Toshi, together with Ewa, co-founded Kopernik in 2010 with a vision to make international development more effective. Before starting Kopernik, Toshi dealt with governance reform, peace building processes, monitoring and evaluation, and post-disaster reconstruction at the United Nations (UN) in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, the United States and Switzerland. Prior to joining the UN, Toshi was a management consultant for McKinsey and Company in Tokyo. He holds an LLB from Kyoto University and MSc Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a Guest Professor at Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University. Toshi was selected as a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader in 2012, and was a member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Sustainable Development 2014-2016.