BOH Foundation donates $10K to Pacific Century Fellows

Bank of Hawaii senior vice president and West Pacific Region manager Erlinda Alegre, center, hands over Bank of Hawaii Foundation’s ceremonial check donation to Pacific Century Fellows-Marianas Chapter president Jerry Tan, fourth left, last Aug. 15 at the PCF office in Garapan. Also in the photo are PCF-Marianas Chapter vice president Alex Sablan, right, and treasurer Merlie Tolentino, left, and Bank of Hawaii vice president and island manager Rose Sumor, second left. (Contributed Photo)

Bank of Hawaii Foundation reiterated its unwavering commitment to Pacific Century Fellows-Marianas Chapter by donating $10,000 for PCF’s Class of 2017.

Erlinda Alegre, BOH senior vice president and West Pacific Region manager, on behalf of BOH Foundation president Donna Tanoue, handed the check donation to PCF-Marianas Chapter president Jerry Tan in a brief ceremony last Aug. 15. Also present at the donation turnover ceremony were PCF-Marianas Chapter vice president Alex Sablan and treasurer Merlie Tolentino and BOH vice president and island manager Rose Sumor.

“Bank of Hawaii Foundation has approved a grant of $10,000 to Pacific Century Fellows-Marianas Chapter in continuing support of your organization’s program. We thank you for your leadership in providing development opportunities to our emerging young leaders,” Tanoue stated in the letter attached with the BOH Foundation’s donation and addressed to Tan.

Tan thanked BOH and its foundation for their generosity, pointing out their steadfast support since PFC-Marianas Chapter started its program four years ago.

“We greatly appreciate your continued trust in the program’s mission of providing leadership mentoring to another batch of young professionals in the business and government sectors in the Marianas region,” Tan said.

The Class of 2017 is made up of 14 individuals, bringing the total of Fellows to 59 since the program started in 2014 through the help of Pacific Century Fellows founder and former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann.

The newest batch of Fellows is in the final stages of the nine-month-long class, having gone through the first six activities and discussions of the leadership development program.

The Class of 2017 had its weekend retreats on Saipan in March and in Guam in June. The group also had deliberations on tourism and gaming in April; infrastructure and environment in May; protecting our homeland in July, and public health last month. On Sept. 30, the Fellows will talk about education, while the CNMI government will be the topic for discussion in October. Members of Class of 2017 will then culminate their activities with a retreat in Hawaii from Nov. 12 to 16. Key leaders in the business and government sectors are invited as resource speakers in each phase of the program.

“We are happy to share that the program is slowly starting to achieve its mission. All Pacific Century Fellows benefit from and maximize the opportunities of increased networking among new arenas of exposure—business industries outside their expertise, non-profit advocacies, and government service, including elected leadership positions in the CNMI,” Tan said.

The PCF-Marianas Chapter head also took pride in having more Fellows finding renewed passion in taking additional volunteer responsibilities in the community and priceless satisfaction in serving as elected officials in all levels of the government.

“[With] one Fellow at a time, we aspire to nurture the emerging generation of leaders for the Marianas region,” Tan said. (BOH)