with LaGuardia Community College students

Global Link students formed small groups with LaGuardia Community College students studying Japanese and explored different Manhattan neighborhoods on foot. Afterwards, they all met at LaGuardia Community College to make short presentations on their experiences.

 

July 9th (Tuesday) – Visit to the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP) hosted by Kanako Mabuchi (‘13), and visit to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the UN.

 

July 10th (Wednesday) – Careers in Primary/Secondary Education Round Table with Will Treece (History Teacher @ Park Slope Collegiate) and Emi Yamasaki (Japanese Teacher @ Bronx Collaborative High School); and Careers in Higher Education Round Table with Gale Lynch (Senior Director @ The New School), Izumi Osawa-Minevich (‘04, Program Assistant @ Roukema Center, Ramapo College), and Ryoko Ogino (Managing Director for Administration @ Columbia University Business School).

 

 

July 11th (Thursday) – Graduate School Round Table with Shiori Kitajima (‘14, Research Analyst @ Nomura Research Institute),  Yuya Ikeda, and Naoki Saito (Graduate students of the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs); and Journalism Round Table with Mana Ishida (Researcher and U.N. Resident Correspondent @ Nikkei America), Devin Stewart (Senior Program Director @ Carnegie Council’s Asia Dialogues Research and Exchange Program), and Satoshi Ukai (‘93, Asahi Shimbun NY Bureau chief).

 

July 12th (Friday) – Office visit to Aberdeen Standard Investments hosted by JICUF Trustee Danny Ha (‘94 OYR), 9/11 Memorial Museum Guided Tour, and a dinner+discussion at the home of Fusae Nara (‘85) with ICU alumni Utari Kitaoka and Miki Kono.

 

 

Week 3

July 15th (Monday) – Travel to Washington, D.C.

 

July 16th (Tuesday) –Visit to the U.S. Capitol hosted by Luke Murry (‘03 OYR, National Security Advisor to Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy), and a visit to the US Japan Council D.C. Office hosted by Communications Manager Aya Maher and alumni Weston Konishi & Sonoko Plummer (‘99)

 

July 17th (Wednesday) – Visit to the Japanese Embassy to the U.S. hosted by Yoshihiko Higuchi (‘95) and Researcher Mitsuna Uchikawa (‘11); and visit to NHK’s Washington D.C. Bureau hosted by Producer David McCagg (studied at ICU for one semester in ‘06).

 

 

July 18th (Thursday) – Tour of Mt. Vernon, a visit to Mitsui & Co. D.C. Bureau hosted by Senior Analyst Shinobu Kusakabe (‘94) and Bureau Chief Jun Aketa, and Washington D.C. Alumni Meet & Greet dinner at Lebanese Taverna Woodley Park.

 

July 19th (Friday) – Visit to the U.S. State Department hosted by former ICU OYR Benjamin Goldberg (Japan analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research), Foreign Service Officer Katherine Tarr, Peter Prahar (‘75 OYR), and Christopher Quade (Office of Japan Affairs)

 

Week 4

July 22nd (Monday) – United Nations HQ guided tour, and a discussion at UNICEF HQ hosted by Eri Masaki, Reiko Okumura, Kazuaki Tsuji, Ikuko Yamaguchi (‘92)

 

July 23rd (Tuesday) – Visit to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse with Ed Lenci (‘86 OYR, Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP) and Neil Quartaro; and a volunteer activity at the Women In Need Sheepshead Bay office. Students spent an afternoon introducing children participating in the summer camp to Japanese culture and customs.

 

July 24th (Wednesday) – Visit to Google NYC office, and an interactive activity with Chinese students of the MOVE For Cultural Exchange Education effort program.

 

July 25th (Thursday) – Visit to the Womankind main office, and a visit to Dentsu NYC office with Planning Director Kohei Washio (‘02).

 

July 26th (Friday) – Survey, final reflection session, and farewell lunch at Dinosaur BBQ.

 

Luke Palermo (JICUF Program Assistant):

I feel very privileged to have been able to guide the 12 Global Link participants around NYC and DC for the second year in a row. Getting to meet regularly with such inquisitive, compassionate, and motivated students is nothing short of a pleasure, and I felt as if I was learning something new every day right along with them. I wish them all the best in their future, and I hope they have no objection to saying hello when JICUF is back on campus!