Where are you from?

I’m originally from Honolulu, Hawaii; I was born there and moved to Iowa in the early ’60s. My father is Hawaiian, and my mother is Irish, from Waterloo. So when they got married and moved to Hawaii, my mother convinced my father that the educational system and opportunities here were more vast. … I was 3 when we moved here. My dad has 14 brothers and sisters there, and it is still considered home, though this is where I grew up.

How did you decide on an insurance career?

I think it decided on me. When I started in this industry in 1983 when I got out of school, there was an opening for a marketing coordinator with what’s now United HealthCare (Services Inc.). My career evolved into sales and marketing. I was in sales and marketing up until just two years ago, when I came to this position.

How did this job come about?

In 2006, our chairman, John Forsyth, decided to reach out to his work force to start an inclusion council. It was really a cross-representation of employees that he wanted at the table. So I was selected to be on the council. And probably a year or two after its formation, the council decided there needed to be a position to lead the inclusion effort. I applied for the position, so here I am.

Accomplishments in the past two years?

I don’t ever say anything’s my accomplishment; it’s been an organizational effort. Overall, what we’ve been able to do is take this grassroots group of individuals and engage them in a way to serve as role models, influencers, ambassadors and advocates for diversity and inclusion, not only in the workplace but in the community. We’ve heightened our community involvement by 63 percent for those that have documented it. So we’re really pleased to see that kind of commitment from our work force.

Do you have a staff?

I actually have a part-time assistant who helps me keep things in order; I also have the resources of the entire human resources division. So if, for example, we’re looking to create an additional curriculum, I work with our learning and development department. And I work with our recruiting leaders; so I do have the resources available.

What are the expectations of Wellmark’s leadership?

There are goals built into our leaders’ performance plans around culture and inclusion. It’s part of who we are and what we do, and we think it’s important to leverage it in our day-to-day business. And we’ve built a five-year strategic plan of where we want to advance (in inclusion) from a maturity perspective.

What are the key milestones?

One of the things we do is have a culture survey every three years, and we have incrementally improved our culture over time. We aim pretty high; one of our core values is excellence; another is diversity and inclusion as well as continuous learning and improvement. So when I think about where I’d like to see us in five years, those are the things I keep in mind.

Hobbies?

I would call myself a jogger, not a runner. I used to run every day of the week, but as I’ve aged, my joints don’t let me do it every single day. Now with our new Well for Life Center, I’ve gotten into spinning classes, and now four days a week I’m religious about spinning – love it, love it. From an athletic perspective, I love to be active all the time.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

I love to hula dance, and that’s cultural, of course. So at celebrations and family gatherings, I dance. My parents did a fantastic job of keeping our culture top of mind. … When my daughter got married, my dad had leis flown in and everyone was adorned in leis. So it’s very special to us to continue to keep those traditions alive.