Katsuji Imata is Deputy Secretary General - Programmes at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. CIVICUS, based in Johannesburg South Africa, is a global alliance of civil society organisations working to strengthen citizen action and participation to build a more just and equitable world. Katsuji’s responsibilities include overseeing CIVICUS’ programme development and implementation so that the programmes contribute to achieving the organisation’s strategic directions whose three pillars are 1) protecting the rights of civil society actors; 2) strengthening good practice within civil society; and 3) strengthening civil society’s ability to influence the policies and practices of governments, international institutions and the private sector.

Katsuji is a Japanese national and is also Co-Director of CSO Network Japan. Prior to assuming the current position in October 2007, he was Interim Senior Manager and then Organisational Development Coordinator for GCAP (Global Call to Action against Poverty) support team hosted by CIVICUS. With the CSO Network Japan, he worked on research concerning roles of NGOs and CSOs that work on global issues and engaging public in such issues through publications and public campaigns. Katsuji lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. from 1991 to 2000 and gained nonprofit management experience. He holds MPP (Master of Public Policy) from University of California at Berkeley and MA in interdisciplinary studies in social science from the University of Tokyo.