About

President & Executive Director: Jessica Lani Rich

Administration & Board of Directors

Administration:

President & Executive Director: Jessica Lani Rich

  • Visitor Assistance Coordinator - Lisa Fallau
  • Case Manager – Petra Panfiglio
  • Case Coordinator - Kimberly Ha’upu
  • Case Coordinator - Verna Landford-Bright
  • Security Coordinator – Gary Hendrickson

Officers:

Chair: Joe Magaldi

Chair: Joe Magaldi

  • Chair: Joe Magaldi – Director Emeritus Transportation, City & County of Honolulu
  • Vice Chair: Jerome Andrade – Senior Funeral Director, Borthwick Mortuary
  • Vice Chair: Rick Egged – President, Waikiki Improvement Association
  • Vice Chair/Co-Secretary: Masako Nashimoto-Luttrell – President, Nashimoto & Associates, LLC
  • Vice Chair: Dr. Terence C. Wade – Director, Agents Of Progress Research Project
  • Vice Chair: Tom Wogan – Former District Sales Manager, Delta Air Lines
  • Vice Chair: Tina Yamaki – Executive Director, Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association
  • Co-Secretary: Jim Fulton – Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, City & County of Honolulu
  • Treasurer: Lee W. Erwin – CPA, ECA LLP – FKA Erwin Cabrinha & Au LLP

Directors:

  • Lee D. Donohue – Retired Chief of Police, Honolulu Police Department; Director of Security, Securitas Security Services USA
  • Tim Haverly – Former Director of Security, Marine Surf Waikiki AOAO
  • Lawrence E. Hess – Personal Banking Officer, First Hawaiian Bank, Waikiki Branch
  • Aaron Kanemaru – Assistant Vice President & Banking Center Manager, Waikiki Banking Center, Bank of Hawaii
  • Thomas W. Matthews – President, TradeWest, Inc.
  • Greg Montgomery – President, I Want Candy Hawaii
  • Carol Pregill – President, Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i
  • Jerry Pupillo – General Manager, Sea Life Park Hawaii
  • Cynthia Rankin – Regional Director of Public Relations, Hilton Hawaii
  • Bruce Schneider – Vice President Operations, Outrigger Enterprises Group
  • Lynne Toyofuku – Attorney, Marr Jones & Wang
  • Sandi Williams – Sales & Promotions Manager, Hawaii State Tours

Founding Chairman of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii:

  • Marvin Silverman

Summary

While Hawai‘i still remains among one of the safest tourist destinations in the world, and our police and prosecutors do a fantastic job within the scope of available resources, we unfortunately will never prevent all crime against visitors. We must therefore ensure that each and every traumatized visitor receives timely assistance and experiences the true aloha spirit of our people.

VASH has demonstrated that committed and well-trained volunteers offer the most efficient and cost-effective way of delivering that service. The citizens of Hawai‘i are well aware of the enormous negative impact that crime is having on our visitor industry, our state economy, and the future of our children and grandchildren. We are not only concerned but want something done about it. Thousands of people are willing, given the opportunity, to volunteer to reach out to these victims with caring aloha. VASH provides them with that opportunity. It is simply a matter of aloha, which is, after all, what most visitors come to Hawai‘i for in the first place. We the people, our government, and visitor industry leaders cannot afford to disappoint them.

Funding

The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai’i is a private, 501(c)(3) Non-Profit, Volunteer organization that is dedicated to sharing the Aloha Spirit with Visitors. Its funding comes from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority.