“Our philosophy at Nike for coaching is what we call the six C’s: trust, connection, clear, concise, celebration and freedom of choice,” explains Vanessa Garcia-Brito, the brand’s VP of Chief Impact Officers. We’re sitting in a private room in the breakfast cafe at Hotel Toranomon Hills in Tokyo’s Minato division, is preparing for the fifth and final day of the Coach The Dream Summit.For the past five days, girls and coaches from all over Japan and the world have flocked to the Japanese capital to participate in a series of activations set up by Nike and its partners to promote and advocate for equality for girls in sport.

“Coach The Dream is part of the world we want to see; we are all children. All young people have the opportunity and choice to be who they want to be. And that is especially true for girls,” continues Garcia-Brito.

If you’ve been paying attention to Nike’s past events, you may already be familiar with Coach The Dream. Earlier this year, during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the brand held another summit, dubbed the Future of Youth Sport summit, as part of the initiative in the French capital, which also emphasized inclusive youth sports and coaching.

Courtesy of Nike (Edited)

Having already provided tools to girls and coaches on the Europeside, the decision to hold the Nike Summit in Japan was not arbitrary. For one, according to Global Gender Gap Report 2024Japan currently ranks 118 out of 146 countries in terms of gender equality.

“Japan is a really meaningful place for us at Nike. We’ve had a relationship with this country for over 50 years, and a lot has changed since then. In that time, there’s been huge progress in the world of sport, and there’s been great progress for women in sports,” Garcia-Brito shared during a seminar held a day before our interview. “We are really encouraged by all the change that we are seeing. But we are not seeing progress having an impact on children. This means that physically inactive girls will not experience the benefits that sport gives them. And this can lead to gender inequality in the playing field, at school, at work and in society.”