About

Sayaka Kankolongo Watanabe is the Founder of WELgee . 

WELgee is a combination of “Welcome" and "Refugee”, and the organization aims to support refugees and asylum seekers who came to Japan by connecting them with high-impact opportunities. WELgee opens the door to Japanese society through job-matching and social integration programs for refugees. 

Sayaka graduated Master’s Degree from the University of Tokyo in Human Security studies. During her time at university, she spent time in a village of indigenous people in Bangladesh, where she established her own NGO and worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) worked for a peace-building project. She is also a graduate of “Makers University”, an incubation program for people with world-changing ideas. She won a prize of Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2018 organized by INCO France, Forbes 30 under 30 Japan 2018 & Asia 2019.