After completing GE Japan's leadership program, Yuko earned a master's degree in public policy from Columbia University. In New York, she interned at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and consulted for George Soros' Open Society Foundations where she experienced the dynamism of philanthropy in the US.

Returning to Japan, she worked at the Nippon Foundation and at the Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF), a foundation that aims to build an ecosystem of impact investing in Japan. There, she engaged in impact investing such as investing to social entrepreneurs, impact measurement and management, and managing a venture philanthropy fund. In 2020, she became the first Japanese person to earn the CAP© U.S. Philanthropic Advisor certification. In 2023, she co-founded Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.