次世代を導く
女性たちのランチ会

She studied Psychology at University College London and holds an MSc in Information Systems Design from the University of Westminster. She is currently Director, Customer Experience at Zendesk, leading the organization that supports customer success in Japan.

Her career spans consulting, customer success, organizational development, and people leadership across multiple global SaaS companies. Earlier in her career, she also worked in the financial services industry, including at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Kyoko also serves as APAC Regional Lead for Women at Zendesk, where she focuses on creating opportunities for women to connect, learn from one another, and expand their career possibilities.

Outside work, she is a single mother to one daughter. Drawing on her own experiences, she cares deeply about helping women create more choices and build careers and lives that feel true to themselves.

Li Zhao is a Researcher and Business Development Analyst. She specializes in market research and analysis in the areas of digital transformation (DX), artificial intelligence, data utilization, and emerging business opportunities. Through the study of technology trends and industry developments, she helps organizations identify new opportunities and drive business value through innovation.

Mio is Executive Director of World in You (https://worldinyou.org/), where she works to strengthen nonprofit board governance, develop leaders who work across organizational and national boundaries, and build international partnerships in the social sector.

As Japan Country Expert for the World Summit Award, she brings Japanese innovations that use digital technology to tackle social challenges to a global audience.

Through the U.S.-Japan Council’s Women+ Forum, she creates spaces where women leaders from both countries learn from and connect with one another. She also serves as an outside director of a TSE-listed company with a history of more than 100 years.

After about 15 years in the United States, Mio returned to Japan in 2024. She is now raising her six-year-old child while navigating a busy career across sectors.

With over 20 years of experience at global technology companies including Salesforce, Slack, and Adobe, Lisa Saito brings more than 15 years of leadership experience driving business growth and organizational transformation through marketing. Most recently, she served as Vice President at Salesforce Japan.

She has extensive experience in business expansion and organizational development across Japan and Asia. She has also been actively involved in talent development, with a particular focus on supporting the growth of women leaders. She currently provides executive and marketing advisory services, as well as leadership coaching, including support for women’s career development.

Website: lisa-saito.com/en/

I’ve spent more than two decades building high growth teams, taking regions from underperforming to top of the org, in almost every company I’ve led.

I’ve learned that a team’s numbers are a lagging indicator of something else: whether people trust each other enough to actually play as one. I’ve taken disconnected, talented groups and turned them into teams that win together, not just for our customers but with them. I hold a high bar, and I hold myself to a higher one, because I believe leaders earn the right to demand more only by giving more first.

Growth was never the point on its own. It’s what growth lets you build. I’ve made it my practice to turn strategic clients into lifelong relationships, not just accounts on a dashboard, and to stay a customer advocate long after the deal is signed, getting into the details myself when it matters. In a male dominated tech industry, I’ve also spent years pushing the door open wider for women in the workplace, because representation at the top only happens if someone insists on it.

I lead the way I coach: from the front, direct, and expecting the same transparency I give. I’ll tell you what you need to hear, not what’s easiest to say, and I’ll protect my team fiercely while I do it. I check in on the whole person, not just the KPI, because I’ve never believed the two are separate. Watching people find confidence they didn’t know they had, under pressure, in rooms they once doubted they belonged in, is the part of this work I love most.

If there’s one thing I’d want people to take from working with me, it’s this: I show up, I mean what I say, and I fight for my people as hard as I fight for the number.

Alicia Ang is Chief of Staff, Office of Japan at Workato, where she works closely with executive leadership to drive strategic priorities, strengthen organisational effectiveness, and advance Workato’s positioning in Japan’s evolving AI landscape.

She is also a Founding Board Director of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce in Japan (SingCham Japan), contributing to stronger business, government and community ties between Singapore and Japan. Across her work, Alicia convenes leaders and builds cross-sector partnerships that create meaningful commercial, cultural and social impact.

Alicia is recognised for translating vision into clear action—aligning stakeholders, advancing complex initiatives, and building trusted relationships across cultures and industries. She is particularly committed to women’s leadership, inclusive communities and developing the next generation of leaders.