MEDB’s De Rego is Featured Speaker at MNHCoC Annual Meeting

Frank DeRego. Courtesy photo.

By Maui Now Staff

Maui Economic Development Board Director of Business Development Projects Frank R. De Rego Jr. will be the featured speaker at Annual Meeting of the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, June 18, at 5:30 p.m. at Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapū.

Following De Rego’s presentation, an election will be held to select new board of director members.

De Rego has over 30 years of experience in education and the nonprofit sector. Before joining MEDB, he developed curriculum, trained and coordinated graduate engineering teaching assistants and served as national coordinator at Purdue University for the Engineering Projects in Community Service program.

De Rego earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco with a double major in philosophy and religious studies; a master’s degree in religious studies from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium; and a master’s of science degree in sociology from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

He is vice president and secretary of Lawelawe I Maui Nui, a new, small nonprofit organization that benefits Native Hawaiians in Maui Nui by seeking to merge their important cultural past with Western education.

“Frank De Rego is a very active member of our chamber,” said MNHCoC President Doreen Pua Canto. “We deeply appreciate his enthusiasm and invaluable perspective that comes from a lifelong understanding of local culture and national and international education and experience. He truly brings the best of all worlds to the Maui business community.”

MNHCoC members will also elect officers and two new board members for the new fiscal year beginning in July.

One of the organization’s founders, retired Judge Boyd Mossman, has been nominated to return to the board following his three-year term as president of the Kona Hawaiʻi Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Also seeking election to the board is UH Maui College Chancellor Lui Hokoana.

Prepaid admission for the Annual Meeting Dinner is $20 for members and $25 for non-members who pay online in advance through PayPal.

Admission at the door is $25 for members and $30 for non-members.

A no-host bar opens at 5:30 p.m. for informal networking.

For reservations, go online or call (808) 633-3079 by Sunday, June 14.

MNHCoC’s mission is “to promote and sustain Hawaiian values and culture, and enhance the socio-economic status of Native Hawaiians in business and as individuals.”

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in perpetuating the spirit of aloha through commerce, culture and community. The Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce welcomes Hawaiians and Hawaiians at heart to share in their mission.