First Annual General Meeting of the SC Alumni Network

Sumitomo Corporation held the first annual general meeting of the SC Alumni Network on September 30 at the Head Office in Otemachi. The word “alumni”originally meantgraduates of a university. In recent years, the word has also been used to refer to former employees of a company. The SC Alumni Network, consisting of “alumni” that are defined as ex-employeeswho worked for Sumitomo Corporation for at least one year, was launched in April 2019 as an open innovation platform to connectcurrentemployees with alumni as well as those outside the company.

The first general meetingwas held at the open innovation lab “MILAI LAB PALETTE” located on the basement floor of the Head Office. The program of the meeting included updates provided by President and CEO Masayuki Hyodo, Chief Administration Officer and Chief Compliance Officer Takayuki Seishima, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Toshikazu Nambu, and other speakers on digital transformation, cross-organizational collaboration, and other relevant activitiespromoted by the Sumitomo Corporation Group. The alumni who participated in the meeting included Kinya Seto, president and CEO of LIXIL Group Corporation, and Yoshito Hori, president of the Graduate School of Management atGLOBIS University. They expressed their surprise at thesignificant positivechange in the company that has been made since they left and their expectations for the company’s further growth.

At a party held after the meeting at the in-house cafeteria, about 100 alumni were joined by current employees, whorejoiced at their reunion. New relationshipswere also developedbetween alumni and current employees.

The SC Alumni Network will hold the general meeting once a year and is planning to organize events that provide alumni and current employees with opportunities to interact with each other. Sumitomo Corporation will enhance its relationships with alumni to foster the kind ofopen corporate culture that leads to business innovation.