Ayako Kubodera joined the Inspection Panel Secretariat in December 2020 as a Junior Professional Officer. Prior to joining the Panel, Ayako worked for UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Thailand), focusing on strategic planning, coordination, monitoring, reporting and evaluation. Most recently at UN Women, she had coordinated the implementation of a regional Asia-Pacific program on COVID-19 prevention and response. Before UN Women, Ayako managed development economics projects in Myanmar for University of Warwick, and also worked for Morgan Stanley’s Equity Research Division in Japan. Ayako earned her master’s degree focusing on human security and international political economy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College.