Kazuyo joined JCIE/USA as Executive Director in April 2021, after spending nearly two decades at nonprofit organizations dedicated to US-Japan relations and international affairs in both the United States and Japan. Prior to JCIE/USA, she was Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Initiatives at Japan Society in New York. As a member of the executive team, she focused on developing funding support and expanding the society’s network across the country and in Japan through online initiatives and partnership programs, and she helped keep the Society active during the global pandemic. She also led the Society’s multifaceted program on the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Before joining Japan Society in 2020, Kazuyo worked for over five years at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA in Washington DC, where she last served as Director of Programs and Administration to develop delegation and outreach programs on US-Japan relations and to oversee all operational aspects of the organization. Previously, she was responsible for exchange programs and research projects at Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo (2010–2014) and the International Security Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington (2003–2007), and worked in consulting businesses including Armitage International and Arthur Andersen (later KPMG) in Tokyo.   

Kazuyo graduated from Stanford University with a BA in International Relations and an MA in International Policy Studies. She has a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University’s Continuing Studies Program and is a Cohort V member of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation US-Japan Network for the Future program.