The Nippon Foundation, the sole Global Impact Partner of The Valuable 500, have 
reaffirmed their commitment to disability inclusion by investing a further $2 
million in 2023.
The Nippon Foundation previously made history by investing $5 million – the 
largest ever single investment into disability inclusion in business.
Valuable 500 is the largest global network of CEOs committed to disability 
inclusion. Its membership includes Apple, Deloitte, Dentsu, Fujitsu Google, 
Hitachi, HSBC Microsoft, Nestle, NTT Group, P&G, The Coco-Cola Company, and 
Sony.

The Nippon Foundation today announces an investment of a further $2 million 
into promoting disability inclusion and generating systemic change within 
business. This latest injection brings their total investment to $7 million, 
following a $5 million investment in 2021.

Nippon’s Executive Director, Ichiro Kabasawa presenting on ESG & Disability Data

The Nippon Foundation is an independent, non-profit, foundation founded in 1962 
which provides humanitarian aid globally. As a Global impact Partner of the 
Valuable 500, their aim is to promote economic participation for persons with 
disabilities.

Ichiro Kabasawa, Executive Director, The Nippon Foundation commented: 
"Investing in the activities of the world's 500 most successful and well-funded 
corporations is a contradictory decision for a non-profit organization like the 
Nippon Foundation. However, we are making this investment because we know that 
ensuring systematic change is what truly is needed, and we are confident that 
The Valuable 500 will bring about success."

The Valuable 500 will maximise this investment and harness the power of 
collective actions across the 500 global businesses. This will be achieved by 
focusing on three pillars: Representation, Leadership and Inclusive Reporting. 
Each pillar is developed and delivered in partnership with several Iconic 
companies amongst the likes of Google, Sony and Verizon. The Iconics represent 
some of the largest brands in the world which will invest in products and 
services which will affect system change - materially improving disability 
inclusion within business.

With over 10% (53) of the Valuable 500's membership being head quartered in 
Japan, the Valuable 500 and The Nippon Foundation will be convening Japanese 
businesses to discuss how they can continue to improve disability inclusion 
within business and combat ESG obstacles effectively.

Caroline Casey, Founder, The Valuable 500 commented: "Central to this work is 
tackling one of the greatest barriers to change - the lack of disability data 
in business. It is our ambition that all our companies will be reporting on 
disability performance in their annual reports against a harmonised set of 
metrics. Thus, enabling us to hold ourselves to account and create new 
frameworks for driving system change."

In January, the Valuable 500 launched its white paper, 'ESG and Disability 
Data: A call for inclusive reporting', co-funded and developed with Allianz and 
London Stock Exchange Group. The culmination of their efforts will be showcased 
in the world's first accountability event on disability business performance in 
Tokyo 2025 on International People with Disabilities Day (IDPD).

About the Valuable 500 [https://www.thevaluable500.com/]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2058285/Nippon_Director.jpg

Source: Valuable 500