Team Save Hawaii Jobs and Businesses

Paycheck Protection Act. Disaster Loans. Federal Unemployment Assistance. Tax credits. Team Save Hawaii Jobs and Businesses is committed to getting the word out to Hawaii businesses about the financial lifelines provided by the CARES Act. Let’s save Hawaii jobs and businesses together.

Evan Leong

Chief Executive Officer
Brain Gain Hawaii

Evan Leong

Chief Executive Officer
Brain Gain Hawaii

Evan Leong is a serial entrepreneur with a social mission focused on making a difference in Hawaii. His current endeavor is business consulting and helping executives find jobs in Hawaii with a special focus on Hawaii raised executive expats looking to find a job and move home. He includes career coaching and advocacy into the mix. He also owns ventures in food, technology and action sports.

He is constantly building and connecting people in his network when he sees a win-win relationship and shared interests. He enjoys facilitating connections when it makes sense. He believes that a team effort has a big advantage over an individual effort and is more fun.

His community focus since 2005 has been to help develop more capacity for community leadership. This is done by bringing in and developing new talent. There is a shortage in Hawaii of community leaders so we have to do whatever we can to make a difference.

Darin Leong

Attorney
Law Office of Darin R. Leong LLLC

Darin Leong

Attorney
Law Office of Darin R. Leong LLLC

Darin R. Leong represents clients in a wide range of employment and labor matters, including federal and state court litigation of wrongful termination, harassment, reasonable accommodation, breach of contract/non-compete agreements, and other employment claims; discrimination and harassment cases before administrative agencies; negotiation of executive employment agreements; wage and hour compliance; OSHA/HIOSH investigations and compliance; and traditional labor matters such as collective bargaining, labor arbitrations and unfair labor practice charges.

Darin also conducts workplace investigations and provides counseling and training for employers and their supervisory employees to manage personnel issues and comply with various employment laws.

Darin has devoted the past 15 years to representing clients in employment and labor law matters. Darin began his career at Proskauer Rose in New York City, representing a variety of Fortune 500 companies in all aspects of employment and labor law.

Darin returned to Hawaii in 2007 and joined Marr Jones & Wang, a boutique law firm focusing exclusively in employment and labor law. Darin was a partner at the firm from 2013-2019.

In 2019, Darin left Marr Jones & Wang to open his own employment and labor law practice.

Stacey Katakura, CPA

President, CEO & Founder
Accumulus

Stacey Katakura, CPA

President, CEO & Founder
Accumulus

As President and Founder of Accumulus, Stacey Katakura brings an unmatched level of accounting and financial advisory experience—having previously served for three years as President of HiAccounting, a division of The Hawaii Group, and for ten years prior to that as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Forest City Hawaii, a real-estate development and property management company responsible for over $2 billion in Hawaii real-estate and renewable energy projects.

Stacey is a licensed CPA in Hawaii and California, is a graduate Kaiser High School, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California’s Kenneth Leventhal School of Accounting. Stacey began her career in the Orange County, California offices of Ernst & Young, in the firm’s Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction group.

Stacey is also very involved in supporting local community organizations and has served as Co- Chair of American Heart Association’s annual Black Tie & Blue Jeans fundraiser gala, Vice Chair for the Child and Family Services annual fundraiser gala, is the Past Chair of the Hawaii Home Ownership Center’s Board of Directors. She has also volunteered on numerous political campaigns and was named one of Pacific Business News’ Forty Under 40. Stacey is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Hawaii Society of CPA’s.

In her free time, Stacey enjoys spending time with her pug, Bogey, hiking, yoga, pilates, traveling & drinking fine wine.

Jeff Harris

Senior Name Partner
Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris

Jeff Harris

Senior Name Partner
Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris

Jeff Harris is a name partner, managing director and vice president of Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris. He helps employers prevent, defend against and resolve all kinds of labor and employment law claims. He's been doing the same thing in Hawaii for more than 36 years.

Jeffrey S. Harris represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment law. He has over 36 years of experience.

Mr. Harris advises management to:
(a) Comply with all wages and hour, employee benefit, leave and prevailing wage laws;
(b) Avoid discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower and failure to accommodate claims;
(c) Manage labor relations according federal law about elections, negotiations, strikes and picketing;
(d) Maintain the workplace according to safety and health and substance abuse law;
(e) Effectively protect trade secrets and investment in training employees and
(f) Comply with notice and other requirements applicable to business sales.

Mr. Harris has successfully resolved many cases involving each above area, by discussion, settlement, administrative decision, motion practice, jury verdict or opinion on appeal. He has helped effectively negotiate several collective bargaining agreements, serving as spokesperson, member or advisor to the team.

Koko Leong

Head of Content
Save Hawaii Jobs and Businesses

Koko Leong

Koko Leong is a Freshman at Punahou School, Youth Leader, and Community Volunteer. In 2015, he was part of the youngest team to win a Startup Weekend and place as the first runner up in the Global Startup Battle business competition. In 2019 he won first place in the Punahou School Damon Speech. In his free time, he volunteers in our Hawaii Community volunteering for a non-profit organization called Winners' Camp Hawaii, throughout Middle School, he has logged over 640 community service hours. Currently, he is in charge of content for Save Hawaii Jobs and Businesses, a group of community leaders that hold free biweekly webinars to help educate Hawaii's Businesses and save jobs.

Buddy Leong

Executive Director
Virtual Student Experiences

Buddy Leong

Executive Director
Virtual Student Experiences

Buddy Leong is an aspiring social entrepreneur, youth leader, and investor. In 2015, he was part of the youngest team to win a StartUp Weekend and place as the first runner up in the Global Startup Battle business competition.

He is passionate about our Hawaii community and has over 2,600 logged community service volunteer hours. During the summer, he volunteers at a local City and County Summer Fun and works with students ages 5-12. Also during his summer and spring breaks, he volunteers at a non-profit organization called Winners’ Camp Hawaii, a leadership and life skills program for teens.

He is independently learning the basics of options trading, python programming, financial analysis and cryptocurrency through local and online classes, platforms, and community groups.

He has also held world rankings in two different video games and can solve a Rubik's Cube in under 1 minute.

Becket Wren

Head Canvasser
Virtual Student Experiences

Becket Wren

Head Canvasser
Virtual Student Experiences

Becket Wren lives every day by the quote, “Excellence is never an accident. It is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities” (Anonymous). He sincerely believes that excellence is not achievable but is merely an unattainable goal that one can pursue. As an aspiring lawyer with incommensurable potential, sedulous motivation, and a latent desire to exceed expectations with diligence but without acknowledgment, he believes that determination is what makes a dream into a goal, and diligence combined with persistence is what makes goals into achievements. He believes that “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” (Thomas Edison). He’s not scared of failure because failure is not doing something wrong, it is doing something different and believing you did something wrong.

He is a self-driven and self-criticizing leader that wants to achieve something truly spectacular with his life in a community full of remarkable. He is an aspiring lawyer because he has seen an opportunity to vastly improve my communication skills, creative thinking, and mindset towards the world. He wants to see opportunities where others see obstacles. He wants to see a solution when others only see a problem. He wants to see a chance to grow where others only see failure. Perfecting the study and practice of law is not achievable, and that is why he is so drawn to it. Because when there is no limit, you can go only as high as you imagine.

He has continuously been working hard for my entire life, so he can achieve what others can only imagine. He believes that what you do now will shape what you can do tomorrow. He trusts that if he is willing to do what others are not willing to do today, then he will be able to do what others are not able to do tomorrow. Every day he challenges himself to stretch my limits, achieve the impossible, and to exceed expectations. He participates in community service weekly, practices soccer continuously, and studies so he can satisfy his quest for excellence. He lives to see how close he can get to excellence because, “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everybody else” (James Cameron). Don’t be afraid of failure, be fearful of being average.