Robin Takashi Lewis | ルイスロビン敬
- Founder & Chief Mizu Officer – MyMizu (Website, Facebook, Instagram)
- Co-Founder & Director – Social Innovation Japan (Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
- Consultant – World Bank, Climate Change Group, Tokyo DRM Hub
- Board of Directors, Shibuya QWS Innovation Council (Website)
- Mentor & Judge, Japan Hult Prize (Website)
- Founder – Explore Tohoku Project (Website, Facebook, Instagram)
Hello! Thanks for stopping by my website 🙂 I’m half British and half Japanese, based in Tokyo.
I am the co-founder of MyMizu, an award-winning social enterprise reducing consumption of single-use plastic bottles by connecting people with 200,000 free water refill spots around the world.
I also work as a Consultant at the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (part of the Climate Change Group) and run an organisation called Social Innovation Japan – a platform for action focusing on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
I’m a professional speaker (TEDx, 50+ universities & international conferences), facilitator (high-level UN meetings), trainer (certified Monitoring & Evaluation trainer), and media commentator (featured by CNN, The Guardian, selected as Top 100 Influencer for the SDGs).
I also serve as an advisor for purpose-driven programs (e.g. Judge for the world’s largest student social entrepreneurship competition, the Hult Prize), and have been selected as a Japan Foundation Fellow, an Asia-Europe Foundation Young Leader, a One Young World Ambassador, and an UNLEASH Innovation Lab SDG Talent.
I have a blend of both on-the-ground experience – leading humanitarian operations and training programs over 5+ years in countries such as Haiti, Nepal, Vanuatu and Mozambique – as well as policy-related experience including co-authoring government reports and organising programs at international conferences.
In my free time, I write and take photos… In 2017, I started a storytelling project which involved walking solo for 600+km along Japan’s tsunami-affected coastline to document the region’s recovery 7 years since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster (the “Explore Tohoku” project).
If you’re interested, you can read some of my stories and posts on my Medium page.
Speaking
As a trainer and facilitator, I’ve delivered workshops and seminars in countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, and France (COP 21). I also speak regularly at schools, universities, and conferences (e.g. TEDx, University of Tokyo, Sonora Climate Change Summit in Mexico, and USJC Annual Conference in San Francisco), and serve as a mentor and advisor for purpose-driven programs around the world.
Media, Interviews & Articles
- Interviewed by The Japan Times – “New app MyMizu aims to reduce plastic waste in Japan, one drink at a time” (Link)
- Interviewed by The Guardian – “This is not a “What If” Story: Tokyo braces for the earthquake of a century” (Link)
- Featured by CNN – “Japan’s Tohoku Region, Seven Years After The Quake” (Link)
- Interviewed by Tokyo Weekender Magazine – “MyMizu App: Ditch Plastic Bottles and Opt For This Sustainable Alternative Nationwide” (Link)
- Interviewed by FLAT Media (Japanese) – “日本初！無料給水アプリ「MyMizu」がローンチ” (Link)
- Interviewed by Tokyo Weekender Magazine – “Walking Tohoku: A 614km Journey on the Michinoku Shiokaze Trail” (Link)
- Featured by Thai PBS Documentary – “Safe Tourism” (Link)
- Interviewed by Planet B Insights – “Social Innovation Perspectives in Japan: Robin Lewis” (Link)
- Interviewed by Zenbird Media – “MyMizu, Japan’s first water refill app wants to render bottled water extinct” (Link)
- Interviewed by Metropolis Magazine – “On The Trail To Rebuilding” (Link)
- Interviewed by GoGo Tohoku! – “Explore Tohoku: Michinoku Coastal Trail” (Link)
- Interviewed by CNN – “Life after the East Japan Earthquake” (Link)
- Interviewed by Student Times – “Hiking from Hadrian’s Wall to Holborn” (Link)
- Interviewed by ThinkTech Hawaii TV – “Do Not Panic! Be Prepared” (Link)
- Article on The Next Challenge – “Walking Japan’s Tsunami-affected Coastline”(Link)
- Article in Outdoor Japan Magazine – “My Tohoku Journey” (Link)
- Article on One Young World – “World Leaders Adopt the Paris Agreement on Climate Change: What Next?” (Link)
- Article on Japan for Sustainability (transcription of speech) – “Tohoku and the World: 5 Years since the Great East Japan Earthquake & Tsunami” (Link)
- Article in Ambassador Magazine – “Out of the Ruins” (Link)
- Article on World Cares Center – “Japan, Catfish, and the Need for Disaster Preparedness” (Link)
- One Young World Summit Bangkok Speech – “Call on COP (Climate Change)” (Link)
- Pecha Kucha Speech – “Mountains of Support For Nepal” (Link)
- National Geographic Article about project in Africa – “Nothing For Us, Without Us” (Link)
- United Nations Article about project in Africa – “African youth commit to reduce disaster risks” (Link)
- Booklet (Translated & Edited) – “The Citizen’s Guide to The Sendai Framework” (Link)
