Donate to DAA Summer Camp! Any and every donation helps!
At DAA Summer Camp, children have the chance to learn new skills, explore their creativity, and enjoy being kids.
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We’re excited for our upcoming MacBook workshop on August 14.
Thanks to these newly donated MacBooks, the children will have a chance to learn hands-on skills and build confidence using tools that matter for school, work, and daily life.
We’re grateful to everyone helping make this possible.
#YouMeWeNPO #DigitalInclusion#YouthEmpowerment #MacBookWorkshop#SocialImpact
At our 18th Designing Artists Academy, moments like this say so much.
Watching a child pick up a camera for the first time is powerful. It is the start of seeing the world through their own eyes, telling their own story, and discovering that they can be the creator of their own life.
This is why we keep showing up.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment #CreativeLearning #fortheyouth #SocialImpact
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
That’s the feeling we’ve held onto through 18 years of Designing Artists Academy.
While many children were off for summer holidays, volunteer artists gave their time to open up a different kind of camp, one built around creativity, curiosity, and trying something new. We also connected our arts program with technology by teaching IchigoJam, using a simple $15 monitor, $15 keyboard, and $15 CPU to help children take their first steps into coding.
This is what opportunity can look like, people showing up, sharing what they know, and making learning possible.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment #DigitalInclusion #VolunteerImpact #FortheYouth
KPMG Ignition Tokyo (KIT) Donation
Always thankful when a donor reaches out and helps us get 145 more champions connected with laptops.
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Recently, KPMG Ignition Tokyo (KIT) donated devices such as MacBooks that had been replaced internally and had ended their role as part of KPMG's global initiative to realize a sustainable future through solving environmental and social issues, as part of the KPMG Our Impact Plan (OIP).
The devices donated this time include 145 MacBooks and other devices that have been used internally so far. Although these devices have ended their business use, they were still fully capable of general use. We believed that rather than discarding these assets, we could create new social value by connecting them to those who need them. This initiative also helps balance reducing environmental impact with social contribution.
The NPO YouMeWe, the recipient of the donation, is engaged in educational support and empowerment for children and youth. These activities are highly compatible with KPMG's Our Impact Plan "10 by 30" initiative, which aims to address social issues.
"10 by 30" is KPMG's global commitment to support economic independence and growth by providing education, employment, and entrepreneurship support to 10 million disadvantaged youth worldwide by 2030. KPMG is promoting various activities aimed at creating a society where the next generation of young people can access more possibilities.
Through this conversation with YouMeWe, we learned that more than a dozen of the devices eligible for donation have already been decided to be provided to youth support organizations. Also, the story that "Macs are cool" are very popular among children and that it helps boost motivation for learning and creative activities was very impressive.
In today's world, where digital technology is becoming increasingly important, creating an environment where everyone can learn and grow equally is a challenge for society as a whole. That's why I feel that KIT holds great significance in giving new value to assets that are no longer used and passing them on to the next person.
Creating the future through technology is not just about cutting-edge AI and systems. Delivering these benefits to those who need them is also an important form of value creation.
We hope that the devices donated this time will support the learning and creative activities of children and young people, serving as a small opportunity to expand future possibilities.
Going forward, KIT will continue to engage in activities that create a positive impact on society by leveraging the power of technology, and contribute to building a better future through the promotion of the KPMG Our Impact Plan.
- Michael Perry-Clemons
Laptops Sent Last Week
Last week, we packed and sent laptops to one of our children's homes, helping create more learning opportunities.
As technology is a big part of everyday life, access to a laptop can open the door to new skills, creativity, and future opportunities for the children.
Don’t Forget!
Join us for the 2026 YouMeWe Fundraising Gala on October 14, 2026! 📅 October 14, 2026 🕕 6:00–8:00 PM 📍 Salesforce Tower, Tokyo 👔 Cocktail Attire Secure your tickets by scanning the QR code. We can't wait to see you there!
Behind every tutoring session is a room full of tools that someone chose to give.
The laptops, the tablets, the supplies, the connectivity — none of that appears by magic. It comes from donors and CSR partners who believe these kids deserve a real shot.
And then there are the volunteers who walk in, sit down, and give their time. That combination is what makes this work.
We are so grateful for every person who is part of this village. If you want to join us for an upcoming session, send us a DM or visit the link in our bio. We would love to have you.
Today we talked about Rewarding Relationships
Video:
https://youtu.be/yjzGxLq1Dqs?si=u1gLG98alJaFfuOK
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment#DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #fortheyouth
We're looking for a few extra USB-C to USB-C cables to support our work. If you have one you're no longer using, we'd greatly appreciate your donation!
If you're able to help, please email [email protected]
Every donation, no matter how small, helps us continue creating opportunities for children and young people.
Thank you for your support!
Japan's population pyramid has flipped. Nearly 3 elders for every child. The smallest generation in history is being asked to carry the most.
And within that generation, 40,000 children are growing up in alternative care, with no family safety net waiting for them at 18.
We keep thinking about the Tanomoshi, a traditional Japanese practice where a circle of people pool their support so no one person carries the weight alone. A pyramid concentrates everything downward. A circle holds.
That's what we're building.
The Tanomoshi Circle is our monthly giving family. Together, we want to give 50 young people a steady 3-year foundation before they step out on their own.
If you've been looking for a way to show up consistently for kids who don't have a lot of people in their corner, this is it.
Join the circle. Link https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/the-tanomoshi-circle/?utm_campaign=project-approved&utm_content=Your+project+has+been+approved!&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email2.globalgiving.org
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment#DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #fortheyouth
Did you know that the first commercially available smartphone that responded to touch was the LG Prada KE850 in 2006?
This week, children at St. Francis Children's Home learned about and were tested on how touchscreen technology works and its history.
You don't need a teaching degree to make a difference.
You just need to lean in.
Look at the problem together. Work through it step by step. That moment when something clicks for a student? That's real impact, and you don't need a perfect lesson plan to get there.
Give 2 hours on August 4th.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment#DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #fortheyouth
I came to teach. And then I got schooled.
Every time I sit down with the youth we support, I think I'm the one bringing something to the table. English practice, tech skills, exam prep. But honestly? They give back just as much.
They've shown me what it looks like to keep going when things are hard. To laugh across a language barrier. To see the world with eyes that haven't decided yet what's impossible.
That's what two hours of your time actually looks like. Not charity. A real exchange.
If you've been thinking about volunteering, this is your sign. Come for the kids. Stay for what they teach you. Link in bio to grab your slot.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment#DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #fortheyouth
I've spent 28 years in institutional finance in Japan, evaluating what deserves capital.
And I've spent the last several decades inside Japan's children's homes with YouMeWe NPO, watching what happens when capital — of every kind — finally arrives.
Let me show you the two charts that changed how I think about both.
The first chart is Japan's population pyramid — and it's upside down.
Japan's upside down triangle
For all of history, societies stood on a broad base of children supporting a narrow peak of elders. Japan has inverted: 29.3% of the population is now over 65. Just 11.1% is under 15 — 13.7 million children, the lowest number ever recorded, falling for 44 consecutive years. Nearly three elders now stand above every child.
The entire weight of Japan's future rests on the smallest generation of young shoulders this nation has ever raised.
The second chart about the circle is the one almost nobody looks at.
Roughly 40,000 of those children are growing up in alternative care — the great majority in institutions, not families. At eighteen, they age out. No family network. No safety net. Often, no one who stays.
Most people call these children marginalized. Vulnerable. At-risk.
I've stopped using those words, because after years alongside these young people, I can tell you they're inaccurate.
These children are not marginalized. They are maximizeable.
In finance, we hunt for exactly this profile: maximum unrealized capacity, minimum prior investment. Give these young people digital skills, mentorship, financial literacy, and one adult who doesn't leave — and they don't catch up. They take off. I've watched YouMeWe alumni become designers, technologists, professionals. Nobody rescued them. Someone invested in them.
In a country with the developed world's narrowest base of young people, a child whose potential goes unrealized isn't a private tragedy. It's a national loss Japan cannot afford. And the reverse is also true: there is no higher-return investment available in Japan's future than the children Japan has invested in least.
Japanese communities always knew what to do when the load was too heavy for a few: form a circle.
For centuries, the tanomoshi-kō (頼母子講) pooled many small contributions so each member, in turn, could seize their moment. Japanese immigrants carried the tanomoshi across the Pacific, and it funded the first shops, farms, and firms of families who arrived with nothing but each other. Some of you reading this are here because a circle once held for your family.
A pyramid concentrates weight downward. A circle distributes it — and holds.
That's why we're launching the Tanomoshi Circle: a monthly giving community that puts many hands under the 50 young people YouMeWe supports each year — through their education, their skills, and the critical transition out of care at eighteen.
Here's my ask.
Join the circle. Monthly membership starts at $25 — tax-deductible for U.S. and U.K. donors through GlobalGiving, our giving portal.
https://www.globalgiving.org/pro.../the-tanomoshi-circle/...
And if you can't join today, do one of the tanomoshi's oldest jobs: widen the circle. Share this article with one person whose family story includes a circle that held.
Japan is standing on the tip of its pyramid. The answer was in our hands the whole time — all of them, joined.
Michael Perry Clemons is the founder of YouMeWe NPO, supporting children in institutional care across Japan,Philippines and Brazil. — Which words do you think we should retire when we talk about young people in care? I'd genuinely like to hear your view in the comments.
Notice the yellow smiley face?
There's a reason you won't see the faces of the young people we work with. Children in institutional homes have strict privacy protections, and we take that seriously. Their safety and dignity come before any social media metric, always.
But here's the thing: they feel every single volunteer who shows up. They remember it. A face you'll never see online is a face that lights up when someone chooses to be there for them.
If you want to be part of that, we'd love to have you. Sign up for an upcoming volunteer session through the link in our bio. You won't be on camera. You won't go viral. But you will matter.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment#DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #fortheyouth
Since 2008, this camp has given children living in institutional homes the chance to experience art, creativity, and connection.
This summer, that work continues because of your generous support. If you’ve been meaning to give, now is the time - your donation can go even further with bonus matching.
Thank you for helping children keep creating, learning, and growing.
#YouMeWeNPO #YouthEmpowerment #DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #FortheYouth
