About Us
History
History
In the late 80’s, a group of young New Yorkers got together and started to organize a new way for people to volunteer in their community. They knew that they didn't necessarily have a lot of money to give away. But the one thing they had to give was their time. They started organizing group projects on evenings and weekends so that they could volunteer around their work schedules. They made it easy for other volunteers to say yes to service by requiring no long-term commitment, just an invitation to a meaningful, hands on project that left participants feeling like they had made some sort of a difference. They named their organization New York Cares. As word of this organization spread to friends of the New York Cares founders in Washington D. C. and Atlanta, GA, similar efforts were started in those cities as well. Now, the Hands On Network has merged with the Points Of Light Foundation to become the largest volunteer organization worldwide with 360 volunteer action center in the US and 12 international affiliates, including Hands On Tokyo.
Each day, Hands On Network volunteers work with hundreds of communities building wheelchair ramps, tutoring children, visiting with senior citizens, rebuilding playgrounds, delivering food to those who are hungry and the list goes on and on.
Much in the same way that other Hands On affiliates have started, Hands On Tokyo started in December 2006 with a small group of people talking about how they may best to serve their community. This group however, had a bit of a different make-up. It was made up of foreign and Japanese nationals interested in developing a bilingual volunteer clearinghouse so that they could volunteer together without the fear of not being able to communicate with each other.
While each culture has its own philosophies or mores around volunteerism, Hands On Tokyo looks to find commonality among volunteers to ensure that all participants know that they have something to contribute to society.
What We Do
Hands On Tokyo works with individuals, groups, corporate teams and students, to connect them to meaningful service opportunities. Volunteers are orientated prior to engaging in service with a specific project or nonprofit organization. In addition, each project is prescreened prior to sending volunteers to ensure that each participant will have a positive experience.
A hallmark of a Hands On Tokyo project is that a project coordinator accompanies volunteers to the project site. Project coordinators are responsible not only for recruiting volunteers to their project, but also for the Hands On Tokyo-nonprofit relationship. Project coordinators provide travel directions, orientation to the specific project and answer questions from the agency or the volunteer. They are a vital part of the Hands On Network model.
All of Hands On Tokyo’s projects are developed alongside volunteers, nonprofit partners and sponsors. Hands On Tokyo volunteers aim to enhance existing efforts or projects by contributing trained volunteers to the community effort. Project partnerships are true partnerships where the organization, its clients and Hands On Tokyo volunteers all benefit from an association with each other.
Who We Are
Staff
Yumiko Tategami, Programs Manager
Kyoko Shimizu, Programs Manager
Email : kyoko.shimizu@handsontokyo.org
River Furuta Programs Manager
Email : river.furuta@handsontokyo.org
Seiko Togasaki, Office Manager
Chihoko Ishikawa
Board of Directors
Board Chairman
Steven Lin, President and CEO Japan and Korea Operations Laureate International Universities
Board Vice Chair
Aya Higa, Community Volunteer
Board Treasurer
Roger Jasek, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Executive Officer, Financial Industries Group
Board Secretary,
Sheree Hsu, McKinsey & Company, Staffing Coordinator
Board Member, Hiroshi Amemiya, Corporate Citizenship Japan Limited, Founder, President and CEO
Board Member, Marcela Campos, Community Volunteer
Board Member, Chisa Fujita, Community Volunteer
Board Member, Micheal Heidemann, Accenture, Executive Partner
Board Member, Michael Khoo, Wine In Style, President
Board Member, Terence Murphy, Koa Tree Capital, LLC, President
Board Member, Asha Pai Sethi, Community Volunteer
Board Member, Judith Ravia-Hajdenberg, Bluebell Japan, Corporate Advisor-Legal Affairs
Board Member, Donald Soo, Nihon Waters K.K., President
Board Member, Haruko Tokura, Community Volunteer