Yukako Sato worked with the World Food Programme (WFP) for 17 years. For the first half of her career, she coordinated food assistance programmes in countries such as Tajikistan, the Darfur region of Sudan and Yemen during the Arab Spring years. In her last assignment, she worked at the WFP headquarters as the Staffing Coordinator for the programme and policy function globally. In that role, Yukako facilitated the provision of talent management support that impacted about a quarter of the organization’s 15,000 global workforce in 80 countries. She led various initiatives such as talent deployment, talent acquisition and capability development. She also led the design and delivery of innovative blended learning programmes for leaders, and developed partnerships with top universities, with an aim to build the future talent pipeline for the organization. In 2018 Yukako transitioned to becoming an international Leadership Coach and is very passionate about working with international leaders globally. She speaks to us about working in emergency settings, designing creative and inventive food assistance programs, being a young female leader in a patriarchal culture, interagency cooperation and working with government partners, implementing accountability mechanisms, respecting the culture you are working in, building trust, supporting others in their careers - including those experiencing burnout, ensuring diversity in recruitment processes, important leadership practices, communication, connecting with her purpose and much more. She joins us from Tokyo, Japan.