ANNUAL REPORT

2020-2021

ENGLISH ver

Beyond the Border, Create the Future.

Beyond the Border,
Create the Future.

We want to create “connections” in society,not divisions. It is the time to go beyond theboundaries and continue building bridges.
To overcome the changes occurring in the world today, what weneed is to connect and support each other. With this belief, Cross
Fields will continue to take on challenges and open up the future.
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-20210216

Our Vision
Create a world in which :- Social, private and public sectors work together to create
solutions to social problems- Every person realizes one’s passion through his or her work

Our Mission
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

Make a difference to the society by bridging beyond the border andempowering challengers
03
16

“Overcoming theCrisis andtackling withSocial Issues

Message
Co-Founder and CEO

Daichi Konuma

For us, 2020 was a year of trials and challenges. In thebeginning of 2020, we were forced to stop both Corporate Volunteering Program (CVP) overseas and Field
Study Programs due to the pandemic. At one point, thesurvival of the organization itself was in jeopardy. However, thanks to our partners’ huge support, we havebeen able to continue our activities until today.

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

In the time that the whole world is in a critical situation,
we’d like to stand up against the division of society
with the power of “empathy” and to accelerate social
issue solving. With this belief, we will do our best tocontinue our activities and create social values.

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Timeline

20202021

Cross Fields’ brief history
under the Covid-19 pandemic

Decide to make all theCVP volunteers return
homeFrom the viewpoint of safety management, we decide to evacuate all the CVP
volunteers (9) overseas. They returnhome safely from the Philippines, India,
Cambodia, etc.

Conduct online Team-up
event
For two days, we conduct a team-up
event and discuss Cross Fields’ future.
Through this active discussion, we gain
insights on how to transition our business under the pandemic.

All the Cross
Fields’ members
start Work From
Home1

2020.

23

Continuing dialogue
with partnerorganizations
While we are unable to resume ourprograms, we consider "what we can donow" through dialogues with more than
50 companies and NGOs in Japan andoverseas.

Dialogue with partner organization in India

45Start to develop Online
programs

Social trends
World Covid-19 infection spread in Wuhan, ChinaJapan

the first state of emergency isdeclared

Collaborating with partner organizations/companies, we start to develop
online programs.

World The number of cases exceeds 80,000.
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

World Lockdown measures are taken in India, the Philippines, and many other countries

Confirmed Covid-19 cases all overWorld
the world

World 3.11 WHO declares Covid-19 a pandemic

Japan Cluster outbreak on cruise ship

Japan Cases are reported all over Japan.

Japan all schools are closed from Feb. 27.

Japan Tokyo Olympic 2020 is decided to be postponed to 2021

Japan the State of emergency is fully lifted05
16Hold Social Sector Emergency
Employment Matching event
Due to the pandemic, many NPOs were in high demand for humanresource to support issues on-site. Meanwhile, there were many
Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) returning home andstaffs working in NPOs with fewer operations. This initiative was takento match these people with NPOs in need of support. 150 people
participated in this online event and lead to more than 10 matches.

Launch “Online Field Study Program”
The participants connect with NGOs/Social enterprises
online and deepen their understanding toward social
issues and reflect their purpose through active dialogue.

Send Cross Fields’ member to otherorganization.
We send one of our members, Misato, to our partner organization, Katariba , for six months. She was in charge of development of the online educational program for children andeffect verification of the program with academic institutions.

6Launch “Corporate Volunteering
Program (CVP) in Japan”

Start developing “Empathy VRworkshop program”

CVP program in Japan has started. Business persons
from Japanese corporates are sent to Japanese
NGOs/Social enterprises.

We start developing "Empathy VR workshop program” thatuses VR/360-degree video to have simulated experiences ofsocial issues from the perspective of the people involved.

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

06
16

Creating a new scheme ofInternational cooperation
Three of Cross Fields members and two of CVP alumni
supported, tohe, a social enterprise in Vietnam online. Theteam supported tohe for 3 months in various ways, such as
launching fund-raising activities.

CEG 2020 is held online

Launch “Online Pro-bono Program”

Cross Fields Empowerment Gathering (CEG) is
held online to bring together our program
participants. 120 people join to deepen theirunderstanding toward social issues and think
about their own leadership.

To support solve social issues which our partner organizations overseas are facing, welaunch Online Pro-bono program.

Read More8月

10月

Start to join STEAM Library ProjectAs part of the “Learning Innovation” project initiated by
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), weare chosen to provide “Empathy VR” teaching materials
on a national online platform called “STEAM Library”.
They will be available to all teachers for free.”

11

月

12

月

Welcoming more members fromother organizations

We welcome more members from other organizations such as JICA, Japan Overseas Cooperation
Volunteers (JOCV) and Murata Manufacturing CO.,

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

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SIM2021 is held online
Social Innovation Mission (SIM), a program for corporate
executives to understand social issues overseas, is held
online. Participants connect and have dialogue withsocial entrepreneurs in India and Rwanda.

On May 3rd, Cross Fields
celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The total number of participantsin Online Field Study Program
reaches 310.

Member’s voice

Program Director

Saki Kumezawa
The total number of participantsin Corporate Volunteering
Program (CVP) within Japan
reaches 15 from 5 corporates.

32021.

5Start to revise Cross Fields
long-term strategy.
Through this pandemic, we start to discuss
our long-term strategy for the next 10 years.
We cooperate with BIOTOPE, a strategic
design firm and have a series of discussions.

It was my first time to see volunteers being forced toreturn home in the midst of their activities. Since there
were no time to get depressed, we immediately started
to take challenges of creating what we can do fromscratch. We have been cheering ourselves up by
believing “Tough times bring opportunity”. Even under
the pandemic, we could move forward thanks to all thesupport from our partners. With this gratitude, we will
make further progress.

Administrative Director

Kenichiro Hoshino

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

Not only the programs but also Cross Fields itself
needed to make a drastic change due to the pandemic.
Our familiar process has been “gathering face to faceand have deep conversation” for a long time. But thisbecame impossible by Covid-19. We instantly threw
away our common ways and replaced everything toonline-basis. After stormy three months, Cross Fields
has transformed into an online-based organization andthis literally pushed us to move forward.

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ProgramReports
Under the global pandemic of Covid-19, our programs have taken a huge transformation.
It is still difficult to implement overseas programs
such as CVP, and this is definitely a big challenge
for all of our members.
Nevertheless, we have had many opportunities totalk with our partners, and we are starting to sense
new possibilities for further collaboration. In the following pages, we will provide an overview of each ofour programs and the activities in 2020.

01

Corporate Volunteering Program02

Social Issue Understanding Field Study

03

Social Business Creating Workshop

04

Empathy VR Workshop

05

Online Pro-bono Program

06Social Sector Empowerment

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

09
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01

Corporate Volunteering Program

Corporate Volunteering Program(CVP)
CVP sends Japanese corporate employees to NGOs /social enterprises to help solve social issues. Since we could not conduct overseas
programs due to Covid-19, we conducted CVP within Japan in 2020.
We are seeking for the right timing to restart overseas projects.
See more about the program

Activities in 2020 (implemented in Japan)
Participants

15

Corporates

5

Host organizations

13

Member’s voice
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

Project Manager Hirosuke Chiashi

In the spring of 2020, all oversea programs were suspended. In the midst ofconfusion, we resume the program with Japanese partner organizations, saying"Let's help each other”. Through this process, I re-realized there are manysocial issues also in Japan, and many wonderful leaders. I will strive to keep
improving this program, while aiming to restart programs overseas.

1016

02

Social Issue Understanding Field Study

Social Issue Understanding Field Study
A program mainly for corporate executives to deepen their understanding of social issues and reflect their leadership by visiting the site ofsocial issues and having dialogues with social leaders. In 2020, we conducted them mainly online, collaborating with several overseas organizations. We continue to consider increasing overseas projects both online
and on-site.
See more about the program

SIM 2020 in India movie

Activities in 2020
Projects

Participants

310

15

Corporates

9

Member’s voice
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

Project Manager Kosuke Yonetani

Under the pandemic, we were forced to let go “experiencing social issues on-site” ,which used to be the core of our program. This brought us huge anxiety since wewere unsure if we can really provide value online. However, rather than sticking towhat is lost, we started to think of the new values we can create by conducting theprograms online. We will continue to develop our program by utilizing the strengths
of both online and on the field.

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03

Social Business Creating Workshop

Social Business Creating Workshop
A program in which corporate employees form teams and work withsocial leaders to generate business ideas over a period of two to threemonths. In 2020, we conducted online programs mainly.
See more about the program

Activities in 2020
ProjectsParticipants

898

Corporates

7

Member’s voice
Field Study Division Manager

Yuko Harada

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

This program’s key is to spread the enthusiasm of leaders who are confronting social
issues to the participants. That's why transforming to online was a big challenge forus. However, as a result of continuous trials with our partners, we were able to create
an online program that connects participants to the local community, enables todeepen understandings of social issues, and envisions the future we want to create.
We will continue to take on new challenges!

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04

Empathy VR Workshop

Empathy VR Workshop
A program using VR/360-degree images to provide opportunity for people to experience what it is like to be impacted bysocial issues, foster empathy for the people involved, and thinkof what we can do to solve the issues. (currently being developed for educational institutions and companies in Japan)
VR contents (interview movie)

Member’s voice
Empathy VR Program Leader

Tomoya Takahashi

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

This project was created by aiming to overcome the physical disconnection, which was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the power oftechnology. Since this is a totally new initiative, this year was very challenging. However, thanks to the cooperation of our partners, we havebeen given many opportunities, including the development of educational materials for junior and senior high school students. Now, we havea definite feeling that the technology can generate "empathy" for social
issues in many people.

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05

Online Pro-bono Program

Online Pro-bono ProgramThis is a program which participants allocate 20% of theirwork time to tackle social issues overseas remotely fromJapan.
Project Report

Member’s voice
Corporate Partnership Sub-Manager / Project ManagerYuichi Hoko
This program has started from wondering if we can create a program that would be valuable for both oversea organizations andemployees of Japanese companies. In the first project, we faceda series of challenges to build a relationship online as well as totackle local issues remotely. After the first project, I feel surethat new possibilities have opened up for us. Please look forward
to further progress!

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

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Social Sector Empowerment

Social Sector Empowerment
A program which aims to accelerate social impact creationby cooperating with NGO/social enterprises. We supportsocial leaders with our various networks and experiences.
Currently, we are discussing with various organizations thepossibility of new initiatives under the pandemic.
See more about the program

Project Report

Member’s voice
New Initiative Leader

Sayumi Nishikawa

Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

It was very frustrating that we couldn’t do anything even though
we knew that many partner organizations were suffering under
this pandemic. This time even made us to question the meaningof our existence. However, we decided to value the dialogue
with partner organizations under this situation. Through this, wefound new possibilities of collaboration. Some of our experimental activities have led to new projects, while others are still
being explored. Even though the future is uncertain, we believein the possibilities and continue to challenge!

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MediaIn this part, we put the record of global media appearance in 2020.

Daichi Konuma, our CEO, spoke at theUNDP "Social Business in Asia" webinar.
Project Manager, Sayumi Nishikawa, talked
at the online forum: Moscow International
Forum "Corporate Volunteering: Businessand Society"

PR/Marketing Division Manager, Rina
Nishikawa, talked at AVPN webinar "SocialI m p a c t D ay 2 02 0：A c t o n yo u r S o c i a lImpact"
Cross Fields Annual Report 2020-2021

The archived video1616