Promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I) is increasingly perceived as a societal imperative and many organisations are putting in place D&I policies and practices. However, as necessary as they are, a lot more could be achieved through D&I programmes.

When I decided to work abroad, I didn’t know what kinds of problems I would face in Japan as a foreigner. At that time, 25 years ago, I had no idea what being a minority would feel like because I wasn’t a minority then. I had no idea. This is the issue with diversity and inclusion that most of the …