President Hilda C. Heine and First Gentleman Thomas Kijiner, Jr. were in Honolulu late last week for the President to receive the prestigious East-West Center 2024 Women of Impact Award. This honor recognizes exceptional women leaders who have made remarkable contributions to their communities and the broader global stage.
The award was presented to President Heine last Friday by the East-West Center’s Board of Governors Chair former Hawai’i Governor John Waihe’e.
As the first woman to lead an independent Pacific Island nation in modern times, Heine has become a symbol of gender equality and women’s empowerment across the Pacific, said the East-West Center in a media release. “In addition, she has had significant successes as a leader in education and made important contributions to climate change advocacy,” the release said.
“To be counted among the previous recipients of this award is indeed an unexpected honor,” Heine said in her remarks accepting the award “on behalf of those who have come before me.” She added: “If there is anything my career has taught me, it is that positive impact can be made only through building community and building bridges. There is that Western saying, ‘No person is an island.’ It’s a concept that our islander cultures have known for millennia, and that my mother and father taught me as well: We are only as strong as our communities and our kinship to one another.”
Current Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green also presented Heine with an official proclamation honoring her for her contributions to women’s equality, climate advocacy, and educational progress in the Pacific. And in a video, White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison Erika Moritsugu read aloud a letter from President Biden congratulating Heine on the award.
The event, supported by the First Hawaiian Bank Lecture Series, also included an international panel of distinguished women leaders discussing their personal stories and success strategies.