Paubox Kahikina Scholarship

Today we held our third annual winter networking lunch for the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship. The primary objective of the event was to build professional connections between our scholarship recipients and the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship advisor network.

We know the big ideas behind the scholarship are financial aid and access. Big ideas are trends that do not change over time.

In other words, our scholarship recipients will always have a need for financial assistance and access to our professional network. We therefore know it’s perpetually a good use of time and resources to focus on these big ideas.

The primary objective of the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship is to encourage Native Hawaiians to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

The scholarship is recurring in nature. In other words, recipients receive $1,000 per year until they graduate. The scholarship is in its fourth year and now has 22 active recipients.

Winter Networking Lunch

Last year we had 15 people attend the winter networking lunch (seven recipients and eight advisors).

This year, we had a turnout of 30 people, with four of them joining via Zoom. Our COO Rick Kuwahara was on hand to help me pull off the event. I am grateful for him being at Paubox since practically day one.

Here are the scholarship recipients that joined (in-person or Zoom):

Kyrie Bartolome (Oregon Institute of Technology)
Dylan Dinio (Northeastern University)
Gabriella Kanoa (University of Hawaii at Manoa)
Lauren Kwee (Harvard University)
Kobe Lilio (George Fox University)
Taylor Moniz (Columbia University)
Taysia Morioka (University of Michigan)
Joshua Parker (Harvard University)
Bryan Pontanilla (Portland State University)
Allena Villanueva (University of Southern California)
Nick Wong (UC Berkeley)

Here are the advisors that joined (in-person or Zoom):

Melia Abreu (The Queen’s Health System)
Ben Ancheta (Inkinen Associates)
Lori Bonner (The Queen’s Health System)
Mari-Ela Chock (Keck Observatory)
Kris Clark (The Queen’s Health System)
Douglas Finnegan (Google)
Forest Frizzell (Shifted Energy)
Siana Austin Hunt (ALTRES)
George Lee (First Hawaiian Bank)
Cathy Luke (Loyalty Enterprises)
Richard Matsui (KWH Analytics)
Jennifer Moran (The Queen’s Health System)
Ryan Ozawa (Hawaii Hui LLC)
Ikaika Sheehan (Activiter)
Joe Stewart (Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP)
Billy V (Hawaii News Now)
Adam Wong (ACW Ventures)

We officially began the event with some opening remarks by me, followed by introductions around the room. We made sure each person shared with the room what they wanted to achieve by attending. We also asked advisors to explicitly share with the group whether they were hiring and/or offering paid internships.

Today’s networking lunch was a home run. Our biggest and best yet. More to come.

Mahalo to:

Kirra Downing and BJ from DTL Hawaii, who conducted interviews and provided broll footage
Siana Austin Hunt for buying lei for each recipient
Richard Matsui for serving as a volunteer for this year’s selection committee
Adam Wong for sponsoring services from DTL Hawaii

Enjoy the pics!

Two people conducting an interview outdoors among trees, one wearing a blue patterned shirt and the other in a red patterned shirt, with camera equipment visible. — **Dylan Dinio being interviewed by Kirra Downing (DTL Hawaii)**

Woman being interviewed on camera at outdoor networking event — **Mari-Ela Chock (Keck Observatory) flew in from the Big Island to join us today**

Group of scholarship recipients and sponsors gathered around dining tables at winter networking lunch — **We encouraged scholarship recipients to network and not sit next to each other**

Paubox Kahikina Scholarship recipients and guests at a winter networking lunch event with food and decorations — **While introducing himself, Joe Stewart hypothesized having an attorney at a STEM event served as a “cautionary tale” lol**

Two people smiling at a networking event with colorful artwork in the background — **Selfie with Cathy Luke**

Two people conversing at a networking event, one wearing a name badge — **Mari-Ela Chock (Keck Observatory) and Billy V (Hawaii News Now) woke up very early to be with us today**

Selfie with Cathy Luke and Mari-Ela Chock at Paubox Kahikina Scholarship winter networking lunch — **Selfie with Jennifer Moran (The Queen’s Health System)**

People gathered at a table during a Paubox Kahikina Scholarship networking lunch event — **(left to right) Cathy Luke, Richard Matsui and his future software engineer, Dylan Dinio**

Two people conversing at a holiday networking event in an office setting. — **Mari-Ela Chock and Ryan Ozawa getting deep on astronomy (I think)**

About Paubox

Paubox is for healthcare organizations seeking to remove friction from their HIPAA compliant communications.

Paubox is a cloud-based solution that provides a seamless user experience for both senders and recipients of secure email.

Unlike incumbent solutions that force recipients to login to a portal to read a secure message, Paubox allows the recipient to read a secure email in their inbox, just like a normal message.

Notable customers in Hawaii include: