2 Saipan women nominated for Maga’håga award

Pacific Islands Club Saipan general manager Gloria Cavanagh and Friends First Marketing Inc. president Donna Krum have been nominated for the 2018 Businesswoman of the Year Maga’håga award.

They join five other nominees for the award, all of them from Guam.

The 2018 Businesswoman of the Year award is held annually by First Hawaiian Bank and Guam Business Magazine.

The eventual winner will be announced at the awards night and gala on April 28 at the Hyatt Regency in Guam.

On Saipan, Cavanagh wears many hats. She is president of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, chairs the Marianas Visitors Authority board, and is general manager of PIC.

“Being a nominee itself is an honor because, first, I didn’t know whether I had time to do this but, having two daughters of my own, I thought if I don’t do this, what kind of example am I going to show my daughters?” she said.

Cavanagh look up to the women on Saipan who have been recipients of this award and feels the responsibility of paving the way for the women that will come after her.

“When they asked me whether or not I would accept the nomination, I said ‘of course!’ I mean…it is for those who will come after me and for those who gone before me like Marian Aldan-Pierce, Wendy Harring, to name a few,” she said.

“They are fantastic women in their field—in business, tourism, and in everything that they do. To be kind of like to be set up in the same category as those women is wonderful and I think I am very lucky to have that path paved where it makes it a little bit easier for me to accomplish things,” she added.

Cavanagh said it would be nice to bring the award home to Saipan and share it with the rest of the community, especially the women. “Donna Krum is the second nominee from Saipan and we are having a lot of fun,” she added.

Aside from handling her own business, Krum is the co-owner of Paradise Dental, an officer of the Soroptimist NMI Chapter, an active member of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and a co-leader of the Compassionate Friends of Saipan.

Krum said she was completely surprised and honored to be nominated.

“This means a lot to me because it is a very special year of my life. I am going to be 65 years old next week and to be nominated feels like you can still be a vibrant part of your business community as a woman at any age,” she said.

“Women have value or worth no matter how old… I consider this nomination as a birthday present” she added.

According to Krum, part of her success is how much she values people and relationships.

“I’ve always wanted to go out there and be involved in everything in the community because of the relationships that develop out of that… show up, play nice, and just go everywhere that you can go to build friendships because it’s all those relationships that will help you solve all issues and this is one of the reasons why I was talking to the Guam people and I am thankful that I’ve been so fortunate in my business life,” she said.

“I was just really willing to show up, learn new things and people always wanted to take me with them. I wasn’t a person that knew what I wanted to be when I grew up—I just grew wherever I was planted, did the best I could no matter where I was and the rest just kind of took care of itself,” she added.

The 2017 award went to Ramona L. Jones who is the CEO of Jones & Guerrero Co. Inc. in Guam.

The other nominees are Fleet Card and Commercial Fuels, South Pacific Petroleum Corp. area manager Anna Gera-Van Seters, Guam Reef & Olive Spa Resort F&B director Chito de Guzman-Aguilo, SET Pacific Inc. president and CEO Grace Jacot, Xokiahi Cares Inc. founder and CEO Traci “TC” Jordan, and The Occasion owner, event planner, and stylist Kathleen M. Thomas-Benavente.