Jackie was thrilled and honored to be featured in INvolve’s 2023 Global OUTstanding Role Model lists supported by YouTube, but surprisingly the only one from Japan. As a Founder/CEO of a Japanese company based in Nagano, Japan (enjoi Innovation Inc / enjoi Japan KK), enjoi Innovation Inc / enjoi Japan KK is proud to hire and celebrate diverse folks to work on diversity and equity for innovation. We first do the work internally and we share that blueprint with clients we serve. Jackie is also now working with INvolve to ensure the nomination of other Japan-based inspiring OUT role models in our community.
LGBTQ inclusion is both a personal commitment and democratic commitment to equality for all diverse folks and all diverse families. Jackie has been personally affected by the exclusionary effects of Japanese family law over the past 15 years, which was exacerbated during the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and also throughout the global pandemic. She has lobbied for 20 years towards family law reforms in Canada and Japan. We can do better. Democratic inclusion is not a nice to have. It’s a key determinant of healthy communities, resilient households and dynamic economics and a key driver of innovation. She will be featured in the Coming Out Podcast hosted by Nancy Shadlock in Alberta, Canada.
Let’s continue to work together to move the dial towards inclusion within our organizations and create workplaces where everyone can succeed, regardless of sexual orientation, family formation, gender identity and expression
Jackie’s background and journey
Her MA in law queried patriarchal marital naming patterns and heteronormative family law as an institution that reproduces and subsidizes outdated family formations and toxic gender norms in marrying couples.
As a young PhD student, she loved her queer choir in Ottawa where they engaged in choral activism and sang for same-sex marriage. Jackie first started identifying as queer at 28 and had her first child at age 35 while in an unrecognized same-sex relationship while living in Japan and navigating the Great Japan Earthquake in Sendai where they lived with their baby in a challenging post-disaster.
Her research and teaching as a political science professor at the University of Tokyo focussed on Canadian intersectional equity analysis of family law and Japanese public policy. This led to her research network’s advocacy for the recognition of diversity and LGBTQ rights in the Japanese DRR laws and also the international UNISDR agreement on disaster risk reduction. Together she collaborated with a badass network of 60-80 yr old Japanese feminists whom she is proud to call her mentors.
At 48, finding this nomination to be a lovely surprise facilitated by her colleagues and friends with the Pride Business Alliance Japan. Together, they are helping shine a spotlight on supplier diversity and support to diverse founders of all walks and creating a space for queer entrepreneurs to be supported and celebrated in Japan.
Jackie says “We can do better. Democratic inclusion is not a nice to have. It’s a key determinant of healthy communities, resilient households and dynamic economies. “
These global lists celebrate Role Models in business who are driving inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees and LGBTQ+ societies across our global organizations. enjoi Innovation Inc / enjoi Japan KK is proud to hire and celebrate diverse folks to work on diversity and equity for innovation. We first do the work internally and we share that blueprint with the clients we serve.
We are proud to support supplier diversity in Japan with co-conspirators in the Pride Business Alliance Japan. Let’s work together to move the dial towards inclusion within our organizations and create workplaces where everyone can succeed, regardless of sexual orientation, family formation, gender identity and expression.