Masato Seko

Masato Seko is the Executive Director of The Tokyo Foundation, with responsibility for Global Engagement. His current work includes shaping the strategic evolution of Sylff, one of the world’s largest decentralized fellowship programs, built over nearly four decades as a global network spanning 70 universities across five continents. This role will also extend to developing a research agenda on philanthropy, drawing on extensive experience in the field to explore how philanthropic capital and institutions can respond more strategically to complex global challenges.

He has nearly two decades of experience in international program design and non-traditional security, spanning peacebuilding and migration/demography, within a private philanthropic foundation, with a career-long focus on maximizing the strategic impact of philanthropy. At The Nippon Foundation, this focus centered on directing the launch and management of the Asia Philanthropy Congress (APHIC), a platform designed to shape the future of philanthropy and foster regenerative solutions.

Within this framework of impact and ecosystem enhancement, past operational experience involved directing targeted interventions across diverse fields. These past initiatives included regenerative agriculture promotion in Africa, Japanese Diaspora (Nikkei) collaboration, talent cultivation, peace mediation, and disability inclusion.