The Gojo Foundation was founded with a mission to provide funding for and conduct research on innovative solutions to uplift the lives of un(der)served people who cannot be served by typical for-profit companies. It shares the same vision as that of Gojo & Company, Inc., aspiring to create the same world where everyone can determine their own future.
Brij Mohan
Former Chair of Ananya and Former Executive Director of Development Bank of India. He is also known as the “Father of Microfinance in India”.
Kim Wilson
Senior Lecturer of Tufts University. She has many years of experience in consulting on financial inclusion. She has worked as the director of an international NGO before joining the Gojo Foundation.
Osamu Yamamoto
Partner of Unison Capital. Prior to joining Unison Capital, he worked for McKinsey & Company and other organizations. He is privately engaged with various charities as well.
Taejun Shin
Founder & CEO of Gojo & Company, Inc. Founder of Living in Peace, a certified non-profit organization.
Akiko Imai
Professor of Showa Women’s University. She was involved in the management of Tokyo Foundation as their Executive Director.
Mihoko Kashiwakura
Representative of Gates Foundation in Japan. She worked for the World Economic Forum and other organizations.
Nina Shingai
Executive Director & CFO of Linc'well, Inc. Previous work experience at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs IBD.
Kenji Hosokawa
General Counsel of the Fund Management Department at MUFG Innovation Partners. He is a director of Social Venture Partners International and a statutory auditor of UWC ISAK.
Arisa Oba
A member of the IR team at Gojo & Company, Inc. She was engaged in a women’s empowerment program in Tanzania during her university years.
Haruna Tanaka
A member of the Corporate Planning team at Gojo & Company, Inc. In addition to her current role, she is engaged in solving social issues as a partner of Social Venture Partners Tokyo.
Aiko Saiki
CEO of Palace Side Consulting Inc. She was engaged in a project to support children in Japan as an official member of Living in Peace, a certified non-profit organization.
Koharu Suganuma
Certified public accountant and tax accountant of Japan. A member of the Corporate Management team at Gojo & Company, Inc. Previously, she was engaged in a microfinance project at Living in Peace, a certified non-profit organization.
Jumpei Takeuchi
Member of the Corporate Planning team at Money Forward, Inc. He worked at Gojo & Company as an intern during his university years.
Rania Manayra
A member of the Corporate Planning team at Gojo & Company, Inc. She worked with the Impact Measurement team at Gojo as an intern during her university years.
Go Eihara
A member of the Business Consulting team at Deloitte Japan. He worked with the Corporate Planning team at Gojo & Company, Inc. as an intern during his graduate school year.
Mizuki Takeuchi
Writer/Editor. She started her career in 2020 while pursuing graduate studies. Consistently disseminates information to solve social issues.
Whenever Gojo & Company enter a new country, most of the time I go to low-income villages of that country and stay at a villager’s house. I do this because there are many things that I can learn by leading a life there even during a short period. Every country gave me unforgettable experiences, my source of inspiration and motivation.
Last August, I stayed in a village in Tajikistan. I stayed in a rental house where a family of five resided: a stonemason father, a housewife who also works in the fields, two daughters, and a son. Their monthly household income was just around 30 dollars, and they barely managed to make ends meet with their homegrown vegetables and small income from stonemasonry. Even with their financial situation, they still uphold the Tajik tradition of “Guests are gifts from God, so we must treat them with the utmost hospitality.” I will not forget the taste of the fried rice that the mother cooked for us that night. Quite often, the poorest are the most generous.
Their life was more difficult than that of their neighbors. When I walked around the village with my host family’s son, the other kids giggled at us. I didn’t understand what they said, but I could imagine it when I saw the son’s face. The teasing reminded me of my childhood, making me remember that there are people who will look down on you just because you didn’t have any money at home.
The family is even excluded from microfinance. They don’t have any immediate way to increase their income, and therefore microcredit would simply add to their burden. The World Bank defines the “extreme poor” as those living on less than $1.90 a day, and there are roughly 700 million such people in the world. Many microfinance institutions have not managed to provide quality financial services for this segment. As a result, 40% of people living in developing countries do not even have bank accounts at formal financial institutions to this day.
Gojo & Company was founded to extend financial inclusion to the world. Approximately 70% of our clients live on less than $5.50 a day. However, we have not been able to reach the “extremely poor” segment. The main reason for this is the fact that Gojo & Company is a for-profit organization, and we have yet to find a way to provide useful financial services for this segment while making profit. As a company, we are continuing our R&D efforts and we hope to provide commercially viable and useful financial services to the extremely poor in the future, but it will still take time.
Granted, we can console ourselves by saying that “In the future, we will further refine our technology and operation, and in the long run we will be able to provide services for the extreme poor.” However, as John Maynard Keynes said, “In the long run, we are all dead.” If there is anything that we can change now, we should try that.
That is why we decided to establish the Gojo Foundation.
Taejun Shin
The Gojo Foundation is seeking projects which can lead to innovative, scalable, and impactful solutions, which will further extend financial inclusion to the Non-Entrepreneurial Poor (NEP), a segment of people who typically cannot be served by for-profit microfinance institutions.
The basic requirements of the projects are as follows:
For more information, download the Application Requirement Sheet.
For application, download and fill in the Application Form and submit through this link.
*Application details and application submission are English only
For inquiries, please contact : application@gojofoundation.org
The Gojo Foundation along with Gojo & Company, Inc. will work hard to leave a significant mark in world history as a great organization. We are sincerely asking for your donation.
If you are kindly considering donating to us, please contact us through this donation request form. We will contact you with further details such as the bank account number after the form is submitted.
Please note that since the Gojo Foundation is a general incorporated foundation, donations from individuals will not be deductible on your income tax return. Corporate donors are allowed to deduct up to a certain amount as a tax-deductible expense.