Board

Marilyn Gagen, Chair
With over 37 years experience in public accounting, Marilyn worked in the audit and middle market services departments of Deloitte & Touche LLP for four years before transferring to tax in the Deloitte Cleveland Office.  Marilyn became a partner of Deloitte in June 1981.  She moved to Phoenix in 1985 to become the partner-in-charge of the Deloitte Phoenix tax practice, and moved to Honolulu in 1991 to become partner-in-charge of the Deloitte Hawaii tax practice.  In May 2002 Marilyn retired from Deloitte, and now serves several long-time clients in an “of counsel” role with Deloitte.  At the time Marilyn was promoted to partner at Deloitte she was one of only 6 women partners out of 1,500 U. S. partners.  At her retirement in 2002 she was the most senior woman partner with Deloitte.

Marilyn specializes in income tax planning, estate tax planning, charitable giving, and financial consulting services to high net worth individuals and their trusts, estates, private foundations, charitable remainder trusts, family partnerships and family offices.

Hye-ryeon Lee, Ph.D., Chair Elect
Dr. Hye-ryeon Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Communication, and is on the faculty of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, the Center for Korean Studies, and the Population Sciences Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  She has directed many research projects in the area of tobacco use prevention and control in California, Arizona and Hawaii.  She currently works on several projects including an exercise-based smoking cessation programs for college students, a community intervention to develop a minimum infrastructure for smoking cessation and health promotion within the Korean immigrant community, and a Cessation Network for Hawaii Primary Care Association.

She received her Ph.D. (Communication) and M.A (Political Science) from Stanford University. Hye-ryeon’s primary teaching and research interests are in health communication and health policy research. Specifically, she is interested in studying the process through which interpersonal and mass-media communication influence individual perceptions about social norms and expectations regarding health behaviors.

Antonio Saguibo, Jr., JD, Immediate Past Chair
Mr. Saguibo currently serves as an Assistant Vice President in the Marketing Department for the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA).  In that capacity, Tony is responsible for supporting HMSA’s long standing labor & union business, the EUTF, as well as developing and marketing HMSA Plans and Products to labor business and union groups throughout the state.  Additionally, he is responsible for assisting with the general marketing and clients services for HMSA’s Neighbor Island customers and accounts.

Prior to joining HMSA, Tony served as General Counsel to the Laborers’ Union, Local 368 where is was involved with general legal work, collective bargaining and lobbying for local, county, and statewide issues.  In 2002, Tony also served as the First Deputy Corporation Counsel for the City & County of Honolulu.

Prior to returning to Hawaii, Tony was an Associate Attorney in San Diego, where he practiced law for several years in the areas of Construction Defect Litigation, General Civil Litigation and Workers’ Compensation. Tony graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1993. Prior to that, he attended the California State University of Northridge, where he received his BA degree in Political Science.

Kent Kasaoka, Treasurer
Kent is a Certified Public Accountant with CW Associates, CPAs.  He has 10 years of public accounting experience, initially as an auditor, then transitioned to focus on tax compliance and consulting.  CW Associates’ practice has an emphasis on the construction and not-for-profit industries.

Kent is an Eagle Scout and currently assists with adult leader training for the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  He participates in the Hawaii Society of CPAs as committee member on the Young CPA and Tax Committees.  He is a graduate of Punahou School and has a bachelor’s degree with distinction in accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

MEMBER AT LARGE

Bonnie Pang, MBA
Bonnie is the Benefit Consulting Manager for Atlas Insurance Agency, Inc. She has more than 12 years of employee benefit experience.  She previously worked at Mercer Health & Benefits, where she helped midsize Hawaii employers develop and implement health and welfare strategies.  Before that, she was with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hawaii Medical Services Association.
She is a graduate of Punahou School and has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Redlands in California and an MBA from the University of Phoenix in Honolulu.

John Hunt,  MPA
Originally from Miami, Florida, John moved to Kauai in 1993. After a brief stint at the Department of Health managing a hurricane recovery grant he took a position with the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii in the College of Business Administration.  John has been the Public Health Administrative Officer for the Kauai District Health Office since 1998. John has worked in tobacco control in earnest since 2000 as a member of Tobacco-Free Kauai Coalition.  He has been Chairman of TFK since 2003.  John holds a Master Degree in Public Administration from Florida International University and has over 25 years experience working at various levels of local and state government.

Clifford Chang, MPH
Clifford is currently the Executive Director for Pacific Islands Primary Health Care Association.  He is no stranger to the tobacco control community.  He was the first Executive Director for the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii and the project director of the first Robert Wood Johnson funded SmokeLess States grant. Clifford was instrumental in passage of the $1.00 tax increase on a package of cigarettes in 1998 and spearheaded smoke free dining ordinances on neighbor islands.

Maile Goo, Psy.D.
Maile is a faculty member within the Student Equity, Excellence, and Diversity (SEED) Programs at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa.  She has recruited students to attend the Intercultural Cancer Council Biennial Symposium which is designed to address the unequal burden of cancer and the medically underserved.  Maile has been successful preparing students for obtaining entry into graduate school in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and is experienced in the administration of several Minority Biomedical Research Support programs funded by the National Institutes of Health.  She continues similar efforts in her role as Director of Graduate Professional Access.

Steve Pavao
Born and raised in Hilo, Steve received his Bachelor’s in Psychology from UH-Hilo and Masters in Human Resource Development from Clemson University.  He has spent most of his professional career working with challenged youth and families to include; as a social worker in Child Protective Services; as the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club on the Big island and currently the Director of Neighbor Island Programs for Hale Kipa.  Steve did work for the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii as its Community Health Specialist for a short time in 2006.  As an ex-smoker Steve passionately believes in the work of tobacco control in Hawaii.  Since quitting smoking and adopting a complete lifestyle change several years ago, he has become a advocate of healthy lifestyles to include proper diet and regular exercise.  He is an avid runner and has completed five marathons this year so far and qualified for the 2009 Boston Marathon.  Steve currently serves on the County of Hawaii’s Environmental Management Commission.

Don Weisman
Weisman is the Hawaii Communications and Marketing/Government Affairs director for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.  He joined the American Heart Association’s Hawaii Affiliate in 1989 as its communications director, with advocacy responsibilities.  He also serves as a volunteer on the Policy, Membership and Fundraising, Nominating and Personnel committees for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii and previously served on the Coalition Board in a term ending in 2006. He is also a steering committee member of the Hawaii Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition and chairs its School Work Group committee.

Prior to joining the American Heart Association, Don served for four years as the national communications manager for AIAC, a subsidiary of AIG Insurance Company. He served on the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Honolulu Board from 1990-1992 and headed its Public Relations Committee in 1991.

Caroline Thomas, LCSW
Caroline Thomas, LCSW is a licensed Clinical Social Worker who has worked with the Oncology population for eight years.  Initially, she was the Clinical Director for Gilda’s Club Chicago, a support community for men, women and children diagnosed with cancer as well as their family members.  She was also an Oncology Social Worker with Evanston-Northwestern Healthcare in Illinois.  Most recently she has worked with the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Institute.  Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai`i as well as, the Board Chair for the Cessation Advisory Group of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai`i.

Caroline received her dual Master Degrees from Columbia University in New York City.  She has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Psychology as well as in Social Work.  She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado.

Cal Gentry
Cal Gentry is a 2007 graduate from the United States Air Force Academy.  His current position is 2Lt in the Air Force.  He works as a contracting officer, specializing in construction contracts at Hickam and other military organizations throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Cal served a two year LDS mission to Ukraine where I had the opportunity to help people who struggled with smoking addictions.  His medium range goals include starting a family with his wife Lisa and going to a top notch business school to obtain his MBA.  Cal’s hobbies include all types of sports and reading.

Maria Chun, Ph.D.
Maria Chun is the Associate Chair of Administration and Finance for the University of Hawaii’s Department of Surgery.  She has a Ph.D. in psychology (community and cross-cultural concentration).  She has been a public servant for my entire career and has worked for various state government agencies.  For her current position, she reports directly to the Department Chair and her duties include the oversight of all administrative and fiscal matters within the department, including grants administration.   Maria is currently working on cultural competency initiatives within her department, with a particular focus on surgical resident preparedness to provide cross-cultural care, which is based on work done nationally.  Prior to Maria’s current position, she worked as a performance auditor/program evaluator for the Hawaii State Auditor’s Office for 10 years.  She also worked as the director of a regulatory reform project for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and served as a legislative budget analyst for two sessions.  Maria wrote her first novel in 2007 and she resides in Makiki with her husband and two children.