SPEAKER BIOS

Matt Kobayashi, Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships & UH Ventures at University of Hawaii

Duane Kurisu, Chairman and CEO, aio

Born and raised in the sugar towns of the Big Island’s Hilo Coast, aio Founder and Chairman Duane Kurisu was instilled early on with the traditional values of Hawaii’s plantation culture. A product of Hilo High School and the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Duane launched his first company in his late 20s to develop and manage commercial real estate properties in the Islands and on the mainland. He soon branched out into a variety of business interests, and the acquisition of his first magazine property in the 1990s led to the creation of the aio family of companies.

Today, Duane’s plantation roots still shape his vision for aio. Those time-honored small-town values of family and community are equally important in the world of commerce and industry — the local values of trust, respect, humility and honesty that drive the companies and inspire the people of aio.

Dane Wicker, Deputy Director, Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT)

Dane Wicker is the Deputy Director at the State of Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. Most recently, Dane served as the Principal Executive Assistant at the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting, coordinating and communicating administrative decisions, work programs, budgets, and objectives to all stakeholders. He has also served as the Chief of Staff for Senator Donovan Dela Cruz and Assistant to the Director of the Pacific Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii East-West Center. In these roles, he prepared, reviewed, and provided recommendations on legislative and grant proposals. His private sector experience includes owning and operating small businesses in retail and farming.

Donavan Dela Cruz, Hawaii State Senator

Donovan M. Dela Cruz is a state senator from District 17, which encompasses Wahiawā, Whitmore, portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, Launani Valley, and Waipi’o Acres. Senator Dela Cruz, born and raised in Wahiawa, is a graduate of Leilehua High School, the University of Oregon where he earned a BA in Journalism and Communication Studies, and Masters in Organization Leadership from Argosy University.

Senator Dela Cruz is the Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means. He serves on boards and is a member of various organizations nationally and locally such as the National Council of Environmental Legislators, National Association of Latino Elected Officials and Leeward Community College Culinary Institute Board just to name a few. Prior to becoming senator, he also served on the Honolulu City Council for eight years, serving as its Chair for three years, being the youngest chair in the history of the Council, at age 30.