Hawaii tech collaborative names as Leilani Farinas new executive director

The new year brought new leadership for TRUE — which stands for Technology Readiness User Evaluation — an initiative of the Hawaii Executive Collaborative that aims to drive the adoption and use of technology to benefit and grow businesses in Hawaii.

The Hawaii organization recently named Leilani Farinas as its new executive director, replacing former executive director Michelle Cheung. As part of her new role she will lead TRUE’s planning, strategy, communications, fundraising and development.

Through the TRUE initiative public and private sector leaders collaborate on common business challenges, implement practical solutions, and share key insights and learnings with the wider community through use cases, networking events and strategic collaborations, the organization said in an announcement.

Farinas began in the role Jan. 1 but told Pacific Business News she began working with Cheung late last year on the transition.

Having grown up in Salt Lake and graduated from Moanalua High School, Farinas attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, "with the intent to have a career in media and entertainment."

Farinas comes to the role as a marketing and communications executive with more than 20 years of expertise in global and domestic go-to market strategies driving awareness, growth, and revenue, according to TRUE officials. She previously served as vice president of marketing at NBCUniversal, where she led the global marketing and communications strategy for the company’s lifestyle content and digital brands, including E!, Bravo and Telemundo. She also has held posts at Comcast, Sony Pictures Entertainment and William Morris Agency.

“We are excited to welcome Leilani to TRUE and look forward to her driving our mission’s momentum forward, expanding awareness and generating incremental value in the community," Paul Yonamine, chairman for TRUE and executive chairman of Central Pacific Bank said in a statement. "On behalf of the committee, we thank Michelle for her contributions to TRUE and wish her the best as she embarks on a new chapter in her career.”

During the last two years, Farinas said the entertainment industry, including her company, saw big corporations restructuring. Departments, including hers, were made redundant.

"I could see it and was ready for a transition, ready to come home," she said.

Farinas returned to Hawaii about a year ago and said her her new role is "such a unique opportunity to take my skill set and do some greater good for the future of Hawaii," she said. "It was put in front of me and I just had to take it. ... It's a great opportunity to advocate for technology as a platform for a sustainable and diverse economy for Hawaii."

Compared to its Mainland counterparts, Farinas said Hawaii is largely behind in terms of incorporating technology into business organizations.

By tech-enabling the work force, Farinas said those individuals can make a better living in a high-cost environment.

"It's proven that tech-enabled workers get compensated significantly higher than those that aren't," she said. "TRUE will continue to be a resource and advocate for technology adoption."

“Accessibility has never been more possible than now for Hawaii’s businesses to be data-informed, optimized for efficiencies and positioned for globalization," Yonamine said. "Despite the continued pandemic restrictions last year, TRUE continued its efforts to demystify technology for Hawaii’s businesses through roundtable discussions, events and workshops, with topics from how AI can be a practical and real-life solution to improving customer service, to showing the benefits of Tableau, to identifying what it takes to foster a culture of innovation."

According to its website, the Hawaii Executive Collaborative is a nonprofit organization comprised of leaders from all sectors "committed to driving collective action to address our community’s toughest challenges."

The TRUE committee includes representatives from companies several companies including DataHouse Consulting, NEC Americas, Pacxa, Pacific Point Inc., Hawaii Pacific Health, HMSA, The Queen’s Medical Center, Booz Allen Hamilton, Japan Airlines, HTDC, Transform Hawaii Government, Alakai Executive Search, Hawaiian Airlines and Hawaiian Telcom.