Prue Holstein spent her career working in the private, government and non-profit sectors engaged in the Asian region. She spent some 14 years in Japan, in Tokyo and in Osaka/Kobe working in the private sector and then in senior diplomatic roles with the Australian Federal and the Victorian State Governments. She also served in the United States. Holstein has an MBA from the University of Melbourne and a PhD in Japanese Studies from Monash University and speaks Japanese and German.