Hawaii Business Magazine is hosting six events intended to drive progress on important issues facing Hawaii.

The six topics in the CHANGE framework are: Community & Economy, Health & Wellness, Arts & Culture, Natural Environment, Government & Civics, and Education. At each event, community leaders will address major challenges in one of these areas and discuss how we can work together to overcome them.

Thanks to our venue partner, these events will be held at HoMA, the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Panelists:

Norm Baker, COO & Interim CEO, Aloha United Way

Norm Baker is the Interim President & CEO and Chief Operating Officer of Aloha United Way. As the Interim President and CEO provides leadership for the Aloha United Way mission, strategy and operations. This includes the administration of day-to-day office duties, supervising staff, coordinating annual fundraising campaigns, stewarding leadership donors, overseeing the allocations processes, and monitoring the Community Impact investments.

Karen Tan, President & CEO, Child & Family Service

As the CEO of Child & Family Service since 2017, Karen Tan’s bold, collaborative and refreshingly transparent style of leadership naturally brings people to the table. Through her efforts, CFS is introducing national models for success to the Hawaii market and sharing them with other community-based organizations.

Karen Tan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Omidyar Fellow (Cohort VI), and an expert on trauma-informed care. Her latest initiative, “Stomping in Puddles” invites community stakeholders to join CFS in addressing generational poverty in Hawaii.

Sterling Higa, Lecturer, Hawai‘i Pacific University

Sterling is often wrong, but always seeks truth. He was raised in Nu‘uanu. After graduating from Roosevelt High School, he attended Honolulu Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Then, he earned a master’s degree in education at Harvard University. Sterling now works as a debate coach and lecturer in the Department of Communication at Hawai‘i Pacific University. He also writes a column for Honolulu Civil Beat. At night, he is finishing a Ph.D. in education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Richard Wacker, President & CEO, American Savings Bank

Rich Wacker is the President and Chief Executive Officer of American Savings Bank (ASB). Rich joined ASB in 2010 and he is a member of the ASB Board of Directors.  ASB serves consumer, business, and corporate customers across the state of Hawaii, working to make their dreams possible.

Active in the community, Rich serves and holds leadership positions on the Boards of several prominent organizations including the University of Hawaii Foundation (Chair); Hawaii Business Roundtable (Innovation Chair; Former Chair); Hawaii Executive Conference (CHANGE Innovation Economy Chair); University of Hawaii—Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (Chair); Hawaii Pacific Health (Vice Chair); Chaminade University (Board of Regents); Child & Family Service (Past Chair); the University of Hawaii—XLR8UH accelerator program and Hawaii Bankers Association (President). He is a founder of the Hawaii Curling Club.  He has served on the boards of the Hawaii Chapter of the American Red Cross, Junior Achievement Korea, and was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Moderator: Steve Petranik, Editor, Hawaii Business Magazine