PROFILE

After graduating from Keio University, Yuko Shimada worked for Pasona and then received her Master's degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University Graduate School in the United States. She worked as a human resources manager at GE Japan before joining Unilever Japan, where she was appointed director and general manager of the Human Resources & General Affairs Division in 2014. Focusing on human motivation, the company implemented many unique personnel measures such as "WAA", and won the Forbes WOMEN Award for three consecutive years. In 2017, she co-founded YeeY, Inc. and became its representative director.

Ms. Shimada has been working to improve wellbeing literacy and realize wellbeing management in Japanese society and in companies by inviting the world's leading authorities on wellbeing research to conferences that she organizes. She also serves as an expert member of the Cabinet Secretariat’s Administrative Reform Promotion Council, as well as the Cabinet Office; the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; the Forestry Agency; the Japan Tourism Agency; and in other local government roles. She won the grand prize in Unilever Japan's Human Resources Department’s HR 2016 awards (individual category) and the International Women's Day HAPPY WOMAN AWARD 2019 for SDGs.