Paul Alston is a director of the Honolulu law firm Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing and has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Commercial Litigation, Super Lawyers in the area of Business Litigation and Honolulu Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Hawaii.

He is a former president of the Hawaii State Bar Association, the Hawaii Justice Foundation, and Hawaii Lawyers Care and a former trustee of the National Conference of Bar Foundations. He is admitted to practice in Hawai‘i, the U.S. District Court (Hawai‘i), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits, U.S. Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit), U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C. Circuit) U.S. Claims Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Alston received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California. http://ahfi.com/attorneys/paul-alston.html 
Return to top

Melvin Chiogioji spent 27 years as a federal civil servant. He served as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 1980-1985 and completed his federal career as deputy director and construction manager for the New Production Reactor Program at the U.S. Department of Energy. He has broad experience in energy efficiency programs, energy economics and financing, international energy programs, industrial waste utilization and minimization and construction management of fossil-fueled and nuclear power plants.

Dr. Chiogioji is a registered professional electrical engineer, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, a life member of the Naval Reserve Association, a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the Society of American Military Engineers. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Technology, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry and American Men and Women of Science. He is the author of two books published by Marcel Dekker, Inc.: Industrial Energy Conservation, and Residential and Commercial Building Energy Conservation.

Dr. Chiogioji spent five years on active military duty. Following active service he served in various reserve assignments, culminating in his selection to rear admiral in 1987. His last position was commander of the Second Naval Construction Brigade, a 8,000-person organization consisting of both active duty and reserve personnel, responsible for all Seabee operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions.

Dr. Chiogioji graduated in 1961 from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and he received a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in 1972.
Return to top

Robert Clarke, former CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries, brings 40 years of strategic planning, financial expertise and diversified management experience. Mr. Clarke joined Hawaiian Electric Company (HEI) in February 1987 as vice president of strategic planning and was charged with implementing the company’s diversification strategy. He was named HEI Group vice president – diversified companies in May of 1988 and became a director of HEI in 1989. On January 1, 1991, Mr. Clarke became president and chief executive officer of HEI, and in September 1998, was named Chairman, president and chief executive officer. Mr. Clarke retired from HEI in May 2006.

Mr. Clarke serves as the chairman of the advisory board for the College of Business Administration of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Mr. Clarke is a past chair of the Hawaii Business Roundtable and was a member of the Air Force Civilian Advisory Council.
Return to top

Kimberley Dey is the chief executive officer of NumberEight and Liquid Planet Studios, one of Hawai‘i’s largest and most diverse HD production companies. Liquid Planet Studios is recognized as a leader in HD broadcast and video production in Hawai‘i and was purchased by Ms. Dey in 2009.

As the CEO, she is responsible for business development and strategic planning of NumberEight, a creative marketing company with inhouse production capabilities that strives to provide a vertically integrated experience for its clients.

An entrepreneur, Ms. Dey operates other businesses, including an accomplished sport horse breeding business. Her horses have earned numerous national and international awards and she herself is an established rider who was the World Champion Amateur Hunter Rider for two years and the first Asian American to win such honors.

Ms. Dey is active on local community boards. She also serves as the vice president for her father’s private charitable organization, the Charles B. Wang International Foundation, which focuses internationally on children and cross-cultural affairs. Under her leadership, the Foundation has supported local organizations including ASSETS School, Kapiolani Medical Center, Le Jardin Academy, the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii and Special Olympics Hawaii, contributing approximately five million dollars since 2001. She is also president of the New York Islanders Children’s Foundation. The New York Islanders hockey team is owned by the Charles B. Wang family.

Originally from New York, Ms. Dey moved to Hawai‘i in 1993. She was honored as a Pacific Business News “40 Under 40” award winner in 2003 and was a finalist for its “Women Who Mean Business” award.
Return to top

Ryan McBride is an executive vice president and member of the Executive Committee at Colony American Homes (CAH), established by Colony Capital to pursue a large-scale investment strategy relating to single family residential rental assets across the U.S. He is actively involved in sourcing, evaluating and acquiring assets as well as developing and managing CAH’s operational activities.

Previously, Mr. McBride spent over 12 years in investment banking, most of this time with JPMorgan. He personally led over $2.5 billion in private capital financings for both private and public companies across a range of industries. He is also experienced in providing M&A advisory services as well as traditional equity and debt financings.

Mr. McBride earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Return to top

Secretary Norman Y. Mineta is vice chairman of Hill & Knowlton, based in Washington, D.C. He is well known for his work in the areas of transportation – including aviation, surface transportation, and infrastructure – and national security. He is recognized for his accomplishments in economic development, science and technology policy, foreign and domestic trade, budgetary issues and civil rights.

For almost 30 years, Secretary Mineta represented San Jose, CA, first on the city council, then as the Mayor and then as a member of Congress from 1975 to 1995. Throughout that time, he was an advocate of the burgeoning technology industry. He worked to encourage new industries, spur job growth and he supported the development of the infrastructure to accommodate the industry and its tremendous growth. He served as chairman of the House Transportation and Public Works Committee from 1992 to 1994, after having chaired the subcommittee on Aviation and the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation. He was the primary author of the groundbreaking Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.

In 2000, Secretary Mineta was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Secretary of Commerce. At the Department of Commerce, he was known for his work on technology issues, achieving international cooperation and intergovernmental coordination on complex fishery issues and streamlining the patent and trademark process. He was appointed as the Secretary of Transportation by President George W. Bush in 2001. Following the horrific terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Secretary Mineta guided the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, the largest mobilization of a new federal agency since World War II.

Globally recognized for his leadership, Secretary Mineta has been awarded our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has also earned the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy which is awarded for significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States. He is the recipient of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from the government of Japan.

Secretary Mineta was the co-founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and chair of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission.

He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Return to top

Jim Pappas brings 45 years of accounting, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, senior management and entrepreneurship experience to ̒Āina Koa Pono. He began his career as an accountant and served in various accounting, finance and strategic planning functions. In 1978 Mr. Pappas joined Honsador Lumber, the largest building supply company in Hawai‘i, as the president and CEO. In 1984 he acquired the company. In 2004 he sold Honsador lumber to a private equity firm.

Mr. Pappas is a past member, president and director of the Financial Planning Institute and a past officer and director of Young Presidents’ Organization (WPO). He has served as a director of several private companies and on the boards of non-profits including the Boy Scouts of America, Mānoa Valley Theater and the University of Hawai‘i’s Koa Anuenue.

Mr. Pappas received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Finance from San Francisco State University. He has done graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. In 2010 Mr. Pappas attended the National War College.
Return to top

Admiral Ronald Zlatoper is the former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He is a decorated naval aviator and a retired four-star admiral. In subsequent public and private employment, he has successfully served as the chief executive officer of large organizations in both the national defense and commercial sectors; he presently serves as the 24^th trustee of the Estate of James Campbell.

Prior to joining the Campbell Estate, Admiral Zlatoper served as co-chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Sanchez Computer Associates, Inc., a banking software company rated 45^th on the Forbes magazine list of the 200 best U.S. small companies. From 1997 through 2000, Admiral Zlatoper was instrumental in Sanchez’ growth from a market capitalization of $50 million to one in excess of $1 billion.

Before joining Sanchez, Admiral Zlatoper completed his distinguished military career as commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the world’s largest naval command, encompassing more than 190 ships, 1600 aircraft, and 200,000 personnel, with an operating budget of $5 billion per year.

Admiral Zlatoper holds an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s  degree in administration from George Washington University, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from RPI. He is a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College.

A published author on management, logistics and naval strategy, Admiral Zlatoper regularly lectures at universities and corporate conferences around the country and overseas.

In addition to serving on four corporate boards, Admiral Zlatoper currently serves as a trustee for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the board of Parsons Corporation, a regent for Chaminade University, and a board of advisors member of the School of Business & Public Management at the George Washington University. Admiral Zlatoper is also active on the boards of the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor; the East-West Center; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation; Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii – Military Affairs Council; Catholic Charities Hawai‘i; and he is a member of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way. He serves as the honorary consul general for Slovenia in Hawai‘i.
Return to top