Mentor Biographies |
Team 1: Teen Vape: Vaporizing our Future
Gidget Ruscetta is an accomplished and influential healthcare executive with nearly three decades of experience in clinic and hospital operations, strategic planning, staff and management coaching, physician engagement and clinical integration. Ruscetta has served as a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Hawai‘i Pacific Health (HPH) since 2011 and as Chief Operation Officer for Pali Momi Medical Center since 2015. Prior to joining HPH, Ruscetta spent 25 years in Florida, serving in various nursing and leadership roles for Orlando Health and Nemours Children’s Clinic. Ruscetta is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, holding a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and earned her MBA from Florida Metropolitan University. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and currently serves as the Regent of District 5, which includes Hawai’i and Guam. |
Suzie So-Miyahira has over 24 years of experience in healthcare and currently serves as the Director of Imaging, Women’s Centers, and Fitness Center at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children. She is a board member and treasurer for Kokua Mau and American College of Healthcare Executives.
So-Miyahira received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Hawai‘i and her Master’s in Business from Hawai’i Pacific University. |
Team 2: The Drug Epidemic and its Effect on Young Adults
Sharon Brown joined First Hawai’ian Bank in 1981, and in 1990, she was appointed vice president and manager of First Hawai’ian Bank’s Sales, Service and Training Division. This appointment made her the first woman in the bank’s 132‐year history to head up a division. In 1995, she was promoted to senior vice president of the division and was named President of the First Hawai’ian Bank Foundation in 2003.
Under Brown’s leadership, the Foundation contributed $4 million to 400 charities in Hawai’i, Guam and Saipan. For the last several years, First Hawai’ian Bank has been ranked by Hawai’i Business Magazine as the state’s most charitable for‐profit company. |
Alethea Seto has 30 plus years in the financial industry including tenures with First Interstate Bank and Wells Fargo Bank in California before she joined First Hawai’ian Bank. Seto has worked in numerous departments and currently is senior vice president and division manager of the bank’s Sales, Service and Retail Training Division. Seto earned her Bachelor of Arts in Internal Communication at UH Manoa. |
Team 3: Improving the Relationship Between Humans and Nature
Since 1998, Jenai Sullivan Wall has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Foodland Super Market, Ltd., Hawai’i’s largest supermarket chain. Wall joined the company in 1987 as director of marketing and was named president in 1995. Wall has served on the boards of Servco Pacific, Inc., The Queen’s Health Systems, First Hawai’ian Bank, ‘Iolani School, and Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. She also serves as chief executive officer of all entities that comprise the Sullivan Family of Companies, including Food Pantry, Ltd., Kalama Beach Corporation, and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Hawai’i. Wall earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Wellesley College and an MBA from Columbia University. |
Joan Bennet founded the Bennet Group, a full-service strategic communications company in Hawai’i, 21 years ago. Formerly, Bennet had a successful career in public affairs, issues management, environmental and public policy communications in California, Australia and Hawai’i.
Bennet has assembled a renowned, all-woman team, comprised of Hawai’i’s most talented communications professionals. Bennet has won numerous awards for her work, including an Outstanding Women in Leadership award from the YWCA. Bennet graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, and public relations from the University of Southern California. |
Team 4: Fit 4 Life Program: Own your body, Savvy Shopper, Money Guru, Happy House
An innovative force in an industry rooted in tradition, Kat Lin-Hurtubise is the founder & president of Gourmet Events Hawai'i (GEH) and Staffing by GEH. Gourmet Events Hawai’i is an award-winning, full-service, catering and event management company, while Staffing by GEH is the first full-service staffing agency in Hawai'I, exclusively dedicated to hospitality.
Founded in 2005, GEH does over 600 events per year for corporate and private clients. Lin-Hurtubise received her Bachelor of Arts in communications at Emerson College and her master’s in political science at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa |
As a resident of Hawai’i for 30 years and a hospitality professional for 28 years, Colleen Reyes brings a wealth of knowledge in event planning and destination management to the GGG program.
As a partner at Island Style Innovations, her extensive experience allows her to create unique and innovative destination experiences for any size group, while maintaining a personal touch that makes every client feel welcome. Reyes’ leadership experience as a manager, director, and now a business owner, spans decades across some of the top destinations in Hawai’i, including Marriott International and MC&A, Inc. She attended University of Hawaii Maui College. |
Team 5: A State of Oblivion - Pedestrian Safety in Hawaii
Dr. Elizabeth Ignacio was born in the Philippines, grew up here in Honolulu, and is the Surgical Director of the Queen’s Medical Center Sports Medicine Program. She was voted by her peers as one of the Best Doctors in Honolulu and was selected as the 2013 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Hawai’i.
Ignacio serves as a Director on the Hawai’i Community Leadership Board for the American Diabetes Association, Make-A-Wish Organization, Positive Coaching Alliance Hawai’i, Ahahui Koa Anuenue (AKA) for UH Athletics, and HUGS (Help, Understanding, and Group Support for seriously ill and terminally ill children). She is founding organizer for the OCEAN (fighting Obesity in Children through Education, Activity, and Nutrition) Healthfest. Ignacio earned her Bachelor of Science and doctorate at Georgetown University where she was the first woman accepted to the Georgetown orthopedic surgery residency program in over 15 years, and she was the third female accepted in its 50-year history. |
Sharlene Tsuda provides oversight for corporate governance, fund development, corporate communications, marketing, community building, and the volunteer program at Queen’s Health Systems (QHS). She is the corporate secretary of three entities within the QHS family of companies. Tsuda is active in the community, currently serving on the American Diabetes Association’s Hawai’i Community Leadership Board, the Public Schools of Hawai’i Foundation Board; the Hawai’i Academy of Science Board, the Hawai’i Community Reinvestment Corporation Board; the Teach for America-Hawai’i Regional Advisory Board, and the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Tsuda holds a B.A. in Business and Administrative Studies from Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, Oregon. |