AYAKA
YAMASHITA

Researcher 
Producer

Co-founder of EDAYA
Harvard GSD DDes’25 
Lecturer at Univ. Nagano


EDAYA
Since 2012 ++ selected work
  1. Bamboo Instruments
  2. Bamboo Jewelry
  3. Exhibition
  4. Bamboo Glocal Village
  5. Textbook/Book

Harvard GSD
Since 2019 ++  
  1. MDes Thesis
  2. Harvard Gazette
  3. Community Service Fellow
  4. Class projects at GSD 
  5. Class project at MIT 
Since 2021 ++ CLL
  1. Cape Ann Fieldwork

Int'l Development Work
Since 2014 ++




Mark



International Development



Ayaka has worked as an independent research consultant, coordinator, and/or facilitator for a wide range of international development projects since 2014. In 2022, she started teaching BOP/SDGs business (Global Management) at the University of Nagano. Below are lists of organizations/projects she has been involved in.

1. Asian Women Social Entrepreneur Network (AWSEN)
- Assisted in creating the network and supervised AWSEN conference operations in Thailand four times.

2. UNESCO/UNDPPA “Futuring Peace in Northeast Asia”
- Co-designed the dialogues and facilitated the sessions for Phase1 of the project.

3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
- Organized the conference on Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining “Ethical Mining: For Cleaner Gold, Pro Cleaner Life (Pasil, Kalinga)” and coordinated a study tour in Japan for Kalinga participants

4. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Public Private Partnerships
- Conducted desktop research and fieldwork to establish new sales scheme in Vietnam and Thailand for COGY, an innovative pedal wheelchair designed in Japan that disabled people with paralysis.
- Managed remote research by communicating with counterparts to develop a telegram Chatbot system, “ADMAS,” for Ethiopian entrepreneurs 

5. PwC/ re:terra
- Analyzed micro-distribution model of Project Shakti through fieldwork research in India