On June 17, 2026, a delegation from King’s College London (KCL) including Dr. Nicole Mennell, Director of Service and Impact, and Abi Robertson, One King’s Impact (OKI) Strategic Program Manager, met with members of the Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI), Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) and Global Engagement Office (GEO) to discuss their ongoing efforts to support social impact and change. KCL collaborates with Keio as part of the Japanese government’s J-PEAKS program.
As one of the UK’s leading research universities, KCL places strong emphasis on research that drives social impact, offering comprehensive support for early-stage research, scaling of research achievements, and aspiring entrepreneurs. Keio aims to leverage its partnership with KCL through the Japanese government’s J-PEAKS program (MEXT/JSPS), taking inspiration from KCL’s example to further strengthen its own research capabilities and global reach.
The meeting kicked off with a presentation about KCL’s OKI program delivered by Abi Robertson. While “impact” can have various meanings, OKI defines it as positive change and value created through research, education, and commitment to service. Robertson explained that OKI strives to cultivate a collaborative environment that cuts across academic and administrative silos to propel and scale impact at KCL and beyond. OKI’s key objectives include the creation of a broader network incorporating links with KCL alumni and other stakeholders, supporting projects with high potential for sustainable and scalable impact, and integrating feedback from external partners in governance and impact assessment. Robertson added that OKI is working with teams across KCL to apply its innovative impact assessment, reporting, and engagement strategies, such as initiative alignment, data mapping, and collection of stakeholder feedback, to every aspect of the university’s operations.
Upon the presentation’s conclusion, the assembled representatives of Keio and KCL joined an open dialogue about the ways they can define, measure, and apply impact at all levels of their respective universities.
In response to a question from the Keio side about the definition of “impact,” Nicole Mennell said that while KCL broadly defines impact as positive change and value created through research, education, and commitment to service, more clarity is needed, and this is one objective of continuing discussions at KCL. Naoyuki Watanabe, Project Associate Professor at the Keio University Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, replied that although Keio was working to establish an impact management methodology, its own deliberations to define impact also remain ongoing. Dr. Mennell added that because OKI had developed a KCL-original indicator bank to assess impact, it was not always easy to compare their own results with ratings from other organizations and universities. She explained that KCL has future plans to allow teams to select the most relevant indicators on a project-by-project basis.
This meeting was a valuable opportunity to learn more about a pioneering social impact program at one of the UK’s top universities. Keio University hopes to continue this conversation with its partners at KCL, drawing inspiration from their example to enhance its own entrepreneurship education capabilities.