WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014The U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s Office of Insular Affairs welcomed 31 new participants to the Executive Leadership Development Program for the Pacific and Caribbean insular areas this week.<\/p>\n
The 2023 cohort is composed of mid-level management public servants from American Samoa (four), the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (five), Guam (three), the U.S. Virgin Islands (five), the Federated States of Micronesia (eight), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (four), the Republic of Palau (two).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome this new cohort of ELDP participants who are joining a long successful program that can now boast over 175 alumni,\u201d said assistant secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor. \u201cThis year\u2019s group represents a broad cross-section of talent who are positioned to have a long-lasting impact in their respective island communities, and we are extremely pleased to support each one of them in what will be a special journey of professional and personal development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Competitively selected from a pool of over 100 applicants, the members of the 2023 cohort demonstrated steady career growth with increased levels of responsibility, as well as individual commitment to public service, leadership potential, and diversity of regional and technical perspectives.<\/p>\n
Commissioned by the OIA, the ELDP was designed to assist the insular governments with developing and retaining qualified and talented professionals needed to lead their governments into the future. The ELDP offers experiential training content designed to develop public service values and leadership skills. ELDP participants are immersed in experiential projects and work with leading experts to address regional issues.<\/p>\n
The ELDP Class of 2022-2023 includes the following individuals from each Insular Area:<\/p>\n
American Samoa<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Mika Aga: Senior Engineer, Department of Port Administration Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Jodina Attao: chief executive officer, Northern Marianas Technical Institute Guam<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Lawrence Jay Alcairo: grant specialist, Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor U.S. Virgin Islands<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Alicia Bastien, auditor, Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Andy Choor: assistant Public Information Officer, Yap Congressional Delegation Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Yetta Aliven: Information Management officer, Office of the Chief Secretary Republic of Palau<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Reggie Mabel: junior auditor, Office of the Public Auditor The ELDP today counts 178 alumni from the insular areas who represent island leaders with diverse professional backgrounds and an enduring commitment to public service, found in nearly every branch and agency of each insular area government. Some serve today as elected officials, ambassadors, judges, cabinet members, and directors. Additional information on each participant as well as detailed program information is available online at https:\/\/eldp.pitiviti.org.<\/p>\n OIA provides funding support for the ELDP, which is administered by the Graduate School USA\u2019s Pacific & Virgin Islands Training Initiatives (PITI-VITI). First implemented in 2008, the ELDP serves as the premier leadership development program for government employees throughout the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (DOI)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014The U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s Office of Insular Affairs welcomed 31 new participants…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":381123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1709,1227,23792,4354],"class_list":["post-381122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-doi","tag-oia","tag-pacific","tag-usvi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Grace Felise: environmental planner and Coastal Zone Management program manager, Department of Commerce
\n\u2022 Matilda Kruse: program integrity division head, American Samoa Medicaid State Agency
\n\u2022 Patrick Reid: public policy adviser, Office of the Lieutenant Governor<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Tiffany Crisostomo: director of Revenue Cycle\/Outpatient Pharmacy business manager, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
\n\u2022 Geralyn Delacruz: Zoning administrator, Commonwealth Zoning Board
\n\u2022 Rich Salas: director, Division of Coastal Resources Management
\n\u2022 William Torres: grants coordinator, Northern Marianas College<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Chirag Bhojwani: director of Policy and Communications, Guam Legislature
\n\u2022 Reuben Bugarin: Ethics Program coordinator, Guam Ethics Commission<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Jozette Cantois, assistant commissioner, Department of Property and Procurement
\n\u2022 Mone\u2019t Francis-Gardner, grants administrator, Office of Management and Budget
\n\u2022 Sheniqua Lake, auditor, Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General
\n\u2022 Somere Webber, Federal Grants administrator, Office of Management and Budget<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Reed Floyd: junior auditor, Kosrae Public Auditors Office, Kosrae State
\n\u2022 Rosalinda Mori: senior auditor, Office of the Chuuk State Public Auditor, Chuuk State
\n\u2022 Steincia Olter-Hawley: Carrier & International business manager, FSM Telecommunications Corporation
\n\u2022 Jason Reiong: deputy director, Department of Education, Chuuk State
\n\u2022 Pernes Samuel: chief fraud investigator, State Public Auditor, Pohnpei State
\n\u2022 Trifonovitch Sound: Auditor III, Office of the National Public Auditor, FSM National Government
\n\u2022 Mary Lou Yatilman: Registrar of Corporations, Department of Justice, FSM National Government<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Claret ChongGum: foreign service officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
\n\u2022 Jasmine Myazoe: chief internal auditor, Ministry of Finance
\n\u2022 Benjamin Wakefield: Deputy Director, National Energy Office<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Sanya Olkeriil: chief, Division of Juvenile Justice, Bureau of Public Safety, Ministry of Justice<\/p>\n