Namiko Kajiwara

Namiko is a brand innovator with more than ten years of experience, including roles leading international launch for Unilever, Kirin Brewery, and Blue Bottle Coffee. With her deep understanding of consumer behavior and design thinking, she is passionate about changing people’s lives through innovative products and services. Her career began with Unilever, where she was in charge of global brand marketing for Dove hair care products as the brand’s regional representative in Asia. She then joined Kirin Brewery to lead new product development, and launched Kirin Free, the world’s first 0.00% non-alcoholic beer. Kirin Free created a new market that’s worth $620M, for which she won multiple awards including Nikkei Woman of the Year 2010. She earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Namiko’s personal interests include healthy eating, wine, yoga, and skiing.