Japan Society Brings Fresh Perspectives on Recovery and Rebuilding to New York City and New Orleans

For Immediate Release

U.S.-Japan Innovators Network Community Dialogue:
Innovation & the Art of Future Building

NEW YORK: Tuesday, May 20, 6:30 pm at Japan Society
NEW ORLEANS: May 22, 6:30 pm at Contemporary Arts Center

New approaches to problem-solving in Japan and the United States are helping people envision a better future, whether it's a community coping with natural disaster or an individual rebounding from homelessness. U.S.-Japan Innovators Network Community Dialogue: Innovation & the Art of Future Building explores these topics and more with top innovators forging new modes of problem-solving for the 21st Century. Part of Japan Society's U.S.-Japan Innovators Network and co-organized by MCG Jazz, Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans and The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, the symposium takes place Tuesday, May 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Japan Society in New York, NY. A second presentation takes place Thursday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, LA. Both events are open to the public and include live performances by Grammy winner Marty Ashby and local jazz musicians from each city.

The U.S.-Japan Innovators Network Community Dialogue: Innovation & the Art of Future Building features notable participants in Japan Society's U.S.-Japan Innovators Network. Marty Ashby, Executive Producer of MCG Jazz, discusses how improvisation and collaboration are critical ingredients for recovery. Rosanne Haggerty, founder of the supportive housing non-profit Common Ground Community, shares revolutionary models of long-term solutions for the homeless and how they affect society as a whole. Kohei Nishiyama, CEO of elephant design, demonstrates how his successful design-to-order product model can be utilized to create virtual networks of idea-sharing that lead to tangible solutions. Finally, Jay Weigel, Executive/Artistic Director for the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, highlights work he has done on post-Katrina restructuring and the powerful role arts and culture play in strengthening communities and rebuilding after devastation.

About Rosanne Haggerty
Rosanne Haggerty is the Founder & President of Common Ground Community, a New York City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness. Haggerty conceived of and managed the restoration of The Times Square Hotel, winner of the 1997 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, and many subsequent “supportive housing” projects combing affordable housing with support service to assist formerly homeless tenants in rebuilding their lives and maintaining stable housing. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for her work on the problem of homelessness in the U.S., and won the 1998 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. She was a Fellow of the Japan Society Local Government and Public Policy Fellowship. Haggerty graduated from Amherst College and is now completing a PhD. in sociology at New York University.

About Kohei Nishiyama
Kohei Nishiyama, Founder and CEO of elephant design co., ltd., is the inventor of the Design To Order (DTO) system, which reduces the risk of new product development by allowing manufacturers to wait until the number of orders for a product reaches the break-even point. Prior to founding elephant design, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company where he primarily handled new product development projects. Because of his expertise in product development, Nishiyama is now a design consultant for companies such as Sony. For the past three years, he has been a judge for the Good Design Award Committee, which is organized by the Japanese government. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo and the Kuwasawa Design School, where he studied product design. He is the recipient of several design awards, including the Kuwasawa Design Award (2001).

About Marty Ashby
Marty Ashby is Executive Producer of MCG Jazz, a social enterprise supporting the programs of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG), a nonprofit organization located in Pittsburgh, PA. The MCG Jazz record label has won four GRAMMY® Awards. Ashby has been artistic advisor, producer and performer at jazz concerts and festivals around the country for over 20 years. As a guitarist, Ashby performs all over the world with The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band and has performed and recorded with Nancy Wilson, Paquito D’Rivera, Slide Hampton, Louie Bellson and Herbie Mann. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Ithaca College and a Masters in Music from Duquesne University. Ashby is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and a member of the Society of American Magicians (SAM).

About Jay Weigel
Jay Weigel has been Director of the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans since 1996. His responsibilities include serving as Artistic Director and as Performing Arts Director for the multidisciplinary arts center. Prior to this appointment, Weigel was Music Director of the CAC for eleven years. During this time he initiated the CAC’s artist residency program for musicians, a cluster of activities that continues to provide both renowned and emerging artists opportunities to commission new works, to present performances and to serve as teachers and mentors in CAC community education activities. The music Weigel has programmed at the CAC includes contemporary chamber music, electro-acoustic music and experimental jazz. As a composer, his work can be heard in feature films, documentaries, orchestrations and arrangements for major recording artists and over 300 commercials. Most recently, he has been working on projects for Tyler Perry, Roger Corman and American Idol. Additionally, original work has been commissioned by the Kennedy Center, Louisiana Philharmonic, St. Louis Cathedral, University of Southern Mississippi Symphony, and the Acadiana Symphony to name a few.

About the U.S.-Japan Innovators Network
The U.S.-Japan Innovators Network is a multidisciplinary network of emerging and established innovative leaders committed to creating a better world. Co-organized with The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, the U.S.-Japan Innovators Network explores new potential for U.S.-Japan collaboration by connecting people and ideas through network-building exchanges, private retreats, Internet discussions, public symposia, and long-term projects. Since its inception in 2005, Network members have met in private retreats to generate ideas for collaboration, and wider discussion has been encouraged at a number of public forums featuring the work of the participants.

Recent Network initiatives in San Francisco, Tokyo, New York, Pittsburgh, and Kyoto have explored issues such as community revitalization, building essential skills for social innovators, new models for business entrepreneurialism, and the role of play in fostering creativity and innovation. Moving forward, Japan Society further expands the Network, connecting innovative Japanese and Americans who are working to create social value and catalyze change for a better future. For more information visit http://innovators.japansociety.org/.

About Japan Society
Founded in 1907 by prominent New York City business people and philanthropists, Japan Society has evolved over 100 years into an internationally recognized nonprofit organization presenting a full range of programs within arts and culture, business, education, family, and public policy. Through over 100 events annually, the Society creates rich encounters and exchanges that offer opportunities to experience Japanese culture; foster sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia; and improve access to information on Japan.

Reservations & Information
U.S.-Japan Innovators Network Community Dialogue: Innovation & the Art of Future Building takes place at Japan Society in New York, Tuesday, May 20 at 6:30 pm. Ticket are $10/$8 Japan Society members/$5 students & seniors. Japan Society is located at 333 E. 47th St., between First and Second Avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 at 42nd Street-Grand Central Station or the E and V at Lexington Avenue and 53rd St.) For reservations or more information, visit www.japansociety.org or call the box office at 212-715-1258.

The same program takes place Thursday, May 22, 6:30 p.m. at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, located at 900 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. This is a free event. Reservations are highly recommended and can be made by contacting Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans at 504- 528-3805 or visiting www.cacno.org.

Jazz Is Life Community Dialogue: Innovation & the Art of Future Building is co-organized by MCG Jazz, Japan-Contemporary Arts Center and The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. The U.S. –Japan Innovators Network is co-organized by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. The Network is generously supported by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership and Citigroup Inc. Additional support is provided by Jack and Susy Wadsworth, R&R Consulting, Inc., and Dr. Michitaka Yamamoto. International transportation is supported by Continental Airlines and All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. The Network is also made possible in part by Japan Society’s endowment for policy projects.

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For further information, images and interview requests, please refer to:
Aya Akeura
Japan Society
T: 212-715-1292
F: (212) 715-1262
E: aakeura@japansociety.org

Kuniko Shiobara
Japan Society
T: (212) 715-1249
F: (212) 715-1262
E: kshiobara@japansociety.org