Kizuna Across Cultures

What it reported doing in 2024

Kizuna Across Cultures facilitated the six month bilingual and virtual exchange program Global Classmates for high school students across Japan and the U.S. from September 2024 to February 2025. Since 2011 Global Classmates has connected over 20,600 students from the U.S. and Japan. In the programs 13th year we connected 2,100 students from 79 high schools in Japan and the U.S.. We successfully delivered another year of high-quality collaborative online international learning experience as reflected in the exit survey with 97% of the students and 99% of the teachers reporting satisfaction with the program. Building on last years curriculum upgrade this year we continued to emphasize not just improving language skills and cultural understanding but also on fostering intercultural competence-the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people from different backgrounds build meaningful relationships and collaborate across cultures. This year many school pairs conducted live video exchanges more than once during the program. These real-time conversations significantly deepened students sense of connection with their peers which in turn sparked greater enthusiasm for the regular asynchronous exchanges written exchanges with time difference. This positive cycle created a strong mutually reinforcing impact on student engagement. In recent years generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT have made language translation significantly easier. However we believe there are still essential human abilities that AI cannot replace: the capacity to connect with people from different backgrounds build mutual understanding and develop trust. Students participating in the program shared reflections such as: No matter how different we are its important to keep talking while respecting each other When you engage with genuine curiosity its possible to build meaningful relationships and Its crucial to communicate with an understanding of different values. These comments show that through their experiences students developed both the mindset and skills needed to build relationships and collaborate with people from different cultures and backgrounds. At KAC our goal has never been just about language acquisition. Instead weve continued to evolve the Global Classmate program to help students see and connect with the broader world and the future that lie beyond language. That said bringing this vision to life in real classrooms requires steady effort and thoughtful innovation. We are grateful for the teachers who have shared our vision and worked alongside us to make this program possible. We believe that the experiences and lessons students gained through Global Classmate will reach far beyond U.S.-Japan relations and prove valuable across many areas of their future lives. This program has offered students with a meaningful first step and we sincerely hope they will carry what theyve learned here forward with confidence and a sense of purpose.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 50.6%; rating input score 51
• Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: $13.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 39.6%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings