What was your biggest challenge within the last two years professionally?

This is actually a pretty easy question. My biggest challenge within the last two years was when we were planning to launch a capital campaign to build our amazing STEM Center for Excellence at Camp Paumalu. Usually you plan for a three year capital campaign ramp up before you start construction; however, we were selected for the Innovative Readiness Training Program with the Department of Defense, which donated over $2.5 million in labor support to start the project. The challenge with receiving this grant was that the labor support would arrive in six months and only stay for 90 days. Talk about warp speed launch for a project. Our extremely supportive board of directors leaped into action with our team, and the community really stepped up to support the project. In less than one year, 50% of the building was constructed and 60% of the capital funds were raised with $3.2 million in funds still needed to finish the project. Connie Lau, CEO of HEI Industries, is the chair of our STEM Center for Excellence steering committee, who have given their all in helping us launch this campaign. The STEM Center for Excellence will create engaging curriculums and attract local young students to increase both female STEM interest and the number of STEM professionals in Hawai‘i overall.

What makes you fired up?

My entire career, as a senior executive in the hospitality industry, has been to mentor young women in their professional careers. Now, to be able to start with young girls—knowing that our leadership and STEM training we will be giving them an edge in workforce development—is extremely exciting. We have the programs, national corporate support and volunteers to make this happen and we will. Hawai‘i is ranked 47th in the nation for STEM majors per 100,000 residents; yet, we need 16,000 more STEM professionals each year. We are not going to let this data be our destiny—we will be part of the solution to improve opportunities for young people in Hawai‘i.

When was the last time you cried?

It was actually pretty recent. At our first STEM Center for Excellence Steering Committee meeting, a local philanthropist stood up and talked about how strongly she felt about the Girl Scout program, what it did for her family and how excited she was to see Camp Paumalu develop into a world-class center that will bring thousands of youth opportunities in the future. She then handed me a check for $100,000 and said, “first installment.” I’m not going to lie I definitely teared up, not only due to the amazing individual, but also because of the community support the check represented in helping us reach the dream of building our STEM Center for Excellence.

What do you do for self-care?

A cancer battle a few years ago taught me to really appreciate those around you and this special place we call home. I spend absolutely as much time as I can with my grandchildren and my daughters, and when I’m not with them, I am always outdoors walking, hiking and gardening.