SmartNews Announces Changes to Company Board of Directors
March 28, 2025
TOKYO, JAPAN (March 28, 2025) – SmartNews, a global leader in news discovery, announced changes to its Board of Directors. Since November 2023, when Ken Suzuki became Executive Chair of the Board and Kaisei Hamamoto started serving as CEO and President, SmartNews has been working to further enhance the company’s corporate governance, including by adding more independent external directors.
As part of this initiative, three new outside directors have been named to the SmartNews board: Dan Springer, former CEO of DocuSign; Etsuko Okajima, CEO of Pronova and external director at multiple companies; and Katsuya Uenoyama, founder and CEO of PKSHA Technology.
SmartNews Co-Founder Ken Suzuki will focus more on strategic initiatives, further bolstering the company's long-term growth. Ren Yi, SmartNews’s Chief Strategy Officer, has stepped down from the board and continues his vital work at the company as a senior leader.
The new structure of the SmartNews Inc. Board of Directors:
Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Board: Ken Suzuki
Co-Founder and CEO: Kaisei Hamamoto
Outside Board Director: Minoru Imano
Outside Board Director: Dan Springer (appointed May 2024)
Outside Board Director: Etsuko Okajima (appointed November 2024)
Outside Board Director: Katsuya Uenoyama (appointed March 2025)
Profiles of new outside board directors Dan Springer, Etsuko Okajima, and Katsuya Uenoyama:
Dan Springer Dan Springer serves as a Board Director at UiPath, SmartNews, and DocuSign, where he was CEO from 2017 to 2022. With over 25 years of leadership experience, he has driven innovation and growth across tech, specializing in SaaS. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO at Responsys, scaling it into a global leader in marketing automation and a publicly traded company. He has held senior roles as Managing Director at Modem Media, CEO at Telleo, and CMO at NextCard, with early experience as a consultant at McKinsey. Springer holds an MBA from Harvard and an AB in Mathematics and Economics from Occidental College. He has also served on numerous boards, including iCIMS, Ansira, and The Boys and Girls Club.
Etsuko Okajima Ms. Okajima has helped over 200 CEOs annually as a Human capitalist, a management team strengthening consultant, and a professional leader development specialist. After working at Mitsubishi Corporation, Harvard MBA, McKinsey, and the Globis Group, she founded ProNova, Inc. in 2007. She has also served as an outside director at Marui Group Co., Ltd. and KADOKAWA Corporation. After serving as an outside director, she was appointed Director and CHRO (part-time) of Euglena Co., Ltd. in December 2020, and currently serves as Director and Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. She has served as an outside director at a total of nine listed companies. She was selected as a “Young Global Leaders 2007” by the World Economic Forum, and her books include “The Day a 40-Year-Old Becomes President” (Gentosha).
Katsuya Uenoyama Mr. Uenoyama has devoted his life to researching and developing future software, as well as its societal implementation and he has helped introduce AI agents to more than 4,330 companies. After working at Boston Consulting Group and GREE International, he earned a doctorate in machine learning at Matsuo Lab and founded PKSHA Technology in 2012. Uenoyama has served as a member of the Japanese Government’s Cabinet Office's Digital Transformation Conference and an adviser to the Digital Agency, focused on the role of AI/software in society.
About SmartNews
Founded in 2012, SmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company, dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. SmartNews provides news that matters to millions of readers using powerful AI discovery, a team of award-winning journalists offering thoughtful curation, and deep partnerships with more than 1,500 trusted global publisher partners.
Contact:
SmartNews
