The TRUE Initiative has appointed two new Hawaii business executives to lead its board.
Peter Dames, executive vice president of automotive company Servco Pacific Inc., will serve as chair, while Eddie Ontai, president of technology consulting firm DataHouse, will be vice chair, the organization announced Tuesday.
Both have been a part of TRUE, which stands for Technology Readiness User Evaluation, since it was founded in 2019. Dames is currently vice chair of the board, while Ontai serves on the steering committee. They will step into their new roles when Founding Chair Paul Yonamine transitions away from the board at the end of the year in conjunction with his retirement from his position as executive chairman of Central Pacific Bank.
“I thank Paul for his partnership, and I look forward to continuing his drive for innovation and developing value propositions that differentiate TRUE as an effective organization making an impact in our community,” Dames said in a statement.
“Paul’s vision has created a unique public/private collaboration that has helped facilitate our community’s digital transformation. I am excited to continue our efforts focusing on cloud computing as a game changer for Hawaii,” stated Ontai.
An initiative of the Hawaii Executive Collaborative, TRUE works to tech-enable both local businesses and the workforce, with the goal of reducing cost-of-living inequities.
Since its launch, TRUE has hosted more than 40 events — including workshops, panels, demos and networking opportunities. Earlier this year, it also launched the TRUE Esports + Tech Lab at Waipahu Public Library, a hub to teach tech skills to the community through video games, and hosted the state’s first cloud conference, the Hawaii Cloud Innovation Summit.
“Sincere gratitude to Paul for giving me an opportunity to be a part of TRUE,” stated Executive Director Leilani Farinas. “Working together with Peter, Eddie, our advisory board and our committee members, we are excited to launch initiatives in the new year that can directly help to tech-enable our community.”
Farinas told PBN that, in his role as chair, Dames “will provide overall leadership for TRUE within the community.”
“He is also responsible for appointing the advisory board and committee members and will preside over the organization’s meetings and serve as overall spokesperson,” she added, noting that Ontai will work alongside Dames in support of all those responsibilities.
Yonamine, meanwhile, will still be involved with TRUE as an advisor to Dames and the rest of the leadership team.
“When TRUE was accelerated as a program under nonprofit Hawaii Executive Collaborative three years ago, Peter was the first business leader in Hawaii to recognize how critical our mission was to building a diverse and sustainable economy,” said Yonamine in the statement. “Since day 1, he has partnered with me to create the organization, which has now grown to 25 committee members and counting.”
In other TRUE news, the organization recently secured nonprofit status.
“We secured our 501(c)(3) determination this past September and will transition from a program under nonprofit Hawaii Executive Collaborative into a fully operational nonprofit organization in January,” Farinas told PBN.
