Executive Personnel Changes: Eri Iwasawa, Kelsie Stewart and Lennon Yamada were appointed as executives

At Loftwork, which has celebrated its 22nd anniversary, we have renewed our logo, verbalizing what we believe, what we aim for and what we are doing. Starting on April 1st, we will begin a new system based on the vision which we have obtained through this process, namely of “believing in everyone’s creativity and creating new value for society without being bound by conventional wisdom.”

We have established a new “Executive System” and appointed three executive officers responsible for thinking about the future and presenting issues facing not only Japan, but also the world.

Eri Iwasawa (current Marketing Leader) will be responsible for the development and dissemination of Loftwork’s culture. Kelsie Stewart (currently FabCafe Chief Community Officer) will be responsible for presenting the sustainability practices of Loftwork and FabCafe. Lennon Yamada (current Creative Director) will lead the design and creative activities.

Finally, Chiaki Hayashi, the co-founder of Loftwork, and who has been responsible for Loftwork’s open culture, will retire from chairman.  Please read the following article（JP） to learn more about the next steps for Ms. Hayashi.

As Loftwork approaches a new stage, what I once again want to stress is the importance of being “open.” To open things. To try removing walls. To try mixing things that are separate.

For example, I am the mother of one child, but in today’s society it is difficult to work while raising a child (as I am writing  this, the nursery is closed due to COVID-19). However, just sharing this feeling of difficulty with other mothers only will not go far towards solving the problem. This is because problems arise between people involved in a variety of fields, including at home, in the workplace, with business partners. All of these people together make up society. By opening up these problems to people who have various viewpoints and positions and thinking about them together, they become problems for everyone, and we can take the first steps towards solving them. I believe that this will form a basis for innovation to create a society that will make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

That said, being “open” is troublesome. We avoid being open if we stop paying attention. This is why I want to keep saying, “let’s be open, guys.” I want to think about how to continue. I am not good at creating structures, so please lend me your strength! Let’s build something together!

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I joined Loftwork in 2017. Since joining, I have been leading SDGs design thinking workshops around the world, co-directing the crQlr (“circular”) awards to connect players in the circular economy, and organizing sustainability-driven grassroots popup events.

As the frontier with the greatest potential for innovation, I believe there is no alternative to sustainable development. The creators of sustainable development challenge the status quo and range from vision-makers to the more pragmatic product and service designers.

Loftwork and FabCafe have been gathering such diverse and passionate people to find their answer to our question, “What do you Fab?” for more than 10 years now. As Sustainability Executive, I aim to empower these global and local people to turn their ideas into reality and deploy their ideas in more tangible ways.

I invite anyone and everyone reading this message to join us in discovering the opportunities waiting to be realized in sustainability. You too can be the pioneer who kickstarts the next revolution in this frontier.

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I liked the concept of “social sculpture” advocated by the German artist Josef Beuys. If this notion of Beuys that “every human being is an artist” is not merely a reference to prove the social role of artists, but rather a conscious activity by which any human being can give back to society, then it is the idea that, through artistic activities, we are players who sculpt a “future society” together. This overlaps with Loftwork’s action principle: “We believe in CREATIVITY within all.”

It has been 6 years since I joined Loftwork as Creative Director. Having observed the creativity that this company creates from the inside, I once again see how great it is. People with different experiences, techniques and perspectives bring together their goals, exchanging knowledge and wisdom with each other to create new ways of expression and doing things that do not yet have names. Even in daily meetings, we have all kinds of stimulating exchanges. Being able to design in such a situation is the real thrill of Loftwork’s creativity.

As a Creative Executive, I want to make Loftwork into a place where we and our creative partners can create a future that no one has ever imagined. There must still be ways to do this that we haven’t yet tried. I’m going to keep reaching for them, little by little.

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