[ONLINE EVENT] A Conversation on Leadership with Mitsuru Claire Chino

Co-presented by Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth and Japan Society (New York)

In 2013, Mitsuru Claire Chino became the first female executive of a major Japanese trading company, known as sogo shosha and are among the largest businesses in Japan. The humble Chino acknowledges her historic position, but she is also quick to champion people from all demographic backgrounds at the ITOCHU Corporation and ITOCHU International. In the years since her promotion, she has represented her company across the world and become a recognized leader, also demonstrating skill in community engagement and legal affairs. Moreover, Chino is in an important role, as the president and chief executive of a large firm during COVID-19. Join us for an engaging discussion with Mitsuru Claire Chino on the corporate environment in 2020, the concept of workplace diversity, and how to be an effective leader.

About the Speaker

Mitsuru Claire Chino is Managing Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation (“Itochu”), a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in Japan, and President & CEO of ITOCHU International Inc., a subsidiary of Itochu in New York, overseeing North America. Before assuming her position in New York, she was General Counsel of Itochu, and prior to that, a partner with an international law firm.

In 2013, she became the first female executive officer of any major trading company in Japan. Claire has received several recognitions, including from the World Economic Forum (Young Global Leader), Yale University (Yale World Fellow), Asia Society (Asia 21) and the U.S. Japan Foundation (USJLP Fellow). She has also been recognized in the legal community as a “Top 25 In- House Counsel in Asia” (Asia Legal Business), “Asia Pacific’s Innovative Lawyer” (Financial Times), and “FT Global General Counsel 30 (Financial Times), and has received a “Transformative Leader” award (Inside Counsel). Most recently, the California Lawyers Association recognized her as the 8th Annual Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year (2018).

She is a graduate of Smith College (B.A. cum laude) and Cornell Law School (J.D.), where she serves on the advisory board. She is a classically trained singer and gives solo performances from time to time.

About the Moderator

Karen Ideno is group vice president at Toyota, overseeing the company’s private label financial services business. In this capacity, she serves as group vice president and CMO for sales, product & marketing for Mazda Financial Services. Ideno is responsible for all Mazda Financial Services’ sales and marketing activities, including sales strategy, product development, market planning, branding, remarketing, data and analytics, and insurance operations.

During her career at Toyota, Karen has held various leadership positions within Toyota and Lexus Financial Services including the launch of the brands, various product introductions, and executing new product lifecycle management strategies. She was also instrumental in the areas of corporate communications, corporate social responsibility, and government affairs.

She was recently recognized by the Dallas Asian Chamber of Commerce for her leadership in diversity and inclusion. Ideno is a national trustee of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. She is executive sponsor of the North American Advisory Council for Women Influencing & Impacting Toyota (WIIT) and has served as executive sponsor of Toyota Asian American Society in Alliance (TAASIA).

Ideno earned her Master of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from Pepperdine University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.