February 29 - March 1, 2020
OPENING RETREAT
PROGRAM SCHEDULE OPENING RETREAT
Friday, February 28, 2020 14:00
Hotel check-in
Saturday, February 29, 2020 07:30 - 08:30 08:30 08:30 - 09:30 09:30 - 11:00 11:00 - 12:00 12:00 - 13:00 13:00 - 14:00 14:00 - 16:30 16:50 16:50 - 20:30
Breakfast at Isla Café, Kanoa Resort Meet at Latte Room Alex Sablan, Greetings and Fellow Introductions Mayor Mufi Hannemann Jerry Tan, Managing Growth Lunch at Isla Café Mike Sablan, Ethics Presentation 2020 PCF Marianas Chapter Schedule Meet at Barefoot Bar Dinner with live music and dinner show
Sunday, March 1, 2020 07:00 - 09:00 09:00 - 11:30 12:00
The Pacific Century Fellows In 1996, Hawaii’s Pacific Century Fellows program drew its inspiration from the White House Fellows Program, which was founded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Mufi Hannemann, former Mayor of Honolulu, founded Hawaii's PCF program and was a White House Fellows member himself during President Ronald Reagan’s administration.
www.pacificcenturyfellows.com
Breakfast at Isla Café, Kanoa Resort Water Sports (Jetski/Jetovator) Hotel check-out
The Pacific Century Fellows A leadership development program modeled after the Pacific Century Fellows of Hawaii, with the same objective of developing potential leaders by creating leadership learning opportunities and experiences of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. Our objective is to help develop individuals from all walks of life, fields and professions into becoming leaders. www.pcf-marianas.com
Hafa adai and Tirowami Fellows! Congratulations and welcome to the 7th Cohort of the Pacific Century Fellows – Marianas Chapter! The establishment of PCF Marianas Chapter back in 2014 happened to be so well-timed, when we view it from our perspective today. Our original objective of developing potential leaders for our island country by creating leadership learning opportunities and experiences proves to be of continuing and utmost relevance from year to year. For the last 15 years, our island economy has been purely reliant on Tourism, the only industry that sustains both government and private sectors. Interestingly, it was at the beginning of this period that Japan Airlines withdrew its direct Japan flights to Saipan. From being our primary tourist market, Japan to this day lags as a very distant 3rd to Korea and China markets, instead of the desired 30%-30%-30% sharing needed to support long-term sustainability for our economy. On the labor front, our businesses face a myriad of challenges, the cycle of which seems to be on auto-repeat from year to year. We continue to face the threat of losing CW-1 workers, first with the sunset provision in 2019, but which was later extended to 2029, but still with annual declining quota and more restrictive guidelines and longer timeline for new and renewing CWs. We prioritize the hiring of US citizens, though are constantly tested to increase their percentage in our employee headcount. Private businesses are further burdened with rising minimum wages mandated by law, and more realistically the above-minimum jump in true wages, as big businesses use salary to hire employees away from their current jobs. The challenges to continue to grow our single-legged economy are endless. On top of market forces, I realize that every few years, nature visits our beautiful islands with major calamities: of late Typhoon Soudelor in 2015 and Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018. As Year 2019 was drawing to a close, I remembered thinking that despite how difficult the last few years have been, Year 2020 can only be a much better year. Unfortunately, this COVID-19 disease has quickly become a global epidemic with the number of cases worldwide topping 80,000 and claiming thousands of lives in just bare weeks since it started. Major economies are drastically being affected, whether be it for trade or tourism & travel. Our tourism-reliant economy is no exception. We are thankful that our islands are corona virus-free. However, losing tourists from China, and now the threat of rising cases in Korea will continue to be a significant drain to our government and private sector’s limited revenue source. As your batch of Fellows embark on this journey with such uncertainty actually impacting our daily life, I encourage each one of you to take hold of that indomitable spirit of resiliency proven true of anyone from Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Together through our individual efforts, our community will continue to overcome! Together with the Pacific Century Fellows program, your year ahead will open new avenues of learning, personal growth and community service. I challenge you to take every opportunity to become part of the dialogue and accept the difficult work of becoming part of the solution. And remember to enjoy every step of the way. I salute your dedication to your island home!
Sincerely,
JERRY TAN Chairman
JERRY TAN President and CEO, TanHoldings Chairman, Pacific Century Fellows - Marianas Chapter Jerry Tan is the Chief Executive Officer of Tan Holdings Corporation, a diverse holding company doing business in the Western Pacific, and with headquarters in the CNMI. He received recognition as an entrepreneur and employer as follows: Executive of the Year from the Guam Business Magazine, Employer of the Year from the CNMI Society for Human Resource Management, and Business Person of the Year from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce. Jerry also commits great passion in volunteerism and giving back to our community. He is the Vice Chairman of Tan Siu Lin Foundation and the Chairman of Pacific Century Fellows Marianas Chapter, a non-profit leadership mentoring program for young people working in both public and private sectors in the CNMI. He is also President of the Chinese Association of Saipan and a Board Member of the Marianas Visitors Authority. A strong advocate of healthy lifestyle, he serves as President of the Northern Marianas Sports Association and the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association. The Northern Marianas Sports Association recognized him as the Sports Administrator of Year 2016. Jerry graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Guam with a double major in Accounting and Management. He calls the CNMI as his home, with his wife Lydia and daughter Nathania.
Alex Sablan Vice Chairman
Eli Arago Secretary
Merlie Tolentino Treasurer
Elna Curate Board Member
Mel Naputi Coordinator
Raymond Zapanta ‘18 Alumnus/Digital Media
Megan Aglipay Digital Media
Dennis Yoshimoto Board Member
MUFI HANNEMANN Founder, Pacific Century Fellows
Mufi Hannemann founded the Pacific Century Fellows based on his experience as a White House Fellow, that is, mentoring and encouraging future generations of local leaders. Working with prominent individuals and colleagues among the business community in Hawaii, Hannemann and his team recognized the need for leadership development that was broad-based and different. The result was a program that allows Hawaii Fellows the same insight and exposure as White House Fellows to leaders in government, as well as in the various business and social sectors that are so critical to the present and future of the State of Hawaii. Mufi Hannemann has proudly served as Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu from 2005 to 2010. Mr. Hannemann also actively served at the state level in the administrations of Governor George Ariyoshi and Governor John Waihee in the roles of Special Assistant and as the Director for the Departments of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and Office of International Relations. He was an executive with agricultural business C. Brewer and Company, created and operated his own consulting firm and non-profit organization, and was an educator and coach at ‘Iolani School, his high school alma mater. In addition, Hannemann also has the distinction of having served in four Presidential administrations—Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush—in a number of appointed capacities.
MIKE SABLAN Vice President, Triple J Enterprises, Inc.
Michael Sablan is a Certified Public Accountant for the state of California, Guam and the CNMI. Shortly after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, Mr. Sablan began paving way for many career milestones to come. Starting out as a Senior Auditor with a California CPA firm, Mr. Sablan moved on to become the Assistant Controller for Duty Dree Shopping Saipan in 1990. From 1990 to 1998, Sablan served as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Joeten Enterprises where he developed policy and assisted in expansion efforts and the improvement of internal management processes. Sablan worked in the public sector thereafter as the Governor’s Special Advisor for Finance and Budget and later on as Public Auditor to the CNMI government, managing performance and compliance, emphasizing and enforcing ethics, and advising on complex finance decisions. Sablan’s expertise on policy, planning, compliance and ethics give him the tools needed to serve in his current role as the Vice President of Finance and Member of the Board for Triple J Enterprises. Sablan has also served with Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and the National Association of Government Accountants.
Mufi's Maxims Part I 1. Be bold, be decisive, be flexible. 2. Do your homework. 3. Bring good news fast, bad news faster. 4. Problems are not as important as solutions. 5. No man is an island; a leader brings people together. 6. Write it down unless you have a memory of an elephant. 7. Always set the record straight (be open and transparent). 8. Never base decisions on fear. 9. Public money is not to be viewed as a personal piggybank. 10. Emphasize the Mahalo Principle; thank someone everyday. 11. Lead by example and live by core values: remember family first, treat people fairly, watch your health and make the job fun. 12. Leave this place better than you found it.
Part II 1. The glass is always half full, not half empty. 2. There is no “I” in Team. 3. Avoid the “Pretty Boy” and “Prom Queen” Syndrome. 4. Half baked ideas, like half baked manapuas, are not good for you. 5. There is no such thing as a dumb question. 6. When adversity strikes, don’t get mad – get even. 7. Hold your friends close but your adversaries closer. 8. Save your drama for your mama. 9. Check your ego at the door. “Always push the water away.” – Zen philosophy. 10. Do what is right, not necessarily what is popular.
votemufi
MufiHannemann
http://mufihannemann.com/
CLASS OF 2020
Nicole Babauta
Broc Calvo
Nadine Deleon Guerrero
Victoria Ann Deleon Guerrero
Director
Account Manager
Chairwoman
CNMI Small Business Development Center
Docomo Pacific
CNMI Cannabis Commission
Director of Institutional Development
Weston Thomas Deleon Guerrero
William “Billy” Richard Grow II
Hedwig Hofschneider
Longwen Ji
Owner
Account Manager - Business and Government Sales
Director for Project PROA
Executive Assistant to the CEO
WC Consulting
Mount Carmel School
Docomo Pacific
Northern Marianas College Project PROA
Julie Ann Litulumar
Ana Mendiola
Riya Nathrani
Annette Pladevega
Executive Assistant
School Counselor
Kanoa Resort Saipan
CNMI Public School System Saipan Southern High School
Classroom Teacher
Research & Evaluation Program Coordinator
John Gilbert Saludez
CNMI Public School System Hopwood Middle School
Lyrard “lee” Tenorio
Tan Holdings
CNMI Public School System Office of Accountability, Research & Evaluation
Robert Ryan Yulo
Managing Director
Project Manager
Assurance Manager
HBR International Inc.
Office of the Mayor of Saipan
Ernst & Young (CNMI) Inc.
JP Center 2nd Floor, Beach Road, Garapan, PO Box 501280, Saipan, MP 96950 Tel: 1-670-234-0609 ext. 118/7 • Fax: 1-670-235-3740 www.pcf-marianas.com Pacific Century Fellows Marianas Chapter