WOVN’s ESG project has finally kicked off. So, what’s it all about?

At WOVN, we’ve launched a new ESG project made up of volunteer members.In this first report, we’ll explain about the project and discuss how the kick-off meeting with MPower went.

WOVN is going to implement ESG-minded business strategies

At our company meeting in July, plans to launch the ESG project were announced.

ESG is comprised of three central factors: environmental, social, and governance. These three non-financial aspects are believed to have an impact on the long-term growth of a company.

There are many books and online resources on ESG, so we encourage you to look into them.

The management team has decided that in order for us at WOVN to grow even further as a company while also fulfilling our social responsibilities, we need to have an ESG mindset. As part of WOVN’s mid and long-term growth strategies to achieve its vision and mission, WOVN decided to focus on two KPIs: "Business Strategy" and "ESG/SDGs Basic Policy."

A cross-divisional project team was launched to address company-wide management issues, from planning through to execution.

The launch of the ESG project

In the past, WOVN hadn't really done any cross-functional projects that weren’t directly connected to daily work, so a lot of people volunteered to help when we recruited members.
The employees at WOVN come from over 25 countries, so a lot of people were interested and the ESG project became quite popular.

Among the many members who raised their hands, 10 people were selected. The ESG team is led by WOVN’s CFO Fujiwara, and the members come from the Product, Solutions, and Corporate/CEO's Office teams.

(Fujiwara recruiting project members on Slack)

A diverse group of people

The ESG project team held its kick-off meeting in August.
Here's a brief introduction of the members sharing why they joined the project.

- Fujiwara
CFO
I’m very excited to work with everyone on these important ESG issues as a company-wide initiative so that WOVN can continue to grow. There’s no correct answer to this issue yet, so let's study and share ideas to create WOVN’s version of ESG.

- Maduranga
Product/Infrastructure team
I'm an engineer, and I decided to join this project because I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to work with people on the business side.

- Eli
Product/New Service Development
I want to help make WOVN more attractive to a diverse audience.
I would also like to cut out any unneeded extras and create quality promotional materials using renewable materials.

- Fiona
UI/UX Designer
I was interested because I think there is a relationship between ESG and UX in universal product design and accessibility. I also thought it was an excellent opportunity to work with people on the business side. I hope we can exchange opinions and look at things from different perspectives.

- Naoka
Business Development
I joined WOVN because I was interested in the SDGs.

- Kogoma (Goma)
Solutions/Marketing
I’m an intern, and I thought I could use my experiences from university, since I participated in volunteer activities overseas and studied investing.

- Yamasaki (Take)
Solutions/Enterprise Success
I've been with the company since there were only a few members, and I feel like we’re facing some challenges with our work style as we grow. I want to help create a work-friendly environment by taking advantage of the diversity that makes WOVN unique.

- Natsumi
CEO's Office
Being the first female employee, having watched WOVN from early on, and also balancing work with childrearing, I wanted to help make the company even better from a variety of angles.

- Ai
Corporate/HR
I worked in an international environment at my previous job as well, and I believe that diversity is not simply about the number of nationalities, so I want to look into that more.

- Matsumura (Matt)
Corporate/Corporate Engineer
I’m in charge of information systems and am involved in information security and IT control, so I had a strong interest in governance.

The project is divided into three cross-divisional teams. Each team has three members and has assigned their own set of tasks.

The kick-off event with MPower

The team held a kick-off meeting with MPower (MPower Partners Fund L.P.), which joined as one of our new investors during our fundraising in July and is Japan's first ESG-focused global venture capital fund.

Six amazing members from MPower joined, including the General Partners Ms. Seki, Ms. Kathy Matsui, and Ms. Murakami. They provided our team with very powerful and reassuring support.

Since we’re still new to ESG, the members from MPower shared about the basic concepts of ESG and introduced advanced case studies from abroad, such as Atlassian based in Australia and WeTransfer based in Amsterdam.

In addition, as people from outside the company, they also suggested several materiality scenarios that WOVN could consider in the areas of Environment, Social, and Governance.

We would love for MPower to join in on our ESG project meetings regarding key issues and share their wisdom while they run along side us as we continue to press on towards our goal.

(The hour-long kick-off meeting with MPower flew by)

A roadmap to disclose details in six months

The ESG project team set a roadmap to be able to disclose WOVN’s ESG initiatives on the website in six months.

This ESG project will be carried out as a company-wide effort.
Since spots on the team were limited, not everyone who was interested could join the project team, so a dedicated ESG channel has been created on Slack where these people, as well as other members at WOVN, can share ideas and as a place for sharing team activity reports.

The WOVN MAGAZINE will continue to provide updates on the ESG project regularly.
How will this project develop? Let’s keep watching as the story unfolds.