This International Women’s Day, we begin by making our current reality visible. 

◆At the Core of the Organization 

At Robo Co-op, five Japanese single mothers are part of our team. 
Four of them serve as core members within their departments, carrying responsibility for key decisions. 

They are responsible for: 

▫ Project-level decision-making 
▫ Final judgments in operational settings 
▫ Management of refugee employment support programs 
▫ Designing the direction of each department 

In other words, they stand at the center of our organization. 

At the same time, each of us is also the head of our household. 
We carry ultimate responsibility for sustaining our families, managing household finances, and safeguarding our children’s futures. 
That reality carries clear economic responsibility. 

This cannot be reduced to the idea of “balance.” 
It means holding final responsibility for decisions within the organization and within our homes. 

We are not “those who are supported.” 
We are the ones who move the organization forward — and who sustain our families. 

◆The Unspoken Assumptions That Remain

At the same time, we cannot say that our organization has always been designed with this reality in mind. 

▫ The assumption that evenings are available 
▫ Casual last-minute schedule changes 
▫ Meetings set in the late afternoon as a default 
▫ Weekends presumed to be open 
▫ The belief that “as long as childcare is arranged, it should be manageable” 

These are not exceptional situations. 
They are part of everyday life. 

Life with children is not a schedule for one person. 
It is the constant coordination of multiple lives and responsibilities. 

The need for consideration does not come from carrying less responsibility. 
On the contrary, we are determined to deliver results at work while carrying full responsibility at home. 

We are not contributing “within what we can manage.” 
We take on decisions that shape the future of the organization — as accountable stakeholders. 

◆Questioning Our Structure Before Speaking to Society

Before offering proposals to society, we believe we must first examine the structure of our own organization. 
That is the step we can take now. 

Robo Co-op is still in progress. 
Unconscious assumptions remain, and our design is not yet complete. 

When voices are raised, we engage in dialogue. 
We revisit schedules and processes that were shaped around those who were unconstrained. 
We consider how to ensure that those who carry responsibility are not positioned at a disadvantage because of their family circumstances. 

Family life should not be treated as a handicap. 
Carrying responsibility should be recognized as a source of trust. 

◆Toward an Environment Where We Can Work as Stakeholders 

We are committed to building — not merely declaring — an environment where people can work as stakeholders. 
As those directly involved, and as members of this organization, we continue to reassess and redesign our structure. 

We are not beginning this conversation because it is International Women’s Day. 
We are using this moment to make visible what we have long been striving toward. 

We are not perfect. 
Yet together with the single mothers who drive this organization, we remain committed to continuing this redesign. 

Carrying responsibility as heads of households, and responsibility in our work, we continue to move this organization forward. 

This is where Robo Co-op stands today.