Growing Families, Growing Careers: Advocating for Parenting Support in Higher Ed

Thursday, April 4, 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Join this talk story session with Dr. Diane Wolf, as we discuss the challenges facing professionals, especially academics, during the transformative time of pregnancy. Dr. Wolf will share her groundbreaking work helping parents-to-be bridge the gap between working person to working parent. Explore the challenges facing pregnant professionals and ways that universities and colleges can support students and employees, who are balancing an evolving family life with professional passion.This event will be moderated by CSW Associate Member, Jessica Shaffer, and will feature speaker, Professor Emerita Diane Wolf.

• Diane Wolf is a Professor Emerita of Sociology at UC Davis who focuses on Family Sociology. She is a post-partum doula and would like to work with faculty parents at any stage of their career as a kind of “academic doula” to help ease the way forward. Dr. Wolf created the Faculty Parent Support Program at UC Davis, where she still serves as an “academic doula” for faculty parents. She is also working with UC Irving faculty in the same capacity.

Benefits Blueprint: Benefits & Leaves that Matter at Each Stage of Your Employment

Monday, April 8, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Take a tour of the Office of Human Resources (OHR) website with a panel of Human Resources Specialists from OHR to explore benefits and leaves provided to meet your needs throughout your employment with the University of Hawaiʻi.This session will be moderated by CSW Tri-Chair Shelley Sutter and will feature speakers from the UH Office of Human Resources, each with numerous years of experience with the University of Hawaiʻi, specializing in various areas of HR and supporting the HR units for the University system wide.

ERS + Social Security = Enough for Retirement?

Tuesday, April 9, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

To plan for your financial future, you should know where your monthly retirement income will come from and approximately how much you could receive from each retirement income source. Learn how your overall retirement income, which includes your ERS Pension and Social Security benefits, can be enhanced when you participate in the Island $avings Plan.

This workshop is designed to empower you with knowledge and the tools to establish retirement goals. The workshops will also focus on the 403(b), encouraging employees to consider the following points:

• Market conditions
• Understanding the difference between a mutual fund and annuities
• Understand the difference between a traditional 403(b) or a Roth 403(b)
• Reviewing your portfolio

This session will be moderated by CSW Tri-Chair Shelley Sutter and will feature speakers Kevin Malmud from Island $avings Plan and Jeanie Sung and Jeanie Emeliano-Barajas from National Benefits Services.

• Kevin Malmud, Plan Manager, Island $avings Plan, has more than 34 years financial industry experience. He has provided relationship management and administration services to some of the nation’s largest defined contribution retirement plans, including those of several prominent Hawaiʻi firms. After getting his start on Wall Street, Kevin began his career in the retirement field at Prudential Retirement before moving to Hawaiʻi. He then worked with the Bank of Hawaii as a Team Leader and Senior Trust Officer for their retirement plan clients. After re-joining Prudential Retirement in 2013, and then Empower after Empower acquired Prudential Retirement on April 1st of 2022, Kevin assumed the position of Manager Retirement Counseling and manages the local office of the Island $avings Plan. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Montclair State University and the CEBS and CRC certifications.
• Jeanie Sung, Financial Advisor / National Benefit Services Certified Educator, is originally from Taiwan and immigrated to the US when she was 1 ½. Jeanie lived in Brooklyn, New York, for over 25+ years. She has lived in Honolulu for more than 25 years, working in the financial industry. Jeanie speaks Cantonese and Mandarin. She has been married for almost 25 years and has two boys. Jeanie treats clients like family. Her passion is giving others perspective of setting values, goals, and in-sites of financial road maps of their “purpose.” Besides spending quality time with her boys, Jeanie loves to explore new places to eat and to replicate the foods that her beloved dad made, including many authentic Chinese dishes.
• Jeanie Emeliano-Barajas, Financial Advisor / National Benefit Services Certified Educator was born in North Kohala, on the big island. Growing up, she heard a lot about being broke, poverty, and living paycheck to paycheck, throughout her time as a child, to a young adult, to mother of four, to a granny of seven. She’s been in the financial services industry for a little over 16 years and loves it. Her passion is for helping people understand how money works. Jeanie truly believes there is a solution to going from surviving to thriving, and it all starts with having a game plan in place. Educating as many communities as possible is her goal. When people are in the know, they can make better decisions for their ʻohana. Options are out there, but most don’t know about it, and where to start. That’s why Jeanie plays a part in this crusade for financial education, awareness, and where to start on learning how money works.

Unveiling Insights: 2023 UH Climate Survey Findings and National Comparisons on Sexual Harassment & Gender Violence

Wednesday, April 10, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Join us for an insightful presentation delving into the results of the 2023 UH Student Climate Survey on Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Violence. We’ll explore the importance of conducting climate surveys and highlight UH’s most recent findings and longitudinal improvements. We will also discuss how the data can inform programmatic and policy developments, shedding light on both local and broader trends. During the presentation, you can engage directly with the survey researchers and ask any questions you may have. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and contribute to the conversation on campus climate.

This event is moderated by CSW Ex-Officio Member, Jennifer Rose, and will feature researchers from OmniTrak who conducted the survey, Sandra Martin, Bonnie Fisher, and Pat Loui.

• Dr. Sandra Martin is a Professor in the Maternal and Child Health Department at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Her research, teaching and public health service focuses on gender-based violence. She has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, as well as book chapters and reports, on a wide range of violence related concerns including sexual violence, domestic violence, and child maltreatment. This research has been funded by multiple sources, including NIH, CDC, DOD, WHO and state agencies. Her current projects include a national study that examines violence victimization and perpetration across the life course among persons of various gender and sexual orientation identities, and another current study examines the impact of low income housing tax credits on intimate partner violence and child maltreatment.  Dr. Martin also teaches a course in Gender Based Violence, and she mentors master’s and doctoral students as well as postdoctoral scholars. She is a leader in the UNC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Education, Science and Practice, a training grant that provides funding for maternal and child health trainees
• Dr. Bonnie Fisher is a Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Fisher’s research focuses on the measurement, correlates/predictors and consequences of sexual violence, stalking, sexual harassment and intimate partner violence against college students. She has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reports, as well as has written several books and edited volumes on these topics. She co-led the Association of American University’s 2015 and 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct. Currently, she is the co-lead on the Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Assault survey which is being fielded in the spring 2024 at 10 universities and senior lead on a five-year panel study of gender-based violent victimization and perpetration among a national sample of 18-year-olds.
• Patricia M. Loui is the CEO of Omnitrak, a preeminent research and consulting firm that has expanded to the Pacific Rim’s culturally diverse markets. She has led major projects for some of the world’s most visible brands, including General Motors, Walt Disney Co., DFS Group and Coach. A leading pollster in Hawaiʻi, Omnitrak’s multi-year public opinion studies facilitated development of the City of Kapolei, UH West O‘ahu, Kamehameha Schools and Department of Education programs, and other innovations. For over a decade, she has led gender-based violence studies for the University of Hawai‘i and Domestic Violence Action Center. In 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Pat to the U.S. Export-Import Bank Board of Directors in D.C., where she served after unanimous Senate confirmation. Leading increased exporter support in Asia, renewable energy, and small business, she received the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency national award for outreach to women- and minority-owned enterprises. Pat has worked throughout Asia for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNESCO, and continues regional involvement as Treasurer of Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Prior to founding Omnitrak, Pat was Chief Marketing Officer at Bank of Hawaii. She holds a journalism degree from Northwestern University and a master’s in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi earned while on a U.S. State Department grant to East-West Center.

Transforming Survival into Success: Our Journey from Getting By to Thriving

Thursday, April 11, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

In this panel discussion, we navigate the landscape of parenting challenges within our UH community, considering the experiences of faculty, staff, and students. Our UH parents contend with searching for a balance between work, school, and the responsibilities of parenthood. Our conversation will spotlight systemic issues like limited parental leave and advocate for more accessible educational opportunities for student parents. By sharing the lived experiences of our UH parents and perspectives of experts in the field of parenting in academia, the goal is to inspire positive changes that will transform our UH parents’ experiences from just “getting by” to thriving.This event will be moderated by Jennifer Stotter, PhD, and will feature a panel of speakers, including Jennifer Pocai, Ashley Biddle, Ph.D., Mykie Ozoa-Aglugub, Dawn Rego-Yee, LSW, and Carly Leonoras.

• Jennifer Pocai serves as Senior Program Manager for Ascend at the Aspen Institute. Ascend at the Aspen Institute is a catalyst and convener for diverse leaders working across systems and sectors to build intergenerational family prosperity and well-being by intentionally focusing on children and the adults in their lives together. Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in project, program, and grant management in an educational setting. Prior to entering the realm of higher education policy and research, she was a practitioner at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) for close to seven years. While at NVCC, Jennifer managed programs and initiatives that supported students facing barriers to postsecondary access and success with a specific focus on adult learners and parenting students. During this time, Jennifer also became a volunteer mentor with Generation Hope, a nonprofit in the Washington DC metro area that supports teen parents on their journey to and through higher education. Jennifer returned to college as an adult and parent to complete her bachelor’s degree in Higher Education Administration in 2015 and master’s degree in Higher Education in 2019, both from George Mason University (GMU). Her graduate practicum was spent supporting GMU’s Student Parent Working Group in data gathering and analysis and strategic planning. After completion of her master’s degree, Jennifer began working as a Research Analyst for the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and was then promoted to Research and Programs Manager. While at IHEP, Jennifer provided program management for Degrees When Due, a three-year national completion initiative designed to help institutions, systems, and states increase degree attainment among individuals with some college credit, but no degree.
• Ashley Biddle, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Leeward Community College. While pregnant with her first child in 2017, she earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with a focus on parent-child interactions and parenting across different cultural contexts. In 2019, while pregnant with her second daughter, she co-founded Leeward Hui ‘Ohana with colleagues to support parenting students and PALs (Parenting at Leeward) to support parenting faculty and staff. Since then, she has co-led efforts to educate faculty on ways to support parenting students in their classes, including offering family-integrated assignments, where parents can do college homework assignments with their children. In 2024, in addition to teaching a full load of classes and being mother to 7- and 4-year-old girls, she is serving as the PI of a grant to Leeward Hui ‘Ohana from Ascend at the Aspen Institute; this grant will help Leeward CC expand their capacity to help parenting students balance parenting and academic work.
• Mykie Ozoa-Aglugub joined Windward Community College as the Title IX Coordinator in June 2023. Prior to becoming the Title IX Coordinator, Mykie worked for ten years as an Advisor with the UH System Office of Institutional Equity and a Program Specialist in the UH Mānoa Office of Gender Equity, specializing in anti-gender violence advocacy, training, and programming. She holds a law degree from the UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law and a B.A. in Women’s Studies and Spanish from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Mykie is a community organizer and new mom, born and raised in Kailua. On the weekends, she can be found in the loʻi at Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, hiking, or at home with her growing family.
• Dawn Rego-Yee, LSW (she/her) was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island and identifies as wahine Hawaiʻi, mother to a beautifully blended ʻohana, hula learner and social justice worker. She is the Resilient Communities, Schools and Families (RCSF) Project Director at Ceeds of Peace and is a consultant, trainer and facilitator uplifting health, wellbeing, trauma informed practice and social justice in our ‘ohana (family) and kaiaulu (communities). She is a licensed social worker (LSW) and received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Certificate in Conflict Resolution from the Matsunaga Institute for Peace. Dawn lives with her husband and youngest son in Hilo and believes in our pilina (relationship) to ʻāina (land), environment and each other to center our collective abundance.
• Carly Leonoras is a second-year student attending Leeward Community College, pursuing a career in Psychology. As a teen mom, she faced many barriers preventing her from beginning an academic journey after high school, from finding childcare and conflicting work schedules to the financial burden. After receiving news that her son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum disorder, she was not sure that a college education was part of the plan for her and her family. However, amidst the challenges, she found her purpose, which is now a driving factor during the more difficult parts of the semester. Balancing motherhood has been pretty overwhelming, and adding in the responsibilities of schooling has made the load feel quite heavy. However, the most challenging part of any journey will always be finding the courage to take the first steps