Dr. Suomi Sakai has a medical degree from Hamamatsu University in Japan and a doctorate in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University in the United States. She spent her professional career working for UNICEF in Asia and Africa, specifically in Cambodia, China and Nepal in Asia, and Malawi and Nigeria in Africa, as well as in the Headquarters. She worked initially as a public health specialist and later as the head of UNICEF's country offices. Dr. Sakai retired from UNICEF in 2015 as the Director of Ethics for the organization. Since then she is teaching ethics, human rights and public health in Japan while living in New York. She is currently also a member of the Ethics and Governance Committee for the Global Fund to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

During her tenure in UNICEF, she contributed to the development of Japan's development assistance policy through frequent briefings of situation in the field. She has always been active in coaching young professionals in management and leadership within the UN system.