In 2003, when Mitsuru Claire Chino became one of The World Economic Forum "100 global leaders for tomorrow," she had to consider what impact she could make. "I wanted to help women advance in the world — especially within corporate Japan," she recalls thinking at the time. And so it was, Chino — living in a society that would still only rank 91st out of 128 four years later in the 2007 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report — began a quest to bridge Japan's sex divide.
The seed for Chino's vision was planted long before she walked on stage at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The ambitious 42-year-old's commitment to diversity is the culmination of an international upbringing teamed with powerful women as role models.
Chino, now corporate counsel at Itochu trading company in Tokyo, was born in the Netherlands, spent her formative years in London, Los Angeles and Tokyo, and was exposed to a number of different cultures from an early age. "I don't think I would have realized the situation Japan faces, or the situation Japanese corporations face had I stayed in Japan and not spent time outside of it," she explains. "I think I'm more self-aware and quite sensitive about my surroundings."