The Hawaiʻi Executive Collaborative was born from the 50+ year old Hawaiʻi Executive Conference when CEOs and top decision makers made a commitment to get personally involved in collaborative efforts that would build resilience for Hawaiʻi's people. HEC serves as a backbone organization to accelerate the impact of their collective leadership.
The Hawaiʻi Executive Conference, now a key program of HEC, started in 1963 as forum for top leadership to exchange ideas. Many of the original participants were executives of the Big Five companies in Hawaiʻi. By the time the conference was transferred to aio Foundation with Duane Kurisu as chairman in 2018, it reimagined its participants as change agents and expanded its membership beyond business executives to include leaders in government, labor, education, and the nonprofit sector.
HEC serves two primary roles to help leaders build a resilient Hawai‘i:
- As a convener, HEC encourages cross-sector collaboration and helps to bring leaders from different industries together.
- As a backbone organization, HEC invites leaders to co-create, define root problems, align goals, and accelerate change.
MISSION
We mobilize, support, and leverage the collective leadership of senior executives to accelerate the building of a more resilient Hawaiʻi.
GUIDED BY HAWAIIAN VALUES
In all that we do, we emphasize the guiding principles of:
Aloha au i Aloha | Auamo au i ke kuleana no ko | ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia |
HAWAI'I'S SOUL
“There’s something special about this place,” an oft-heard refrain from friends, family, and visitors to Hawai‘i. Those who live here feel it, too, in the land, in the water, in the people. It is aloha. It is love and kindness, give and take, community, and abundance. It is the understanding that the health of culture, community, and individuals are inseparable from the health of ‘āina (land). It is the kuleana (responsibility) to care for Hawai‘i and each other so that people and place thrive together. It is Hawai‘i’s soul.
VISION
To honor and perpetuate Hawaiʻi’s Soul and serve as a model globally.
OUR TEAM
HEC comprises local CEOs, senior decision-makers, and global leaders who work together on systemic issues and drive lasting change. The reach of HEC’s leadership represents 36,000 employees across the state and over $220 million in philanthropic dollars invested in the community.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Duane Kurisu | Micah Kāne | Ann Teranishi | Ray Vara |
LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE
Matthew Cox | Kamana‘opono Crabbe | Terrance George | Robert Harrison |
Peter Ho | Corbett Kalama | Michelle Ka‘uhane | Shelee Kimura |
Colbert Matsumoto | Elliot Mills | Catherine Ngo | Robert Nobriga |
Jack Wong |
STAFF
Lynelle Marble | Kimberly Vierra |
ADVISORS AND DIRECTORS
Judge Michael Broderick | Glenn Miyataki |