Mike is the Chief Creative Officer at Moon Creative Lab. Moon Creative Lab is a design-led innovation hub that powers the creation of new businesses for Mitsui & Co, one of Japan’s largest trading companies. Moon Creative Lab was created to help unlock the creativity of Mitsui & Co.’s more than 45,000 strong global workforce and build innovative businesses that will have an exponential impact on Mitsui & Co. and the rest of the world. Mike 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. IDEO is a design and consulting firm that uses the design thinking approach to design products, services, environments and digital experiences. 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. He currently serves on the board for IDEO.org, a non-profit committed to create a more just and inclusive world through design.
