Meet Our Team 

Ayako Smethurst is Executive Director and Co-founder of Kizuna Across Cultures (KAC). Since its founding in 2011, over 18,000 students in the United States and Japan have been connected under Ayako’s leadership. After working as an Associate Manager in the Human Resources department at P&G Japan, Ayako moved to Washington, DC in 2007 where she served as a Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Coordinator for the Embassy of Japan in the U.S. and a Music Program Manager for the S&R Foundation. She has extensive experience in the fields of international exchange and non-profit management. Ayako obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Ritsumeikan University where she participated in a one-year exchange program at American University in Washington, DC.
She is a fellow of the US-Japan Leadership Program (USJLP).

Takae leads the operation of the Global Classmates program as a Program Manager at Kizuna Across Cultures. Since joining KAC in 2018 as a Coordinator, she has been involved in program management throughout the year. Driven by a strong desire since childhood, she came to the United States for her undergraduate studies. After graduating from Bentley University with a Management major in Business Administration, Takae relocated to Tokyo. She has worked in various fields such as sales, human resources, and education for Japanese companies, startups, and multinational corporations. Through collaborative work with people from diverse backgrounds, she now resides in the state of Maryland. Takae is originally from Shizuoka.

Yoko supports curriculum development at Kizuna Across Cultures. She was born in Fukuoka, Japan. In 2013, she was assigned to teach Japanese at a college in Oregon through the ALLEX program. In 2019, she obtained a master’s degree in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland. She has taught students at multiple levels including elementary school, high school, college, and adult learners at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C. Currently, she is a Japanese teacher at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond, Virginia.

Satoshi joined Kizuna Across Cultures team in 2012 and provides IT related support and expertise. He is born in Tokyo. He holds a master’s degree of information science from the Graduate School of Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has worked in software development, usability engineering, and cyber security business development at Sony Corporation and Sony Digital Network Applications Corporation, and currently contributes to startup support and educational projects at Mistletoe, Inc.He is also involved in the following projects as part of his multi-job remote work.Visiting Associate Professor at Tokyo Gakugei University
Director, Tokyo Gakugei Univ. Explayground Institute
Chief of Secretariat, Living Anywhere Association
Executive Director, GIUDA Association
Chief of Secretariat, MaruLabo Association
Mentor, LoanDEAL

Mika oversees Kizuna Across Cultures’ program assessments. She has a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University and has over 20 years of experience in second language acquisition and educational assessment. She works as a director at a language testing company in New Jersey and manages company operations.

Ikuko joined Kizuna Across Cultures in 2012. She has worked in various roles including coordinator and program manager, and currently supports PR activities. Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Ikuko moved to the U.S. with her family at the age of ten, which sparked her interest in international relations. Prior to joining KAC, she worked as an Information Officer and Film Program Coordinator at the Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC.She earned her Master’s in Communication and Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University. She currently resides in Pennsylvania.

Yuta joined Kizuna Across Cultures in 2015 as an intern, and has served as the Japan Deputy Director since 2019, supporting partnering high schools and students, as well as planning and organizing new projects. Yuta was born and raised in Tokyo and was a researcher in Tokyo at Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) from 2016 to 2021. He has been working as a consultant in London at a consulting firm for digital subscriptions business since 2022. He received a Master’s in International Political Economy from London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor’s in International Affairs from the George Washington University.

Taro mainly supports in engagement with the schools, students, and alumni involved in the programs at Kizuna Across Cultures. Taro Makana Sawada was born in Hawaii and attended an international school in Tokyo through high school. Taro first joined the KAC team during his years in Washington, DC while studying at the George Washington University. After graduating in 2014, Taro worked in corporate banking in Chicago and obtained his USCPA license. He has then moved to Tokyo and currently works in management consulting.

Shanti Shoji is Co-founder of Kizuna Across Cultures (KAC), which aims to promote students’ global awareness and communicative competence in a foreign language through its unique virtual cultural and language exchange program, Global Classmates. At KAC, Shanti leads operations for the Global Classmates program. Before cofounding KAC in 2011, Shanti worked in Japan for six years as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) program in Kagawa Prefecture and as a Program Manager for LABO International Exchange Foundation in Tokyo. She then returned to the US and served as the Cultural Affairs Coordinator at the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan. Shanti has extensive experience in the fields of international exchange and cross-cultural communication. She received her Master’s in International Communication from American University’s School of International Service and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese and International Studies from University of Oregon.

He has been a member of KAC since its establishment in 2011, and currently leads recruitment of high schools in Japan as Japan Director. Raised in Tokyo, Japan. After working in new business development and risk management consulting at a major Japanese think tank, he lived in Silicon Valley (California) as a visiting scholar at Stanford University in the US from 2015-2016. Returning to Japan in 2016, he has been involved in startup investment, business development, open innovation, and future society research based on science fiction thinking. Since 2021, he has been working for a global consulting firm and supporting policy making regarding innovation, sustainability and others. He is one of the founders of FemTech Community Japan.

Rose joined Kizuna Across Cultures as a Program Coordinator in January 2023. She managed the 2023 Global Classmates Summit and now assists KAC with PR materials including social media. Rose has a BA in Global Security and East Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s in International Economic Policy from the Paris School of International Affairs. She previously worked as an English teacher in Japan with the Chiba-Wisconsin Program, a JET Program Coordinator at the Embassy of Japan in Washington DC, and a Program Officer for the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

At Kizuna Across Cultures, Sahara is responsible for supporting accounting and tax-related operations. Born in Beijing, China, she received her MBA from Osaka University Graduate School of Business Administration in Japan, and worked in sales and planning for a Japanese company while simultaneously providing Chinese language training for companies expanding into China. After moving to the U.S., she gained experience in wholesale and accounting firms and is currently working in corporate accounting related to the U.S. federal government.