PROFILE

Wakana leads LinkedIn’s Japan business since March 2023. She graduated from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service in 1997. She was selected as Forbes “Women in Tech 30” in 2024. Prior to LinkedIn, she managed Google's Ad sales for strategic accounts, creating innovative digital strategy & solutions for Japanese partners. She started her career in management consulting, and later managed the Lancome brand as a Marketing Manager in L'Oreal. Following the 3.11 Earthquake, she joined the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Investigation Commission to lead the International Affairs. After she ran Change Management at GlaxoSmithkline Japan, she joined Google in 2014. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School (Class of 2003). She is also a certified Coach, Director of Harvard Business School Club of Japan, as well as Senior Advisor for Georgetown University Alumni Association of Japan. She grew up in Tokyo, Kobe, Jakarta, studied and worked in the US, Japan, and France. She is a passionate traveler, dancer and mom of 2 children.