Cooperation Between the Shinnyo-en Foundation and UCB Haas School of Business Contributes to Global Learning

Hass School of Business, UC Berkeley

The Shinnyo-en Foundation (SEF) and the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership (CNPL), Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley welcomed a delegation of 40 Japanese public officials from the Japan Intercultural Academy of Municipalities (JIAM) to the UC Berkeley campus on Monday, October 18, 2010. This was a truly collaborative endeavor between the two organizations to contribute to strengthening the mutual understanding of the U.S. and Japan governmental partnerships with nonprofit organizations. The SEF and CNPL were privileged to be asked to share with the JIAM officials on the collaboration between the government and nonprofits in the U.S. The SEF and CNPL have worked together on volunteerism and community service, and bring a rich history of partnership and knowledge about collaboration. The CNPL’s mission is to inspire the next generation of leaders to create and seize opportunities to achieve social impact across sectors, which resonates well with that of SEF. The Haas Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership is the #2 business school nonprofit program in the U.S. (US News and World Report, 2010, http://www.haas.berkeley.edu).

Sponsored by the Japanese government, the theme for the 2010 JIAM program was Cooperation Between Nonprofits and Local Governments. The concept of nonprofit organizations in general, and their potential for collaboration with public agencies specifically, is quite new in Japan. The goal was to give participants a first-hand look at nonprofit work and expose them to the views of local city/county government officials and nonprofit leaders on the efficacy of the relationship between the two sectors.

The Institute of International Education (IIE), on behalf of the government of Japan, hosted the JIAM delegates on an educational tour of the United States, partnering with the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership and the Shinnyo-en Foundation to present an introduction to the public and nonprofit sectors. IIE works closely with the U.S. State Department to administer the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), arranging exchange opportunities to the U.S for thousands of emerging nonprofit and public leaders from around the world with the goal of building mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations.

Nora Silver, Adjunct Professor and Director of the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, welcomed the JIAM guests and provided an overall view of trends in the U.S. public and nonprofit sectors. Silver outlined the different ways governments fund nonprofits, and gave examples of how historical trends towards increased efficiency are bringing unanticipated challenges as she compared and contrasted the relationships between the U.S. and Japan nonprofit sectors and their respective governments.

Ineko Tsuchida, Associate Director of Programs of Shinnyo-en Foundation, described the three-prong supports to UC Berkeley, as an example of the successful partnership between a large state institution and a grantmaking organization. Tsuchida remarked that Shinnyo-en Foundation has been supporting UC Berkeley’s Cal Corps Public Service Center for student leadership programs and Shinnyo Fellows Program, the Peace and Conflict Studies Undergraduate Program, and the Center for Japanese Studies over several years to actualize the Foundation’s mission to promote youth leadership and peacebuilding through service.

Harumitsu Inouye, CEO of the Foundation, presented the goal and roles of the White House Office of the Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships as it relates to spearheading the collaboration between the U.S. Federal Government and community-based non-profit organizations (NPO). As an example of an ideal partnership between the Federal Government and a NPO, Inouye referenced the Neighborhood Partnership Program in Ohio that was initiated by the City of Akron and Akron Community Foundation in Ohio with the funding from the U.S. Department of Planning and Urban Development. Inouye used this example to delineate how a matching fund system could work to stimulate and strengthen the creative neighborhood efforts such as safety programs, education initiatives and community clean-up projects.

The presenters, as well as James Lincoln, Faculty Research Director for the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership and Mitsubishi Chair in International Business and Finance, answered many thoughtful questions from the JIAM trainees. In sum, the JIAM tour participants were provided with an in-depth explanation of the history, development and trends of nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and how they compare with those in Japan, deepening their understanding of how the nonprofit and public sectors can work together to create and foster social impact and collaboration in their communities.