Member Introduction

– Management Team –

Managing Director
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerYosuke Kaneko
- Chief Research and Development Engineer, Disaster Response Aviation Technology Team, Aeronautics Engineering Division, JAXA
- Accenture Strategy Manager
- Unmanned Aircraft Operation Management System Committee Member
- Global UTM Association Member
- Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Economics
Director
Vice Chief Executive OfficerMasaki Umeda
- Research Assistant, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
- Business Incubator, WASSHA Inc.
- Project Assistant, U.S.-Japan Council
- B.S. in Social Infrastructure, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
- Research on socio-economic evaluation of drone blood delivery business in African countries
DirectorSoki Ohmae
- Co-founder / Managing Partner of DRONE FUND
- Professor of Digital Marketing, Business Breakthrough University
- Founder and CEO of CREATIVE HOPE, Inc.
- Dronegrapher®
Head of Global Management TeamMarina Ishikawa
- Salesforce Japan Co., Ltd., Customer Success Group, Financial & Public Sector, Senior Principal Manager
- Accenture Japan Ltd., Management Consulting Group, Financial Services Division, Senior Manager
- Waseda University, School of International Liberal Studies, Bachelor’s Degree in International Liberal Studies
- SOAS, University of London, International Development
- Volunteer in the Kingdom of Eswatini as an English Teacher and Youth Issues Officer,working on HIV/AIDS countermeasures
Chief Mosquito OfficerMasahiro Yamaguchi
- Bridgestone Corporation Founding Member / Principal, Soft Robotics Ventures
- Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. Marketing Department, Vector Control Division
- University of East Anglia, United Kingdom Master’s in International Development
- Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), Ethiopia Assignment Basketball Coach
Head of Africa BusinessMary Yeboah Asantewaa
- Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, MSc. Public Health Management
- University of Ghana, BSc. Health Service Administration
- Achimota Hospital | Houseman Health Service Administrator
- Kpone Health Directorate (KHD) | General Administration

– Advisor Team –

Chief Research and
Development OfficerKatsuya Hasegawa
- Researcher, JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
- Ph.D. of Medicine / Ph.D. of Engineering / Bachelor of Agriculture
- Development of drones for Antarctica, Vanuatu volcanoes, and other special environments
- Research on inter-island medical supplies transportation using drones (Amami Oshima Medical Association), etc.
- Member of Amami Islands Medical Future Council
- Director, Society for Human Resource Development
- Director of Finance, Institute of Image Electronics and Imaging Engineers of Japan
Senior AdvisorTatsuo Mizuno
- Former Manager for the Americas, Overseas Agrochemicals Division, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Former General Manager, Vector Control Division, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
  Led the establishment of a joint venture to manufacture and distribute Olyset Net, a mosquito net for malaria prevention. Under his leadership, the company achieved an annual production of 30 million nets and a cumulative distribution of 300 million nets worldwide.
- Co-founder of the certified non-profit organization Malaria No More Japan
- Served as the inaugural Executive Director and Secretary General of Malaria No More Japan
- Author of the book “At the Halfway Point of My Life, I Wanted to Change the World – Just a Little” (Eiji Press)
Senior AdvisorKunizo Mori
- Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
- Research & Development of Biopharmaceuticals, Central Research Laboratory
- Research on Hematopoietic Factors at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), USA
- Manager, Biological Ｅvaluation in Agricultural Chemicals Research Laboratory
- Team Leader, Environment Health Division
- Mitsui Chemicals Crop & Life Solutions, Inc.
- Director, Professional Pest Management (PPM) Group
- Director, Overseas Marketing Group in PPM Group
- Director, Vector Control Group; VECTRON™ Development Project Lead
Pro Bono R&D Advisor
(Consultant Team)Toshiyuki Takeda
- Partner (Representative Partner), Misono Sogo Law Office
- Involved in the preparation of the “Guidelines for the Risk Assessment of Unmanned Aircraft Operations for the Examination of Safety Assurance Measures” as a member of the Fukushima Robot Test Field Risk Assessment Guideline Preparation Working Group.
- Has been involved in the study of risk management for drone operations and related legal arrangements, such as giving a lecture on legal arrangements for drone flights over private property to the Municipal Network for Drones and Flying Cars (UIC2-Japan).
- Recent publications include “Introduction to Drone Utilization: A Handbook for Social Implementation in the Level 4 Era” (co-authored, University of Tokyo Press).

– Business Team –

European Business ConsultantRalph Ankri
Business AnalystKen Suzuki

– R&D Team –

Technical LeadJuhoe Kim
Technical Specialist / Team LeadElie Magambo
Technical Specialist (Software/AI)Mulugeta Abate
Air Control SpecialistYoshiichi Soshino
Pro Bono Technical SpecialistMasamitsu Kawamoto

– US Team –

Strategic Partnerships & Donor Engagement LeadHaroun Habib
- Over 10 years of experience in global health, leading initiatives that leverage drones and AI to strengthen medical logistics and health systems
- Enabled more than 12,000 medical deliveries in Ghana through the Americares–Zipline partnership, significantly reducing delivery times
- Advanced climate change adaptation and health system resilience in collaboration with Malaria No More, USAID, and the Global Fund
- Led financing for Sierra Leone’s community health worker program at the Financing Alliance for Health, securing USD 82 million
- Holds both an MBA and MPH, demonstrating leadership that bridges technology innovation, policy advocacy, and resource mobilization
African Drone AdvisorOlivier Defawe
- Global health innovation expert with over 18 years of experience across more than 20 African countries
- Served as Director of the Global Technology Team and Senior Advisor for Private Sector Engagement at VillageReach, advancing strategic partnerships with UPS, DSV, Orange, Sanofi, J&J, and others
- Member of the Innovator Advisory Service, supporting startups and health tech companies with market fit and integration into government systems
- Founded “Drones for Health” and led the expansion of drone services across Africa
- Established a global track record in health supply chain reform and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles through collaborations with WHO, Gavi, USAID, and the World Bank
Senior Advisor for LSM EfficacyNeil Lobo
- Professor at the University of Notre Dame and Researcher with the University of San Francisco’s Malaria Elimination Initiative
- Engaged in the study of mosquito biology, genomics, and evaluation of interventions targeting malaria and dengue vectors
- Participated in NIH-funded studies and international genomic research projects, and conducted training programs in India
- Author of over 400 publications with more than 11,000 citations, making significant international contributions to the fight against mosquito-borne diseases
ConsultantSineka Samuel Siabnaa
- Nearly six years at Zipline, driving the integration of medical logistics systems in Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya; currently serving as Partnerships Director, leading government collaborations and growth strategies
- Supported improvements in public health planning, forecasting, and decision-making, while ensuring drone delivery systems are directly linked to health outcomes
- As Global Client Success Manager, managed NGO and government partnerships and spearheaded service improvements across multiple countries
- Founded EPositiveUs and, as CEO, advanced sustainable agriculture, local economic development, education, and healthcare access
- Developed socially impactful initiatives by introducing cutting-edge technologies in agriculture and expanding market opportunities in close collaboration with local communities