Honolulu, Hawaii – October 25, 2024 – Her Excellency President Hilda C. Heine has been awarded the prestigious East-West Center 2024 Women of Impact Award in recognition of her groundbreaking leadership and steadfast commitment to gender equality, education, and climate change advocacy.
As the first woman to lead an independent Pacific Island nation in modern times, President Heine has become a beacon of hope and empowerment for women throughout the Pacific and beyond. The Women of Impact Award, established by the East-West Center Board of Governors in 2022, recognizes women leaders who have made significant contributions to governance, diplomacy, and society. Previous recipients include notable figures such as Hawai‘i civil rights champion Amy Agbayani and U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono.
East-West Center President Suzanne Vares-Lum remarked, “President Heine has blazed a trail of leadership for women throughout the Pacific and beyond, and has become a leading global voice on climate. We are thrilled for this opportunity to honor her for her many accomplishments in furthering the education and welfare of her people, our region, and our world.”
In her acceptance speech, President Heine shared her personal journey, highlighting her deep connection to the Marshall Islands and the support she received from her family and community. “I have always felt I owe it to the Marshallese people to make life better as my way of giving back to them- the people who shaped and molded me and gave me unprecedented opportunities to grow.” President Heine stated.
She emphasized the importance of community in overcoming challenges, particularly in the face of the climate crisis, which poses an existential threat to her low-lying nation and continues to impact the Pacific and the rest of the world. “I accept this award on behalf of those who have come before me, as I commit myself to building bridges across our islands in the Pacific and to safeguard the many wonderful cultures that define us,” she concluded.
President Heine also opened the event’s panel discussion with a keynote address after receiving the Center’s Women of Impact Award, sharing success stories on gender equality and human rights in the Marshall Islands and underscoring that true societal advancement relies on uplifting all women. “When women thrive, we all thrive,” President Heine affirmed, urging collective responsibility in building a sustainable, equitable future for all.
The Office of the President extends its heartfelt congratulations to H.E. President Hilda C. Heine on this well-deserved recognition. Jerammon President Heine!
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Iakwe and aloha everyone! Thank you so much Governor Waihe’e, President Vares-Lum and Senator Hirono for the gracious introduction, and your very kind words.
I wish to thank and recognize Governor Josh Green and First Lady Jaime Green, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center, and members of the Board, the President, Dr. Suzi Vares-Lum, Raoul Magana of First Hawaiian Bank and East-West Foundation, thank you all for honoring me and the people of the Marshall Islands with this award. To be counted amongst the previous recipients of this award is indeed a pleasant surprise.
Ao naan in kamolol Irooj kin ien in, im kile kom ro nuku im motta kom ar maron kobatok ilo jotenin lok rainin.
The Marshall Islands and its people shaped me to be what I am today- my family, school friends that I grew up with, women colleagues whom we conspired together to upset the “sense of balance” as we knew it in the early days of my country’s self-government, teachers and professionals during my career as an educator, and the constituents of Aur Atoll who have supported my political career. I owe a debt of gratitude to all of them for patiently teaching me, for shaping me.
I have always felt I owe it to the Marshallese people to make life better as my way of giving back to them- the people who shaped and molded me and gave me unprecedented opportunities to grow.
Being a recipient of this award has convinced me more than ever that despite where one comes from in life, anything is possible.
My father was the pastor of the Protestant church (now the United Church of Christ), and one of his assigned duty stations was on Imroj, in Jaluit Atoll; at that time the Imroj community had a population of around 300 people. This is where my formative years were spent. My father was also the school principal and classroom teacher for the Church-run grade school on the island. I attended that school from grade 1 to grade 7.
My father was an educator first and foremost. From him I learned the value of an education. He embodied a sustainable lifestyle before that concept was cool!
Unable to subsist on infrequently available imported goods, brought in, at best, twice a year on visiting field trip ships, my father cultivated a sustainable lifestyle for our family by raising pigs and chicken, growing fruits and a variety of vegetables. He was a great farmer but not a very good fisherman, so we relied on church members to provide fish for the family, which was frequent. Helping our father in his garden was fun because we were given opportunities to grow our own favorite vegetables in our assigned garden plots.
My mother supported my father by raising me and my nine siblings, and as was the case in many Pacific communities at the time, we also had great support from extended family members– ensuring that our household ran smoothly.
Everyone contributed in some way to household chores – cooking, collecting firewood, or doing laundry. There was no electricity on the island, so another chore was filling lanterns with kerosene before the sun sets each day. And since there were no stores to buy ready-made dresses, girls my age learned how to sew our own dresses. We also learned a little bit of weaving traditional woven crafts like the mat and oboñ. And in between these chores and our schoolwork, I remember that I swam and played outside a lot.
Saturdays were special though. Before the sun rose, we, girls, rushed to pick wild scented flowers, which we wove into crowns that we wore on our heads as our accessories with our pressed dresses for Sunday church.
I look back now and realize so much of my early life was simple, peaceful, and beautiful.
I left Jaluit in the seventh grade to attend middle and high school on the Capitol Island of Majuro. During my junior year of high school, I was fortunate to be selected among a small group of Marshallese to complete my high school studies in the United States, in my case in Oregon, where I was hosted by a very kind American family. I didn’t speak much English by the time I left for the U.S., and there were still no TVs on the island. My college and university education were all supported by Government scholarships.
I knew that I was very fortunate to receive these scholarships, and I felt not only a deep sense of gratitude, but a sense of responsibility to give back to my government and our people.
My educational journey formed the beginning of many adventures later in my life.
With beginnings like these though, I never imagined I’d enter politics, let alone become President of my country. My dream was to become a teacher, like my father – like most of my family was.
It was the pursuit of better educational opportunities once again that drove me to relocate our family to Hawai’i so our son and daughter could attend school here. My family is grateful for the opportunity that Hawai’i gave us – the opportunity to raise our children close to that familiar ocean that connects our Pacific peoples.
But it was while living here that I came to experience the difficult and challenging narratives around Micronesians in Hawai’i. Much of my work and career here was to engage with leaders, teachers, parents, and students to help bridge the cultural divide between our communities and develop a deeper understanding of one another.
And we need that understanding now more than ever, as we face catastrophes such as the climate crisis. The Marshall Islands is at the forefront, at only 2 meters above sea level; but this is also a Pacific crisis. Indeed, it is a global crisis. Climate change is the greatest threat to our survival, and to the survival of our cultures – our cultures that are deeply rooted and embedded in our lands.
But our cultures have survived so many different catastrophes– from multiple legacies of colonialism, to being battlegrounds during the Second World War, and then finally the nuclear testing legacy that has poisoned and threatened our oceans. We are survivors. And I know we as the Pacific can survive this as well.
If there’s anything my career has taught me, it is that positive impact can be made only through building community and building bridges. There is that western saying “No man is an island” an interesting concept that our islander cultures have known for millennia, a concept my mother and father taught me as well. We are only as strong as our communities – our kinship to one another as Pacific and island people.
And so it is with a humble heart that I accept this award, on behalf of those who have come before me, as I commit myself to building bridges across our islands in the Pacific and to safeguard the many wonderful cultures that define us.
Kommol tata, and Mahalo Nui Loa!
