Duane Kurisu and Monica Mamiya ’77 McLaren have joined the Punahou Board of Trustees, bringing a breadth of experience, as well as commitment to the School and larger community.
Kurisu is the driving force behind many real estate, sports, media and philanthropic ventures, including Kahauiki Village, a plantation-style community designed to house Hawai‘i’s homeless families. As Chairman and CEO of aio, he oversees a family of companies that include Honolulu Magazine, Hawaii Business and ESPN 1420. He also serves as Advisory Board Chairman of the Hawai‘i Executive Conference, an annual conference for CEOs and leaders with a mission of strengthening Hawai‘i.
“I am delighted to welcome Duane to the Board of Trustees,” said Board Chair Ethan D.B. Abbott ’72. “Duane’s deep commitment to the greater Hawai‘i community is inspirational, and his perspective will be enormously valuable to the board over the coming years.”
Kurisu’s children, Sarah ’06 and Robert ’04, attended Punahou School. His wife, Susan, served as chair of the Punahou Carnival and was an active member of the Parent Faculty Association.
For her part, McLaren has decades of experience as an educator, as well as deep personal ties to the School as an alumna and parent.
“Monica was a force for creative leadership among our faculty for many years, and she has touched the lives of thousands of Punahou families,” said President Jim Scott ’70. “In this new role, Monica will be able to marshal her deep knowledge of the School and its community to move Punahou forward at an exciting time in its own institutional growth.”
McLaren began her career at Punahou as a second-grade teacher in 1983, and also taught grades 1, 4 and 5 before leaving the School in 2015 to pursue other personal goals. She is currently the director of instructional design at the Sullivan Family of Companies.
McLaren has two children who attended Punahou, Mollie ’06 and Ty ’11.
“This is also very meaningful to me because of my mother’s memory,” said McLaren, whose parents, Richard and Hazel Mamiya, served as Punahou trustees. “I’ve always been so grateful to Punahou for giving my mother the opportunity to step into a leadership role that empowered and fulfilled her.”
As the mother of eight Punahou siblings, Hazel Mamiya was a longtime room parent, Carnival chair, PFA president and tireless volunteer. She served as a Punahou trustee from 1984 – 1989, and was succeeded as trustee by her husband from 1989 – 1996.