Invest Japan Symposium
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Washington D.C. Speaker Bios | Miami Speaker Bios
He has served since 2005 as director of programs for the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness, a community-based grassroots organization providing forums to develop a national strategy for homeland security that includes first responders, businesses and community leaders. In 2001, he founded Kruesi Center for Innovation, a program to identify breakthrough ideas and technologies that reinforce competitiveness in the regional economy. The family-supported Kruesi Award, given by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s first community-based award for innovative products, technologies and services. From 2000 to 2001 he was the editorial and perspective correspondent for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the daily newspaper of his hometown. He served as chairman and director of the Tennessee World Trade Center from 1998 to 2000. From 1996 to 1998, Jim was director of strategic initiatives at RiverValley Partners, the public/private entity driving the economic renaissance of the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. From 1995 to 1996 in Chattanooga, he worked in affiliation with Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, the state’s largest law firm. With former U.S. Senator Bill Brock of Tennessee, he co-founded The Brock Group, Ltd., an international trade and investment strategy consultancy in Washington, DC in 1989. As an appointee of President Ronald Reagan’s administration, he worked directly with two cabinet officers, Bill Brock and Clayton Yeutter, at the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 1981 to 1989, serving as the chief of staff from 1985 to 1989. In that capacity, his team helped craft and negotiate U.S. trade policies that launched the first bilateral free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization. Jim has a special background in Japan, where he has lived and worked on three occasions, with J. Osawa & Co., a trading company (1969; Yanagida and Sakuragi, a law firm (1977) in Tokyo; and as an instructor at the Institute for International Studies and Training in Fujinomiya (1973). Earlier Washington experience includes staff positions with the Republican National Committee from 1978 to 1981, as well as the Department of Justice in 1975 and Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee in 1968. He received an A.B. degree in History from Princeton University in 1973 and a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1977. He is Vice Chairman of the Tennessee District Export Council, the state’s advisory committee on export development, appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. Jim serves as Vice Chairman and as the public representative on the board of the Tennessee Architecture Foundation. He is a board member of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation and the Chattanooga Technology Council. He and his spouse Patti, a former national public relations executive, and their children Will, Jack, and Anna reside on Lookout Mountain. They are members of the Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal), where Jim has served on the vestry. Jim and Patti co-chaired the 2005 campaign for Allied Arts of Chattanooga.
Patricia M. Haslach, a Career Minister of the Senior Foreign Service, who began her diplomatic career in 1986, was appointed U.S. Senior Official for APEC, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in June 2007. Prior to her current position, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from May 2004 to May 2007. Ms. Haslach has a keen interest in education and she has actively served on the boards of the American schools in Lagos, Jakarta and Islamabad. She is married to fellow Foreign Service Officer, David Herbert. They have two daughters, Shereen and Kiran. Since August, 2006, Ken Hisamoto has assumed his current title and position of Vice President, U.S. International Sales. His responsibilities include overseeing the planning and execution of international sales strategies for the U.S. region. This includes supporting U.S. based customers for their imports, exports and other global transportation needs. Ken Hisamoto began his career with FedEx in 1991. Hired in Tokyo, Japan, he worked in various management positions in functional areas including Finance, Operations and Sales. In 1997, he was assigned as Senior Sales Manager in Singapore for the Southeast Asian Markets. Major responsibilities included converting Global Service Partners to a new licensee agreement and conversion of the sales organization in Thailand to become a directly managed market. He held this position from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, he was assigned as the Managing Director, North Pacific Region Sales. Based out of Tokyo, he was responsible for all revenue generating responsibilities of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the U.S International Sales Director responsible for FedEx’s Western Region. He held this position from 2005 to 2006. Ken Hisamoto was born in California and raised in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach. He is fluent in both Japanese and English.
Mr. Tadashi Izawa is the newly appointed President of JETRO. Prior to joining JETRO, he was Vice-President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He has held various senior roles within Japanese governmental body, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), serving as the Deputy Director-General for International Trade Policy Bureau from 2002-2003. Mr. Izawa also served as the Economic Minister in Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. from 2000-2002.
Masaaki Kaji joined Japan Development Bank in 1985. He accumulated much experience in evaluating the credit worthiness of companies and projects in various Japanese industries during his over 20 year career in Japan Development Bank and Development Bank of Japan which is the successor of Japan Development Bank. In addition, from 1992 to 1994, he served as the Deputy Director of the Banking Bureau, Insurance Department Research Office in the Ministry of Finance of Japan. In 2001, he was appointed as the Director for Department of Technology and Growth Business in Development Bank of Japan. Within this Department, he was responsible in supervising loans for venture businesses and emerging companies. For these companies, he developed innovative finance structures; including the creation of Loans secured by Stock Options, Loans Protected by Movable Properties and Loan to animation production companies backed by their respective Copyrights. He took lead in applying first case of each structure in Japan, and with its success continued to lead the way for new finance structures for venture businesses in Japan. In March 2005, he assumed the position of Chief Representative of Development Bank of Japan New York Representative Office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Tokyo University. He is also an IT engineer authorized by Japanese Government.
Sterling Lapinski is a Genscape cofounder responsible for technology, research and development, and new markets. Prior to founding Genscape, Mr. Lapinski was the Managing Director of Trading for Columbia Energy Services Corporation in Houston, TX, where he managed a trading group responsible for the firm’s proprietary positions in electricity, oil, natural gas, weather derivatives and related structured deals. Mr. Lapinski joined Columbia from Mirant Inc. where he co-managed a trading book of energy commodities and weather derivatives. Mr. Lapinski also has worked for TXU Energy Services as a Director of Trading. Previously, Mr. Lapinski worked for BNP Paribas (formerly FFTW) in New York where he managed portfolios of mortgage-backed securities, primarily for Fortune 500 pension funds and foreign central banks. Mr. Lapinski is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a BS in Finance. Mr. Lapinski is a US patent holder and a former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Lapinski also serves on the board of directors of the Louisville Science Center. Mr. Toshihisa Takata joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) in 1976. He has served in several countries during the course of his career at MOFA, including United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, EC, Korea and most recent in Thailand as Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of Embassy of Japan. Prior to assuming the current position in 2006, Mr. Takata was Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at MOFA from 2005-2006.
Mr. Timmons is President of ARI Technologies, Inc. where he commercialized ARI’s thermochemical conversion technology. He has 21 years of experience in thermal technology development and commercialization, remedial program management, remedial design, and treatability testing on many environmental programs for Superfund, US Dept. of Energy, private industry and foreign entities in Europe, Asia and Australia. Mr. Timmons has authored and presented numerous publications for the National Academy of Science, the N.Y. Dept. of Law, the U.S. EPA-ORD, DOE & DOD, the Australian Government and McGraw-Hill on hazardous and radioactive waste management. He is a registered geologist with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology.
As Vice President and Corporate Controller at Citrix Systems, Inc., David Zalewski oversees all aspects of the company’s worldwide operational accounting and corporate accounting functions. Additionally, David is responsible for managing the company’s worldwide accounting systems and financial controls. Prior to joining Citrix, David served as Vice President and Corporate Controller for webMethods, Inc., responsible for the company’s worldwide financial management, control, reporting, planning and taxation functions. Previously, David served in senior finance positions at VIA Net.Works, Inc and RER Financial Group, LLC. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia and is a licensed certified public accountant in the state of Virginia. |
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