TEAM
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Ko Nagata
Managing Director / Global Sky, Ltd.
Ko established the Global Sky Group in 2012 after a corporate career at Japan’s biggest oil and energy company. With a focus on business development, investment, project finance and education-related activities, Ko has a passion for sustainable development and Japan-Australia relations.
Ko created Global Sky Group in Japan, Oceania and North America with the aim of developing and operating community hubs, where people gather, learn and interact. The business is centred on education, providing lifelong learning experiences, with a wide range of operations including restaurants, hotel, childcare centres and business centre, helping to foster the internationalisation of people, companies and communities.
Ko is a graduate of Keio University with a Master’s Degree in Media and Governance. His favourite expression is “play fair.” Ko’s hobbies are walking, travelling, playing tennis and cooking. -
Koichi Ohtani
Director / Global Sky, Ltd.
Koichi joined Global Sky Group in 2013 after a career in finance, including engaging in securities investment and investment banking at a Japanese bank, working as a senior director in the structured finance department of a Western ratings agency and as a director of the securitisation products department of a U.S. investment bank.
At Global Sky Group, Koichi oversees the management of accounting, finance, human resources and other activities of its various group companies. He is responsible for running back office operations and ensuring the smooth operation of group companies, from the instilling of corporate policies to the planning and execution of capital management activities.
A graduate of Tokyo Institute of Technology, Koichi’s favourite phrase is “inventing the future.” His hobbies are travelling and watching movies. -
Hisayuki Watanabe
Director / Global Sky Education, Ltd.
Hisayuki’s international experience includes Germany, where he graduated from the Berlin Institute of Technology. After returning to Japan, he became a director of Sunnyside International School after serving as a university lecturer.
With a focus on international English-language education, in January 2016, Sunnyside became Japan’s first Primary Years Programme – International Baccalaureate (IB)-accredited school and Hisayuki was appointed head of the IB Council, Asia Pacific Region. In December 2015, Sunnyside opened the “Kauri Learners” school in Whitianga, New Zealand to promote parent and child study abroad.
As a director of Global Sky Education, Hisayuki is working to deepen the educational programs for childhood which have the greatest impact on life. His favourite word is “resilience” and his hobby is touring wineries. -
Seisaku Sunakawa
Director / Global Sky Education Group Pty Ltd
Seisaku moved to Australia in 1987 and has been engaged in Australian real estate consulting since 1989. After serving as a director of a Japanese real estate consultancy, a real estate development and investment company, and as a senior consultant for a large Australian real estate company and the Japanese market, in 1997 he established Wide Estate, an Australian real estate & M&A consulting firm.
In 2013, he became a director of Global Sky Group (Australia) and led the group’s full-scale entry into the childcare business. He is responsible for childcare business acquisition and management, including selection, evaluation, planning, acquisition negotiations, financing, operations and management, legal and tax affairs.
His favourite expression is “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” His hobbies are reading, cooking, eating and travelling. -
Anita White
General Manager / Global Sky Education Group Pty Ltd
My passion for early childhood goes back as far as I can recall, from babysitting for friends and family to acting as a volunteer teacher aid at my hometown school during my boarding school holidays from age 13. We never cease to learn, and my tertiary studies include early learning, business and my most recent a Bachelor of Child and Family Studies. As a professional, my career commenced as a nanny nationally and subsequently internationally, then spanning through all centre based roles through to senior management roles within both the private and not for profit sector. Regardless of roles, I am a firm believer in the ‘village’. I see community as vital to us being our best and the network I have are key contributors to me professionally and personally. As such I place tremendous importance on educating, supporting and developing those I come into contact with and together discover how we can remove barriers and design worlds we only dared imagine. Working in the early years I aim to create villages that will innovate and support each child to become their best self for they are the future.
As a mother to two amazing young girls, life away from work is no less busy as we explore our world, create masterpieces and enjoy our family. We are also prone to a little overseas adventure as nothing beats the lived experience. -
Letisha Rountree
Operations Manager / Global Sky Education Group Pty Ltd
Letisha has more than 20 years’ experience in childcare operations and management. With experience working as both a childcare worker and childcare director, she is cognisant of all aspects of operations and management.
Letisha has played a major role since Global Sky Group’s entry to the childcare business, providing guidance to centre managers and educational opportunities for educators, while planning and implementing measures to improve services. This includes formulating and executing educational curricula and marketing measures to improve occupancy levels.
Her favourite expression is “Live to love and love to live”. Letisha’s hobbies are travelling and spending time at the beach. -
Janet Souter
Education Manager / Global Sky Education Group Pty Ltd
Graduating with a Master of Early Childhood Education, a Bachelor of Teaching Early Childhood and an Associate Diploma in Early Childhood, Janet has worked as an Educator, Director, Consultant, Lecturer, Area Manager, Principal and Pedagogical Researcher and Editor in early childhood education over the past 30 years in Australia, Vietnam and Canada. She has also worked as a Medical Educator and Medical Education Manager for Medical Doctors in training and curriculum designer for Curtin University Janet became aware of the interconnections between project/inquiry based learning for children and adult education and professional development. Having taught in a number of subjects in degree programs at the University of New England and Central Queensland University, Janet was responsible coordinating courses focusing on Pedagogies, Curriculum in Education, Communication, Arts in the Early Years and Advocacy and Leadership in Education. Janet has also worked as a Principal of an International Pre/school in Vietnam to immerse an authentic arts and inquiry infused approach to education for the education of Ho Chi Minh’s youngest citizens based on the principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach. She has also worked with ZeroSei Project Pedagogical Consulting that operates across the Asia Pacific region to work in collaboration with education settings to support the development of progressive pedagogy reflective of the principles and philosophy of the schools in Reggio Emilia.
Janet’s favorite quote is “Imagination is the highest form of research.” — Albert Einstein. Some of her hobbies include: book reading – non-fiction, re-purposing found objects from nature, beachcombing, writing, road-trips and travelling to new destinations, drawing, printing and painting with watercolours. -
Yutaka Katsube
General Manager / Terra, Ltd.
Yutaka became a sommelier after studying French cuisine in Okuzawa, Setagaya in Tokyo, after which he worked for various Italian restaurants, cafes and other establishments. He then moved to Singapore, where br he operated a hotel’s main dining room and served as a restaurant sommelier.
Returning to Japan, he became the main dining manager at the upscale Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. After working as the general manager of the restaurant “Benoit” in Tokyo under French chef Alain Ducasse, in February 2020, Yutaka became the general manager of Terra, Ltd., which operates the Australian restaurant “South” on the top floor of Yebisu Garden Place and “Zealander,” a New Zealand restaurant on the fifth floor of the Shin-Marunouchi Building.
In addition to supervising restaurant operations, he is responsible for relations with embassies, chambers of commerce and foreign-affiliated companies. He aims to develop the dining experience and provide places for deepening interaction as community hubs.
Yutaka’s favourite phrase is “thank you” and his hobby is travelling. -
Kentaro Sugawa
Fellow / Global Sky Education, Ltd.
Kentaro joined Global Sky Group after a career in construction, where he served as a director of a U.S. corporation and undertook public-private partnership (PPP) activities for a major general construction company.
His career has now shifted from urban development to human development, where as a fellow of Global Sky Education he is involved in business development such as online education partnership and next-generation international school development. He also serves as an adviser to Session House, a hub for contemporary dance and the performing arts.
Kentaro is a Keio University graduate and has also completed an MBA at the Yale School of Management. His favourite word is “chic,” with hobbies comprising travelling, theatre and dance. -
Yoshihisa Tomonaga
Fellow / Global Sky Education, Ltd.
Yoshihisa joined Global Sky Group after gaining an international education, having graduated from New York University (NYU) with a master’s degree in education. After graduation, he worked as a reporter covering arts and entertainment at a local media company. He then joined an NPO supporting artists in New York, during which time he completed a master’s degree in fine arts.
After returning to Japan, he took advantage of his wealth of experience to join the education industry, becoming a business development officer at a major English school and subsequently chief operating officer of a leading study abroad prep school. As a Fellow of Global Sky Education, Yoshihisa works on research and development for providing lifelong learning experiences. His favourite word is “chaos” and his hobby is taking walks.