HIROKI KURATA

SustainSpace,
Founder

Hiroki Kurata is a student passionate in economics, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and international politics. He is an avid snorkeller, and an excellent collaborator and innovator. 

In elementary school, Hiroki was present in a series of terrorist attacks commonly known as the November 2015 Paris Attacks. Over the period of a month, the coordinated attacks intensified as over two hundred people were killed. Terrified by the endless amounts of violence, he vowed to one day become a diplomat to prevent such horrible tragedies from reoccuring. As Hiroki delved deeper into critical global issues he found that sustainability in particular called out to him. Hiroki discovered a passion for mitigating the impacts of climate change after a life-threatening asthma attack caused by pollution. The cumulation of both experiences has shaped Hiroki into a global advocate for fighting climate change. 

Aspiring to major in economics, Hiroki is engaged in multiple clubs relating to economics and entrepreneurship. For example, he was the team captain for his school’s Wharton Investment Competition team and was selected as a participant for the Stanford E-Entrepreneurship program. In addition to his heavy focus on economics related activities, Hiroki is a major contributor to the MUN community. Not only did he initiate a middle school MUN program in Japan, but he is also the Secretary General for Jr-OMUN (an online program under the UN Sustainable Development Goals Program (SDGs) dedicated to supporting middle schoolers with MUN). Now, Hiroki is working on combining his interests in social entrepreneurship and sustainability with a project named SustainSpace dedicated to co-creating a space for all towards raising sustainable awareness and action. 

In the future, Hiroki would like to attend a top economics university to explore the nuances of sustainable economics, grow his advocacy network, and challenge himself to broaden his understanding of the world. Post graduation, Hiroki plans to apply his economic-related knowledge and skills he gained throughout his upbringing to become a social entrepreneur based on mitigating the impacts of climate change.