AGNES MACADANGDANG HAYASHI The Productive Perspective Faith Gives

By: Cornelio “CJ” Ancheta 

[Photo Courtesy of John Henry]
 

As Deputy Director of Finance of the Maui County, she holds the second highest position in a critical department of the tri-island  local county government.

In 1999, after 15 plus years of productive and fulfilling work with the private sectors, she joined Maui County as a public servant, starting as an Executive Assistant of then Mayor James “Kimo” Apana.

For the more than a decade of service with the government, she has learned to be strong and committed to the cause of public service because of her relationship with God, a relationship she feels proud and joyful in sharing with others.

In addition to the demands of her profession, she fulfills her other more important roles as wife to Duane Hayashi and mother to their three children.  She is also a community advocate and volunteer to a number of organizations that center around her children's activities and interests. Agnes and Duane, happily married for 23 years, have three children:  Wesley, 20; Celina, 18; and Thomas, 11.   Both Wesley and Celina are full-time college students attending the University of Hawaii and Thomas is a 6th grader at Samuel E. Kalama Intermediate School.  Celina is the current reigning Miss Hawaii Filipina 2009.

“What has kept me uplifted when the demands of my life seem too great, is my personal relationship with Christ. My faith plays a significant part in my life and my family's, and I seek His direction not only in my personal life, but also in my professional life,” Agnes says.
 

A person of prayer, she sees the Lent Season as an occasion to pause and reflect on her walk with Christ; to renew  her commitment in serving and glorifying him and letting Him rule in her heart as her personal Saviour.
 

She says that the season is “a time to be ever so mindful of God's ultimate sacrifice and unconditional love for mankind.”

 “ Christ Jesus' resurrection renews hope and promise, assuring me that I serve a living God.  He is the way and the truth and the life,” she continues.
 

Now serving under a third mayoral administration, she is one of the longest bridges connecting local government to the community. A local born Filipino American of Ilokano parents, she brings a certain Filipino perspective into her job.
 

Born on Maui, she was raised by her parents Pedro and Remigia Macadangdang. Her father, a 1946 Sakada,  hails from Bacarra, Ilocos Norte while her mother is  from San Mateo, Isabela, both in the Philippines.

 Agnes was awarded the prestigious Alfred Levin Most Outstanding Merit Scholarship, which is given to the Most Outstanding Senior  when she graduated from H.P. Baldwin High School.

 In 1983, she graduated from the UH Manoa, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with Distinction (honors degree) and was named the top three finalist in the Most Outstanding Senior in Finance by the Shidler College of Business.

 Immediately after graduation, she was selected as one of 22 college graduates recruited nationwide for a corporate executive management-training program by GTE Service Corporation. This led her to work in Connecticut, Hawaii, and California where she was last promoted to Audit Manager  of the Western Region Corporate Audit Division before her departure in 1990.

After eight years with the mainland corporation, Agnes decided to return to Maui with her husband, Duane, and their first child, who was barely one year old. With this move and Agnes' parents' loving support, home and family became her focus.

 Without much delay, she was hired by Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. as the Director of Internal Audit in 1991, a job she had for nine years.

 In 1999, Agnes joined the County of Maui.  After a brief stint as an executive assistant to Mayor James "Kimo" Apana, she was appointed Deputy Director of Finance.  Following that term, she was appointed by Mayor Alan Arakawa to the position of Community Develoment Block Grant Manager to administer federal grants to the non-profits by the County.  Under the  current administration of Honorable Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Agnes is again appointed to the position of Deputy Director of Finance which she continues to hold until today.

 “I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to serve under the leadership of the  three mayors.  I respect each of them, and have learned a great deal under their leadership.  I am humbled by their vote of confidence in my ability,"  Agnes says.
 

During her tenure in Government service, Agnes assisted in achieving two notable upgrades in the County's bond rating in 2008 and 2001 (which previous to that had last seen an upgrade in 1986), directed the business process review and implemented the reogranization of the 70 employee Motor Vehicle and Licensing Division in 2001, co-developed the opening of the County's Service Center at the Maui Mall, and completely redesigned the Community Development Block Grant Program in 2004 achieving high performance ratings annually by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for resolving the program's risk issues that it had been struggling with for 2 years previously.

 Currently, she co-manages the operations of the six divisions within the Department of Finance and is a member of the County's Investment Commitee that oversees the investment strategy of the County's $312 million portfolio.  Additionally, she is a member of the County's Fiscal Implementation Team (FIT)  that monitors the fiscal spending and institutes cost-cutting strategies for all county operations; a concept she suggested to the Mayor and was implemented in 2008 in light of the fiscal challenges facing the County.

 Because of her leadership capabilities and accomplishments, the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce recognized her in 2002 as one of the outstanding Filipinos during the chamber’s Gintong Pamana Leadership and Achievement Awards ceremony.

 As a community advocate, she has volunteered in countless ways. Some of these engagements include her being: (a) Vice-Chair and Parent Representative, School Community Council, King Kekaulike Complex, 2005-2009; (b) member, Pukalani School PTA, SCBM Council, and Audit Committee, 1994-2009; and as a (c) member, Kalama Intermediate School PTA, 2002-2004, 2009-present, and (d) member of Pukalani Baptist Church.

 In 1978, she was crowned Miss Maui Filipina.

 The fullness of Agnes’ life revolves around her parent’s struggles and challenges as immigrants in a foreign land, in Hawaii. She witnessed  how her parents had  to put up with their new life in Hawaii and how they had to be resilient, patient, and determined to make life better for them.

 “My parents instilled in me the importance of hard work, the values of honesty and integrity, and the belief in myself to persevere,” Agnes says. “Everything I am is the direct result of the sacrifices of my parents. I will forever be grateful to them. I owe my successes to them.”
 

“I also believe that God has blessed each person with certain gifts – gifts that are to be used for a purpose.  I thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve the people in my capacity as a public servant.  It is definitely challenging and demanding, but extremely rewarding,” Agnes concludes.

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