On August 3, 2026, the Sylff Association secretariat was delighted to welcome distinguished alumnus Loukas Spanos during a personal trip to Japan. Spanos received a Sylff fellowship in 1999–2000 while pursuing an MSc in economic policy and applied economics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The fellowship marked the beginning of a longstanding and multifaceted relationship with the Sylff community and the Tokyo Foundation.

Spanos participated in Sylff’s Visit Japan program in 2002, during which he gave a presentation at Waseda University on his research into corporate governance. He later helped organize a Sylff Regional Forum and served as an active member of the provisional Sylff Fellows Council, contributing proposals for Sylff’s further growth and development. In 2014, he was invited to the Sylff Administrators Meeting in Tokyo as a panelist and returned to the Foundation in 2016 for a catch-up visit.

“I’m very impressed by how Tokyo has successfully preserved its core cultural pillars like cleanliness, politeness, respectfulness, and a strong sense of order,” Spanos said of his first visit to Japan in a decade. “The only noticeable change has been the surge in international tourists.”

Advancing Sustainability and Social Impact

Throughout his career, Spanos has combined expertise in finance, sustainability, and public policy with a commitment to social impact. An accredited financial mediator, he led negotiations with the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund during Greece’s debt crisis and contributed to key structural reforms and legislation that helped stabilize the country’s financial sector.

Today, he continues this commitment as an ESG manager at the Qualco Group, a Greek technology company that provides software and platform solutions. He helps corporate clients align their operations with European sustainability regulations by measuring the impact of their activities on environmental, social, and governance standards and preparing required disclosures. He also coordinates social responsibility initiatives at the Qualco Foundation, the company’s nonprofit arm, which provides educational support and learning resources to children living on remote Greek islands and in other underserved regions.

In addition, Spanos serves as a lead expert and delivers interactive ESG training at the Cooperative Bank of Karditsa under a project funded by the Council of Europe Development Bank. Unlike standard ESG frameworks, this model was designed specifically for regional micro-enterprises and farmers in Karditsa, central Greece.

“This is a climate-vulnerable agricultural area that experienced severe environmental hardships in past years,” he explains. “Many of the bank’s loan applicants are smallholder farmers, and we help the bank incorporate sustainability criteria into its credit assessments. Borrowers are categorized as high, medium, or low performers, but those in the low performing category are not necessarily rejected. Instead, the bank provides mentoring and advice to help them implement energy-efficient solutions and social improvements that can enhance their business prospects.

“Multinational corporations demand verified ESG credentials from their suppliers, so the bank’s framework helps local micro-enterprises strengthen their credentials, gain access to larger corporate supply chains, and secure their long-term financial sustainability.”

Act4Greece and Ongoing Sylff Community Ties

Earlier in his career, Spanos served as an advisor to the chair of the board of the National Bank of Greece—the country’s oldest and largest commercial bank. In that role, he developed Act4Greece, a groundbreaking digital crowdfunding platform designed to support projects proposed by nonprofits. The platform mobilizes resources from citizens, philanthropists, and investors to fund high-impact projects in social welfare and cultural sectors.

Spanos is also an experienced financial mediator. As director of the Financial Mediation Center, he acted as a neutral third party following the Greek debt crisis to bring banks and defaulted borrowers—ranging from micro-enterprises and large corporations—to the negotiating table. His work helped struggling businesses resolve bad debts by facilitating sustainable loan restructuring.

Over the years, Spanos has remained an active contributor to the Sylff program at the University of Athens, even drawing on his financial expertise to help strengthen endowment management. “Sylff is now recognized as one of the most prestigious and valuable merit-based academic awards in Greece,” he noted, “surpassing even the financial support offered by the state-run scholarship program.”

He continues to work closely with the Sylff steering committee at Athens and reaches out to newly awarded fellows each year. Through a dedicated WhatsApp group and informal meetings, he helps foster a strong sense of community among current and alumni fellows.

“Sylff is much more than just a scholarship,” he emphasizes to new recipients. “It’s true value lies not merely in the amount of the award but in opening the door to Sylff’s global networking ecosystem and opportunities for collaboration with other world-leading institutions.”

The Sylff Association secretariat extends its sincere gratitude to Spanos for taking the time to visit the Tokyo Foundation. It is a privilege to witness the achievements of our alumni, and we are delighted by his continued professional success. His leadership in bringing together resources and expertise across sectors to synthesize solutions to address social challenges embodies Sylff’s mission, and we wish him every success in his future endeavors. (Compiled by Nozomu Kawamoto)

Access to Sylff website will be temporarily unavailable between 11:00 and 12:30 on Tuesday, August 18 (Japan Standard Time) due to web server maintenance. 

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Three new Sylff fellows have been selected for the 2026–27 academic year at the Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe”: Riccardo Lana, Caterina De Benedictis, and Giorgio Rausa. While their research backgrounds differ, all three share a strong commitment to addressing marginality through socially engaged scholarship and active community involvement.

Their work reflects the emphasis that the Idea-Action Research Program—Pedro Arrupe’s name for the Sylff program—places on turning academic research into concrete action, particularly in contexts marked by social inequality, institutional fragility, and marginalization. They represent a cohort united by a common concern for social inclusion, democratic innovation, and leadership through practice.

An online orientation meeting for the new fellows was held on May 18. Also in attendance were Pedro Arrupe General Secretary Massimo Massaro—himself a Sylff fellow and chair of the institute’s Sylff steering committee, as well as founder of the Idea-Action program—and members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

Research Presentations

Opening remarks were made by Massaro, who expressed gratitude for Sylff’s support of hundreds of outstanding graduate students at Pedro Arrupe—most of them Sicilians—and emphasized the institute’s commitment to turning ideas into action through the development of human capital to address social and political challenges. Welcome remarks by Tokyo Foundation Executive Director Masato Seko were then read by Program Officer Konatsu Furuya of the secretariat, who also gave a presentation introducing the Sylff program.

The three Idea-Action fellows for 2026 are, from left, Riccardo Lana, Giorgio Rausa, and Caterina De Benedictis.

Riccardo Lana led off the fellows’ presentations by describing his applied research project on youth participation and deviance prevention, focusing on the CEP (Centro Espansione Periferica) low-income housing neighborhood of Palermo. Lana’s academic and professional interests span research, sports, and community development. Rather than approaching societal issues solely from an academic perspective, he combines fieldwork, analysis, and personal engagement to produce research-oriented outcomes with measurable social impact, reflecting his strong commitment to socially responsible scholarship and leadership grounded in action.

During the Sylff fellowship, Lana will explore whether improving the quality and accessibility of sports programs can help reduce juvenile delinquency and examine how social, cultural, residential, and economic environments shape young people’s aspirations. The project aims to provide policymakers and stakeholders with guidelines for neighborhood revitalization, raise community awareness of sports as a means of social integration and health, and support local organizations in securing sustainable funding for sports initiatives.

Lana’s methodology combines participant observation through volunteering at the San Giovanni Apostolo center—the only third-sector organization providing sports programs in CEP—with semi-structured interviews and focus groups with youth, families, and community workers, as well as quantitative and qualitative assessments of local sports facilities. In addition to preparing a peer-reviewed journal article in sociology of sport or social policy, he aims to strengthen transnational and interdisciplinary dialogue, leveraging his experience as a project manager in European funded programs to bridge research, policy, and practice. Ultimately, his work seeks to contribute to the empowerment of marginalized youth and the revitalization of their communities.

Caterina De Benedictis is a researcher whose academic and professional work focuses on institutional transformation in Southern Italy, which she views not as a peripheral space but as a laboratory of democratic innovation. Through research on the social reuse of assets confiscated from organized crime, community enterprises, renewable energy communities, and shared administration, she has consistently engaged with territories shaped by socio-spatial marginality, conflict, and institutional fragility, viewing these conditions as opportunities for civic leadership and institutional learning. Grounded in theoretical frameworks of socio-spatial justice, the capabilities approach, and institutional learning, her work explores how urban conflict can become a democratic learning process and a driver of institutional transformation.

During the fellowship period, De Benedictis will conduct a qualitative, process-oriented study of the Civita district in Catania, a historic waterfront district marked by strong socio-spatial stratification, tourism-driven transformation, and conflicts such as those surrounding pedestrianization. Focusing on the coexistence of long-term residents, migrant communities, cultural spaces, and civic actors, her research asks who has the right to shape urban transformation and investigates how tourism-oriented development can result in decision-making marginality among historical residents.

Combining socio-spatial policy analysis, interviews, deliberative focus groups, and participatory action research, she will also establish a co-institutional laboratory that brings together citizens and municipal actors to transform conflict into negotiation, rebuild trust, and generate shared rules. This work aims to experimentally develop the concept of “co-institution”—defined as the mutual transformation of citizens and institutions through structured interaction—while producing outputs such as a co-institution pact, civic leadership tools, and indicators of socio-spatial justice. A comparative dimension in other Southern Italian cities will further support the development of transferable, policy-relevant models for democratic governance and social innovation.

Giorgio Rausa is a clinical psychologist whose academic and professional path reflects a deep commitment to supporting individuals and communities experiencing social, educational, and economic deprivation. Through years of work in marginalized neighborhoods of Palermo, Rausa has engaged closely with children, families, teachers, and educators, guided by the belief that leadership is built through sustained action, care, and presence within communities. Drawing on a phenomenological-relational perspective and influenced by practices such as meditation in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition, his work emphasizes awareness, embodiment, and compassion as foundations for addressing relational difficulties and preventing conflict, particularly during the critical transition from childhood to adolescence.

During his Sylff fellowship, Rausa will pursue an interdisciplinary research project integrating applied Buddhist philosophy, Gestalt therapy, critical pedagogy, and socio-emotional educational research. Building on his observation that impulsive or aggressive behaviors often reflect unmet relational needs and difficulties in staying in contact with emotions and the body, he adopts a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative tools.

His project includes activities such as talking circles, movement- and sports-based engagement, breathing and grounding practices, expressive workshops, and mindful walks, alongside participatory and reflective research methods. Central to this work is the creation of safe, nonjudgmental spaces that foster emotional awareness and relational presence, enabling young people to recognize and regulate their responses. Through a comprehensive literature review, an academic seminar in Palermo, and the preparation of articles for peer-reviewed publications, Rausa aims to develop practical, transferable tools for professionals, while contributing to the prevention of violence and the cultivation of healthier, more reflective forms of collective life.

Orientation meeting participants included, clockwise from top left, Massimo Massaro, Riccardo Lana, Caterina De Benedictis, Konatsu Furuya, Nozomu Kawamoto, and Giorgio Rausa.

The Sylff Association secretariat looks forward to supporting the research of the three new Pedro Arrupe fellows and to seeing the academic contributions and social impact emerging from their work. Through their engagement with practical issues confronting the community, this cohort exemplifies the Sylff mission of linking academic excellence with action for the public good. The secretariat extends its warmest wishes for the success of their research activities and hopes that the fellowship period will serve as a foundation for lasting academic, professional, and civic contributions. (Compiled by Nozomu Kawamoto)

The Tokyo Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Masato Seko as Executive Director for Leadership Development, as approved at meetings of the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees held in March.

In his new role, Seko will oversee and guide the Foundation’s three leadership development programs—Sylff, NF-JLEP, and the READ JAPAN PROJECT—working closely with the many individuals and institutions that make these initiatives possible.

Seko brings more than 25 years of experience in solution-oriented projects and leadership development, including extensive work in the field of peacebuilding at The Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. He has personally traveled to and worked on projects in approximately 50 countries worldwide, giving him a wealth of on-the-ground experience and deep international expertise.

Through the Foundation’s leadership development programs, Seko looks forward to working closely with our global community of fellows, partners, and friends to nurture leaders who contribute to addressing global challenges and to further deepen international understanding of Japan.

For Maria Eleni Apostolopoulou, a Sylff fellowship recipient at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, education is more than a public requirement. It is a promise of belonging and growth for all children, regardless of ability or background.

Apostolopoulou visited the Sylff Association secretariat on April 7, 2026, during a trip to several Japanese destinations. A trained kindergarten teacher who received a master’s degree in special education in December 2025, she has focused her academic and professional energies on what inclusive education can and should be. “I could never imagine excluding a child from any educational process,” she explains. “Education must be a safe space for all children, not a place where difference becomes a reason for marginalization.”

Inclusion as a Foundation, Not an Exception

Apostolopoulou’s vision challenges traditional distinctions between “general” and “special” education. Rather than treating inclusion as an add‑on response, she believes it should form the foundation of all educational practice. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in empathy, play‑based learning, and respect for each child’s unique pace and abilities—factors that make children eager to go to school.

“I don’t really like the word ‘special education’ because it suggests there’s something different that requires special treatment in the classroom,” she notes. “A truly inclusive education would ensure that every child feels valued, understood, and supported.”

This conviction has shaped her academic focus as well. For her master’s thesis, Apostolopoulou examined teachers’ views and experiences regarding their preparedness for inclusive teaching roles. Through interviews and field interactions with educators at various levels, she found that many teachers feel underprepared to implement inclusive practices despite policy commitments to inclusion.

“I think it’s important to be familiar with special education if you want to do a good job as a teacher. Most teachers aren’t adequately taught to address special needs in the classroom so that no student feels excluded. I chose this field because I felt it would give me the knowledge to include them all.”

Learning Beyond the Classroom

The Sylff Fellowship played a pivotal role in allowing Apostolopoulou to deepen both her theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Fellowship support enabled her to pursue professional training, including seminars on intellectual disability and alternative communication methods such as Makaton—an approach widely used to support children with autism.

An unexpected outcome of her fellowship was her collaboration with the University of Nicosia, where she contributed to the development of a guide on disabilities and appropriate educational practices. Through extensive research and data analysis, Apostolopoulou helped translate academic knowledge into applied guidance for educators—an experience she describes as both challenging and deeply rewarding.

“Without the fellowship, these experiences would not have been possible,” she reflects. “It didn’t just support my studies; it expanded my professional horizons.”

From Research to Real‑World Impact

Beyond academia, she is engaged in volunteer work and leadership activities. She has served as a team leader in children’s summer camps, volunteered with NGOs supporting children in need, and recently earned certification in Braille, underscoring her commitment to continuous learning and accessibility. She is currently creating a haptic children’s book that tells a story about life through texture and sound.

These experiences reinforce her belief that inclusion thrives through collaboration—among teachers, families, specialists, and communities. “No child’s education exists in isolation,” she says. “When we work together, inclusion becomes more natural.”

A Vision for the Future

Ultimately, she aspires to establish an open and innovative school where children with and without disabilities, from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, learn and grow side by side. Until then, she is committed to gaining hands‑on experience, refining her research, and advocating for systemic change in teacher education and educational policy.

A group photo with partner Stefanos Philippou and the Sylff Association secretariat staff.

Through her passion, leadership, and unwavering belief in every child’s potential, Maria Eleni Apostolopoulou embodies the values of the Sylff community—demonstrating how education, when guided by empathy and purpose, can become a powerful force for bridging differences and transforming society.

The Sylff Association secretariat lauds her initiatives and affirms its continued support for her work, recognizing her commitment to inclusive practice, professional growth, and social engagement as an outstanding example of how Sylff fellows translate their ideals into social action. (Compiled by Nozomu Kawamoto)

Access to Sylff website will be temporarily unavailable between 13:00 and 14:00 on Tuesday, April 14 (Japan Standard Time) due to web server maintenance. 

During this period, the website will display a “Maintenance in Progress” message.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

The Sylff Association secretariat will begin accepting applications for Sylff Research Grant (SRG) and Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) for fiscal 2026 (April 2026 to March 2027) in May 2026.

From this cycle, both programs will accept applications through online forms, which will be available only during the respective application periods. Those interested in applying are encouraged to carefully review the Call for Applications for each program and prepare their submissions for the preliminary application period, which will begin on May 13, 2026.

The Calls for Application for the two programs are linked below.

SRG: https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/srg/

SLI: https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/sli/

We look forward to launching our support programs for fiscal 2026 and to receiving applications for insightful research and innovative social initiatives.

On January 6, 2026, three members of the Tokyo Foundation, including President Mieko Nakabayashi, visited the UNSW Business School in Sydney. The delegation was warmly welcomed by Professor and Senior Deputy Dean Karin Sanders, along with members of the Sylff steering committee and administrative staff, with whom they exchanged views on the Sylff program at UNSW.

The Sylff program at UNSW Business School is characterized by its strong integration of academic study with industry engagement. Fellows specializing in fields such as marketing, finance, and business management are encouraged to develop leadership by pursuing research with practical relevance and social impact.

During the visit, the delegation met with four Sylff fellows on campus—Marian Cooray, Vartan Bal, Özlem Beldan, and Sacha Da Cunha Soares—who presented the research they conducted during their fellowships. Their work addresses a range of pressing challenges, including climate action, sustainable economic growth, and social inclusion.

Front row (from left): Fellow Özlem Beldan, fellow Sacha da Cunha Soares, contact person Florence Yang, and fellow Marian Cooray; back row (from left): fellow Vartan Bal, Treasury Director Andrew Fellowes, contact person Toni Hodge, Professor Karin Sanders, Executive Director Mari Suzuki, President Mieko Nakabashi, and Public Communications Officer Hiroshi Saito.

The following day, the delegation also met Oscar Osborne, a Sylff fellow from 2020 to 2022, over lunch in Sydney. Reflecting on his experience in the Sylff community, Osborne shared how the program broadened his international perspective. He also spoke about his plans to launch a startup and his interest in collaborating with corporate and nonprofit partners in Japan and the United States.

Meeting with fellow Oscar Osborne over lunch.

The delegation was particularly impressed by how engaging and outgoing the fellows were, as well as by their commitment to applying academic knowledge to real-world challenges beyond the classroom.

This trip to Sydney was the Foundation’s first visit to a Sylff institution in 2026 and a promising start to the year. We look forward to additional visits and continued engagement with the Sylff community in the months ahead.

In February 2026, Cynthia Kwakyewah—a 2016-17 Sylff fellowship recipient and currently a course director in social science at York University—published an article in The Conversation examining the evolving landscape of corporate responsibility and community activism in Ghana’s mining, oil, and gas sectors. The piece draws heavily on her doctoral research, supported by a Sylff Research Abroad grant in 2019–20.

Kwakyewah is a global sociologist specializing in human rights, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable development. In the article, she provides both an empirical analysis and a hopeful narrative of how communities, civil society organizations, and state institutions in Ghana are challenging longstanding patterns of corporate abuse.

A History of Resource Extraction, a New Wave of Accountability

Ghana’s long history of gold, stone, sand, and salt mining has often displaced people, polluted the environment and destroyed livelihoods. While public perception commonly assumes that such abuses persist with few consequences, Kwakyewah’s findings reveal a more complex and rapidly shifting reality.

Her research analyzed 27 human‑rights‑related cases filed between 2000 and 2020 and included interviews with policymakers and civil society leaders to illuminate on‑the‑ground dynamics.

One key insight was that 83% of rights violations stemmed directly from the actions—or inactions—of extractive firms themselves, rather than from multinationals enabling host governments to carry out abuses. Many cases involved inadequate compensation for lost land or crops, forced displacement, physical abuse, and environmental contamination.

A major contribution of her study is the recognition of how Ghana’s civil society organizations have stepped in to fill governance gaps, emerging as de facto regulators increasingly capable of holding corporations accountable. She shows that such “accountability from below” can often be more effective than top-down enforcement.

The Sylff Association secretariat is proud to have supported her research and looks forward to supporting similar initiatives that empower local communities, strengthen global governance, and promote human rights around the world.

We will be performing maintenance on the Sylff website on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, between 15:00 and 18:00 JST.

During this period, the website will be unavailable for approximately one hour and will display a “Maintenance in Progress” message.

The maintenance is part of our updates to pages related to the Sylff Support Programs for fiscal 2026.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.