2005 Island Fellows Program participants named

The Office of Insular Affairs announced yesterday that eight graduate student interns participating in the third Island Fellows Program have gathered in Washington, D.C. for initial briefing about the economies of the various insular areas.

The Fellows will spend a week in Washington, followed by several days in Honolulu at the University of Hawaii’s Pacific Business Center before heading out to their assigned island communities.

Angela Williams, who coordinates the Island Fellows Program, said that the Department of the Interior has been extremely pleased with the work done by the two prior groups of Island Fellows sent to the islands and has high expectations for this new group.

“These highly motivated and talented young people are all doing high-level graduate work at some of the best business schools and graduate programs in the nation and have hands-on experience in economic development and business around the world,” said Williams. “They know how to make things happen and how to work with various cultures. The Island Fellows will take these skills to the islands and bring back invaluable insight about how OIA can better work with the island communities and the international business community to enhance the economic development of the islands.”

This 2005 Island Fellows Program will build on the programs of the previous two years. The Fellows’ curriculum this summer takes into account feedback OIA received from island and mainland participants following the Secretary of the Interior’s 2004 Conference on Business Opportunities in the Islands, and the recently completed Business Opportunities Mission which went to Guam, Saipan and Palau. Fellows going to those communities will focus on following up on projects from the Business Opportunities Mission.

Fellows going to the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and American Samoa will focus on potential investment opportunities in those locations and lay the groundwork for Business Opportunities Missions to those areas.

The 2005 Island Fellows and their destinations are:

American Samoa—Robert Burk is a Masters in Travel Industry Management candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Travel Industry Management. Burk is especially interested in working to bring sustainable tourism into economically developing countries while paying special attention to environmental, social and cultural awareness and integrity. In addition to working for seven years as a systems engineer for Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Robert has worked as a Cultural Heritage instructor, lived and worked in Peru for two years, and recently had a paper accepted for presentation at the 2005 Business Enterprises for Sustainable Tourism Think Tank conference.

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—Lopa Shah is an MBA candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Shah brings five years of private sector development experience working as an investment analyst for both the World Bank Group and Credit Suisse First Boston. Shah was responsible for identifying viable projects based on financial, macroeconomic, political, regulatory and environmental factors and gained experience in financial analysis and modeling. Shah is originally from Honolulu and looks forward to returning to the Pacific region.

Guam—Garron Hansen is an MBA candidate and a Masters in International Studies candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Joseph Lauder Institute, respectively. Hansen brings three years of experience working as an international trade analyst/researcher for the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and one year of international marketing experience working for Lucent Technologies in Germany.

U.S. Virgin Islands—Annamaria Cherubin is an MBA candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Cherubin brings five years of private sector development experience working as a senior associate for the global consulting firm, Sapient Corp. While at Sapient, Cherubin worked in diverse environments, including one and a half years on a Navajo Reservation.

Republic of the Marshall Islands—Monica Ekawati Harryono is an MBA candidate at the Harvard Business School. A native of Indonesia, Harryono brings a wealth of international experience, having worked for two years on engineering projects in Vietnam and Russia, and for three years on cash management projects for Citigroup in Indonesia.

Republic of Palau—Uyanga Batzogs is an MBA candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Business Administration. A native of Mongolia, Ms. Batzogs brings four years of NGO work experience in Mongolia, where she worked as a financial consultant assisting private companies improve their profitability and implement innovative business solutions.

Federated States of Micronesia—Christopher Donohue is an MBA candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Donohue brings six years of working in international development managing US-AID funded projects in diverse commodity sectors in Uganda, Nepal, Senegal and Indonesia. Donahue will visit Chuuk and Yap after an initial stop in Pohnpei.

Christopher Staudt is an MBA candidate at the Harvard Business School. Staudt brings four years of diverse experience working for two years as a technology investment banking analyst and then for two years as a Peace Corps small business development volunteer based in Haiti. He has a specific interest in private sector growth as an international development tool. Staudt will be working in Pohnpei and Kosrae.