ENTREPRENEURSHIP LIVE

ENTREPRENEURSHIP LIVE: STORIES OF FILAM ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEYS AND DREAMS

ABOUT DR. PIA ARBOLEDA

Recipient of the UH Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching, Dr. Pia Arboleda holds a Doctor of Arts degree in Language and Literature (major in Literature), a master’s degree in Language and Literature (major in Filipino) and a Bachelor of Science in Commerce (major in Marketing) from De La Salle University. For high school and grade school, she went to St. Scholastica’s College, Manila. She teaches Fil 435: Translation Theory and Practice, IP 273E: Philippine History and Culture, IP 396: Philippine Folklore, IP 431: Rizal’s Life and Writing, IP 368B: Philippine Film, among others.

Prior to joining UH, Dr. Arboleda served as Visiting Professor at Osaka University where she taught Southeast Asian Culture, Philippine Literature, Language and History for four and a half years. She was assistant professor in Filipino at University of the Philippines Baguio, assistant professor in Filipino at University of the Philippines Manila and instructor at De La Salle University. She also taught gender studies at St. Scholastica’s College, Manila. Outside the academe, she was Assistant Program Manager of CARE Philippines, Executive Director of Environmental Legal Defense (Endefense), Executive Director of the Remedios AIDS Foundation, and External Affairs Officer at the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM).

Dr. Arboleda is also a poet and creative writer. Her works have appeared in Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotic, Kung Ibig Mo: Love Poetry by Women, Essays on Women, The Baguio We Know, Essays in Philippine Language and Literature, among others. She now produces multi-media instructional materials on Philippine folklore and films. From 2011-2021, she served as coordinator of the Filipino and Philippine Culture program. She is now Director of the Center for Philippine Studies and Chair of the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures.

ABOUT KIT FURUKAWA

Co-Owner of Maui Chili Chili Oil + KZP, Kit Furukawa has fully embraced the life of a creative entrepreneur by balancing many priorities. Along with her husband, she currently runs and operates Mystery Maui Escape Room, sells a premium product called Maui Chili Chili Oil and runs a marketing consultancy firm Kit Zulueta Productions LLC. She became a full-time entrepreneur in 2019 after many years in leadership roles with the County of Maui Mayor’s Office, Maui County Council and UH Maui College. She continues to volunteer or serve on various nonprofit boards such as the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce, University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Philippines Business and Economic Council and currently serves as president of the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui. She is a 2012 alum of the Filipino Young Leaders Program and a 2015 Fellow for Ka Ipu Kukui.

Kit’s efforts in business and in community building, especially with advancing the interests of the Filipino American community have been recognized by the SBA with the Advocate for Minorities Award in 2018, Young Filipino Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2021, and most recently as Pacific Business News’ “40 under 40” Awardee.

ABOUT LALAINE IGNAO

Lalaine Ignao is a Washington state native who moved to Hawaii after undergraduate school in 2016 with hopes of becoming involved with the Filipino community. She began writing for The Fil-Am Courier and was inspired to further her education which led her to obtain a Masters in New Media Journalism. She centered her graduate school portfolio around Filipino and Filipino American narratives and transformed it into Pusong Filipinx, a pop-up market created to uplift young Filipino entrepreneurs and creatives, build community, empower culture and give back to nonprofit organizations.

The Filipino Chamber of Commerce recognized the work Pusong Filipinx does and Lalaine was awarded the Young Filipino Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022. In May 2021, she and her fiance, Eric Ganding began Sama Sama, a Filipino inspired boba business to honor her late maternal grandmother and her middle school dream. In the last two years, Sama Sama has grown from being a pop-up tent business to operating out of a food truck and a cafe at Leeward Community College while also offering catering services. When she’s not doing business, Lalaine reports for ABS-CBN International and The Filipino Channel, representing the state of Hawaii and Washington.

ABOUT KARLO TANJUAKIO

Karlo Tanjuakio is a Filipino entrepreneur who founded and operates several companies, including being the CEO & Founder of GLSS and Kure. He’s been recognized 8x as leading one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. (Inc. 500, Inc. 5000, FT 500, Hawaii’s Fastest 50). His skill of integrating design and value is key to his success—and his mission is to share his expertise with future generations to empower Earth’s efficiency.

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