Hawaii Jaycees State President

The Jaycee profile of the 2011 State President is one that I am excited to share. But, let’s not get into all of that, yet. Rather, here are 12 fun bits of trivia about me outside of Jaycees:

1. Pescetarian lifestyler
2. Favorite response to “How are you”, is “Absolutely divine!”
3. Favorite color is pink, then Tiffany blue and I love Tiffany jewelry
4. Tremendously love my friends, especially for the surprise paparazzi on skydive day
5. I can certify you on how to do mouth-to-mouth
6. Volunteered to walk 135 miles over 4 days for a friend I met 4 days later
7. Raising two amazing, smarter than average, really good looking kids
8. Friend to a handsome A.D.D. Tasmanian-like dog named Rocket
9. Enjoy immensely a hike on a mountain on a breezy, sunny day.
10. Cheered professionally for two years and does so everyday for all kinds of things that merit cheering for
11. Will travel this world with my kids, while making a handsome fortune
12. My heart yearns for universal peace and a housekeeper/maid
Inspired Beginnings: It was 1994, when I competed in the Miss Chinatown Hawaii Scholarship pageant (MCH) and it was here I met feisty Paul Chun. He sat an hour with me at my house, wholeheartedly selling me the membership of Honolulu Chinese Jaycees. Inspired, I signed up with chapter Membership Vice-President, Patrick Tomiyasu. The next year, I was appointed Membership Director, working closely with the Membership Vice-President Stanford Fichtman. Today, Paul is a JCI Senator and a former Pageant Director of MCH, Patrick is a United States Junior Chamber (USJC) Ambassador, past Hawaii Jaycees State President and now the organizer of Hawaii Jaycees’ sponsored Adopt a School Day. Mr. Fichtman served Hawaii Jaycees last year as the 2010 Hawaii Jaycees State President, was honored with a JCI Senatorship and is currently a candidate for a USJC National Vice-Presidency. Whew! I am surrounded by Jaycees leaders in our community! There’s no way out now! Compassionate Jaycee: A handful of my more memorable adventures include chairing: Halloween Fantasyland at Ward Warehouse a fantastical non-scary live cartoon journey with human played children favorite characters in a walk-through maze of sets where they receive candy, monthly international dining-outs where we ate till our hearts content being cultural foodies all over the island, monthly business speaker series, 50th State Fair Chapter Food-Booth the chapter’s largest month long fundraiser, the International Youth Art Exchange to promote peace and friendship between countries using artwork from children at Maemae Elementary and children from Japan - Utsunomiya Junior Chamber (and one year with the New Zealand Jaycees), the chapter’s 50th Anniversary Celebration bringing together as many past Honolulu Chinese Jaycees as we could, Courtney’s Wish and Brenda’s Wish with Kids Wish Network in Florida making two amazing little girls’ wishes come true, and life saving CPR training. There are so many more incredible events, but the point is that I feel the primary goal for any project is to make people’s lives better and I believe that all events engineered in the hearts and minds of Jaycees meet this goal. Yadda-yadda: The opportunities for leadership experiences are exciting to me! I’ve a rewarding life history of reaching the community of Jaycees as Program Manager, Director, Membership Development Vice-President, International Development Vice-President and Executive Vice-President, working my way to the seat of Chapter President in 2004. On the state level, I delighted in toils of JCI liaison, Citizen’s Corp Program Manager, Speak-up Trainer and representing the Hawaii Jaycees as the 2003 State Speak-up Competitor, bringing home the USJC Durwood Howes 1st Place Win. The best feeling was working that stage in my blue dress suit delivering that winner speech to more than 1000 Jaycees! I’ve traveled inter-island to train on Jaycee topics; to Tulsa, Oklahoma attending a Presidential Leadership Summit; Guayaquil, Ecuador to represent the USJC as speak-up competitor at the Junior Chamber International Area C Conference; and Fukuoka, Japan for 2004’s JCI World Congress. And, in 2009, my home chapter, the GREAT Honolulu Chinese Jaycees humbled me with a distinguished JCI Senatorship and I fondly memorized #68707. This 2011: The 2011 Hawaii Jaycees theme is “N_ Makana a ke Aloha”, of which the Hawaiian to English translation means: The gifts of love. My heart believes that every person has special gifts of love within themselves, that when expressed, brings great joy. After all is said and done, it is the gifts in every individual that when expressed, that makes positive changes in the world. The Jaycees have done a wonderful job of helping me learn what my gifts are, given me the chance to harness them and continually encouraging these gifts to be expressed in the best ways. I am also deeply appreciative of all the opportunities that the Junior Chamber has given to me to garner outstanding friends. It is thanks to Paul Chun, who invited me to join this fantastic organization, that so many doors have opened for me. I have but a few more years left to serve within Junior Chamber and soon this cup will be full. My hope is then to have built this Jaycee life brilliantly enough that future young adults will be inspired to choose Jaycees as their stepping stone into the world.” ~ Yvette Please join me in Chicago this June at the USJC convention and in Brussels, Belgium for the JCI World Congress in early November 2011.