Professor Hajime IMAMURA is the Chair of the Department of Global Innovation Studies(GINOS) of the Faculty of Global and Regional Studies (GRS) at Toyo University, and also the Deputy Director of the Center for Global Innovation Studies (GIC). As a representative of these two Toyo University flagship projects, Hajime has successfully planned and implemented several new projects making full use of its capabilities and network. In addition, he is responsible for the planning of the new project GINOS will launch in the field of “Global Entrepreneurship” at its Graduate school in 2020. This will involve teaching subjects and project based studies to complete the “GINOS Open Innovation Ecosystem” made up of three startup projects of undergraduate, graduate and think tanks.

Hajime is also in the core of an international academic network for social innovation, as he is a praesidium member of CIRIEC International (Belgium Liège) and a Core Member of the Scientific Committee of the Mont Blanc Meeting (Paris, France). Taking his main research fields as Global Social and Business Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprise, Social and Solidarity Economy, he has written many papers, given conference presentations and invited lectures all over the world. His latest publication is “Possibilities and Challenges of NPOs / Social Enterprises in Promotion of Social Impact Bonds”, in Ichiro Tsukamoto, Ikuyo Kaneko eds. “What is Social Impact Bond – Possibility of Social Innovation through Finance” published by Minerva Shobo. Hajime is also contributing outside academia as he has served as a governmental committee chairman for the Labor division of the evaluation committee for Incorporated Administrative Agency of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan since 2011.