The International Blind Football Foundation held a meeting of its Board of Trustees on July 26 to elect board members due to the expiry of their terms of office.
Hisako Kaneko and Toshiaki Hasegawa were reappointed as trustees, while Jeff Davis opted to step down. New members are Oliver Takahashi and Emiko Koyama, bringing the number of trustees to four.
Both candidates were nominated on the basis of their international experience, their experience in expanding the operations of organisations and working on new projects, and their understanding of people with a visual impairment. IBF Foundation has been evolving since its inception, and the new trustees will help to strengthen the Foundation in line with the current state of the organisation.
In addition, the Auditor and three Board members were also reappointed. Jeff Davis will continue to support the organisation’s operations as an advisor.

 

【Profile of new trustees】

Emiko Koyama

Communications & Sustainability Department, AXA Holdings Japan

A visually impaired person, Emiko promotes cultural change through communication on diversity by coordinating Inclusion & Diversity (I&D)-related internal events and making presentations at conferences and other events by external organisations. In 2014 she successfully led the 2nd Disability Matters Asia-Pac Conference & Awards, sponsored by AXA Life Insurance Co,. Ltd., as project leader. She also accelerated the promotion of I&D within the company by organising and implementing participatory workshops where lecturers with disabilities shared their knowledge about disability.
Emiko is currently expanding and developing her career as a communication professional through the planning of events that promote the building of a sustainable society, while at the same time aiming to foster an inclusive culture. As a member of the management support team for a tournament organised by the Japan Blind Football Association, she is also promoting events in-house.

Oliver Takahashi

Representative, THE VISION

After graduating from university in Australia, Oliver joined Reebok. He worked on the 2002 FIFA World Cup with ISL Japan before taking on the role of Marketing and Alliance Director at FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) in 2002, where he became head of business.
Since 2012, he has worked for Nike Japan as a senior director in the management of federations, teams and individual athletes in various sports, and since 2016 he has been the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games General Manager for Coca-Cola Japan.
In March 2019, he was blinded in an accident but returned to work; in April 2021, he established his own sports marketing company and assumed the position of President and CEO. He speaks three languages (Japanese, English and German) and maintains close relations with athletes internationally.