MYPros to celebrate 3-year anniversary on Saturday

The Marianas Young Professionals, or MYPros, will be celebrating its three-year anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom.

During the event, MYPros will honor and celebrate young professionals in the CNMI with awards in the following categories: Young Professional of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and the Spotlight Award.

The event will have “Havana Nights” as its theme.

The nominees for this year’s Volunteer of the Year award are Brent Deleon Guerrero, brand coordinator of Docomo Pacific; Shayne Villanueva, operations manager of Aon Insurance and founder of Roil Soil Clothing; and Maria Valentina Haberman, marketing communications manager of Triple J Saipan Inc.

A graduate of Marianas High School, Deleon Guerrero has a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, Arizona. He joined the Docomo Pacific customer service team as part of the customer service department. He transitioned to Business Services and, just short of year, he accepted a position in the Brand Department.

Within a few months of being a part of the MYPros, he was tasked with chairing the 8th Annual Operation CNMI Homefront Support, where CNMI residents serving in any military branch received care packages from home.

Villanueva, who was born and raised in the Marianas, grew up in an only-child household on Saipan. He credits his grandfather, Francisco Villanueva, a businessman and deputy chief of CNMI Immigration, for teaching him the basics of business. After high school at Mt. Carmel School, Villanueva went to the Northern Marianas College but soon left to challenge himself in San Diego, California in 2001.After two semesters in school, he began his 15-year career in insurance sales. At the peak of his career, he was regional director for Southern California before opening Roil Soil Clothing in 2015.

During his next three years of entrepreneurship he represented his culture and islands through Roil Soil Clothing at the Pacific Islands Festival of Arts, Chamorro Festivals and throughout the West Coast. In September 2016, Villanueva moved back to the Marianas and brought on Peter Aldan as a business partner.

Haberman holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Chaminade University of Honolulu and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, with concentration in Early Childhood Development from University of Hawaii at Manoa. During college, Haberman stepped into real estate and business development in downtown Honolulu and eventually settled as a marketing and PR manager. She then ventured into the food and beverage industry as co-owner of Le Crepe Café.

After nearly 15 years, Haberman returned to Saipan. In 2015 she handled the marketing and public relation department of Hyatt Regency Saipan for two years. Currently she is a part of Triple J Saipan, Inc. She was recently the PR director for Stellar Marianas, a nonprofit pageant and talent group.

The MYPros anniversary event is open to all and will be held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom from 6pm to 10pm. Tickets are available for purchase for $45 at Tribe Marianas. (PR)