Akira Sakano is the Founder and Director of Zero Waste Japan, an organization that helps local governments, communities, and businesses plan and implement zero-waste policies. She is also the co-founder of Green Innovation Japan, an initiative to develop more than 1,000 “green innovators” to tackle climate change by 2030.

Previously, Akira worked in Mongolia as Managing Director of AIESEC in Mongolia, and in the Philippines as a Trade Lane Management Head for Sales in DHL Global Forwarding. She received a Bachelor of Policy Studies from Kwansei Gakuin University’s School of Policy Studies and Master from Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies.

Akira is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and served as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019.