Kaichi is the President & CEO of Moon Creative Lab. At Moon, Kaichi oversees the strategic direction of the business, manages day-to-day operations, and selects and mentors entrepreneurs-in-residence. At Mitsui & Co., he has served as intrapreneur for more than 25 years and lead everything from building supply chains in Europe to growing healthcare businesses across Asia. He's spent one fourth of his life in Europe (Italy and Belgium), holds a PED diploma from IMD, and a BA in Economics from Keio University. In his spare time, he loves to play bass guitars, go cycling, explore the outdoors and go dive for nudibranchs.
Mike is the Chief Creative Officer at Moon. He oversees all design aspects of the organisation and its work. Specifically, he ensures that the new ventures created within Moon are elevated by human-centered design and creativity. Prior to joining Moon, Mike was a Partner at IDEO where he co-founded and ran its Tokyo office since its inception in 2011. He also co-founded D4V (Design for Ventures), Japan’s first-of-its-kind venture capital firm that invests in early-stage Japanese ventures and co-creates human-centered products and services to deliver positive impact to the world. Mike graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Neuroscience. He has taught at The University of Tokyo, Keio University, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID), and NYU, among others. In addition to being a competitive tennis player, Mike is also an avid hip hop dancer who finds solace in British baking shows!
Jeremy is Chief Operations Officer at Moon. The Operations team supports Moon's people and ventures with everything practical that they need to do great work, including our studio spaces in Tokyo and Palo Alto. He also sits on the Moon Committee that selects and funds ventures, and as part of the leadership team ensures the fit between strategy and governance. In recent years, Jeremy held senior leadership positions at legendary Silicon Valley research lab Xerox PARC and at Comcast, where he led innovation teams working on consumer products based on novel technologies. He was born and raised in England, holds a BCom in Commerce from Birmingham University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He enjoys quirky English sports cars, particularly the combination of his Caterham Seven and California's Santa Cruz mountains.
Mary Ann Gallo is the Global Head of Marketing and Communications at Moon, where she is responsible for increasing the awareness and engagement of the Moon brand across all audiences. Prior to Moon, Mary Ann founded Affinitee, a peer-to-peer community and mentorship platform for underrepresented professionals. Mary Ann has led marketing and global communications teams at startups, large global organizations and PR firms including Hitachi, VMware and Edelman. When not working, Mary Ann enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to sunny beaches and cooking all types of cuisine.
Charles is the Global Head of Product. He oversees all aspects of product within the organization and its ventures. Specifically, he will ensure all that all products and teams within Moon are building innovative, human-centered solutions through an entrepreneurial mindset. Prior to Moon, Charles co-founded Kickstarter and Lost Arts, two startups synonymous with empowering creators globally, bringing new projects to life, disrupting several verticals along the way.
Michelle is the Global Head of Human Resources at Moon where she helps build, grow, and develop all of the amazing talent at Moon. During her career, Michelle has worked as Director of Human Resources in many industries in both large and small companies all over the world including Netflix, Samsung and Accenture. Her true passion is around teaching and fostering empathy. In her free time, Michelle loves jazz, tennis, traveling the world, and eating any and all types of bbq (as a former Kansas Citian).
Peter is the Global Head of Communication Design at Moon. He leads the vision, strategy, and growth of the Communication Design discipline while guiding and connecting a multidisciplinary community of designers between Moon's Palo Alto and Tokyo studios. Prior to Moon, Peter held senior leadership roles at design and innovation consultancies in San Francisco and New York City including a decade at IDEO where he led and guided large–scale programs in health and wellness, food, hospitality, retail, and luxury. Passionate about the role of education in design, Peter has held faculty positions within graduate programs at NYU and The New School. Peter lives with his family in Marin County, California. An optimistic gardener, he can often be found in his backyard attempting to coax life from the dense, clay–bound Northern Californian soil.
Anke is the Global Head of Design Research at Moon, and helps shape, build and grow the design team and craft. She is a co-founder of an ocean data startup and worked with various startups in the technology and robotics space prior to Moon. Anke has led a wide variety of innovation initiatives and multidisciplinary teams as a Design Director at D-Ford (Ford Motor Company) and at IDEO. She holds a MSc degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. In her spare time, Anke loves fixing up things - with the latest being a small sailboat that she is planning to sail across the San Francisco Bay.
Jun is a Director at Moon. His role is to oversee the overall Moon strategy and connect Moon with Mitsui & Co., Moon’s parent organization. At Mitsui & Co., he has worked in various industries such as construction materials and apparel. Until recently, Jun worked in healthcare staffing companies in both Texas and Florida. He holds a Bachelor’s of Art in Economics from Keio University. While growing up in Romania, Japan and the U.S., he enjoyed playing ice hockey.. During his free time he enjoys playing soccer with his sons, but realizes it’s getting harder to compete with them as they grow older (and stronger).
Yoshio Kometani is a Moon Committee member responsible for overseeing Moon's overall strategy as well as selecting future Moon entrepreneurs-in-residence. At Mitsui & Co, he is currently Executive Managing Officer responsible for Infrastructure Projects Business Unit, Mobility Business Units, and Digital Transformation.
Yoshio has worked at Mitsui for over 30 years, previously holding the position of Chief Operating Officer of Infrastructure Projects Business Unit. He holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering from The University of Tokyo. He is passionate about ice hockey and also enjoys traveling with his family on vacation and experiencing new cultures.
Shinichiro Omachi is a Moon Committee member responsible for overseeing Moon's overall strategy as well as selecting future Moon entrepreneurs-in-residence. At Mitsui & Co., he is currently Representative Director, Senior Executive Managing Officer. Previously, Shinichiro had a long career in the Metal Sector industry and served as General Manager of Iron Ore Division, General Manager of Operations Division, General Manager of Metal Resources Division, and General Representative of India. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from The University of Keio. On his days off, he enjoys playing golf and watches sports, particularly baseball, which remind him of when he used to play in the past.
Takeshi Akutsu is a Director of Moon as well as a Moon Committee member. He is responsible for overseeing Moon’s overall strategy as well as helping select future Moon entrepreneurs-in-residence. Takeshi has over 30 years of experience in the consumer related business including the Fashion Industry and Service business sector before becoming the General Manager of Corporate Planning and Strategy Division. He also has experience being seconded to Recruit Co., Ltd., a Japanese listed Media & Human Capital Service company, as Director of Business Development Office. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science and Engineering from The University of Waseda. On weekends he enjoys to watch movies, read books, and watch sports.
We are a global community of dreamers, builders, inventors and innovators who believe that we will light the way towards a more creative future.