Cheryl Kauhane Lupenui and the new YWCA
The YWCA has been fighting sexism and racism for more than 150 years, and now Cheryl Kauhane Lupenui is working to make the Y-Dub in Hawaii more relevant to modern women than ever, with a goal of adding 3,500 new members by 2010. The Oct. 23 Downtown Decadence event at the Richards Street YWCA is a fun way to check it out
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tle dusty and things were falling into disrepair, so we are so fortunate not only to be able to renovate, but more importantly beyond just a pretty building is the work that’s going on inside. It really allows us to expand the programs that we do for our members, the services that we offer and the benefits.”
The first partial unveiling will be at Thursday’s Downtown Decadence event. Once it’s completed, a public launch is scheduled for the first week of January.
In conjunction with the renovations, the YWCAalso plans to launch a campaign called
Setting The Table For Social Change. The idea is much like a bridal or baby shower registry, but instead for the newly renovated kitchen and dining area.
“We decided that the woman thing to do is to have an online gift registry and have our community help us buy the plates, the glasses and really help us help the table,” says Lupenui. “What I love is that sense of buying a plate and then, when you come in and eat on it, you’re like, ‘I bought this plate.‘You really take pride in ownership, and you realize that you’re a part of it and you are a part of this community. We’re really here to support each other through life’s many transitions, and we really think this is a great way to start engaging women and introducing or reintroducing them to the YWCA, but also really that they make this their home. This place was created for women to gather in a very safe and beautiful setting. We kind of lost that through the years and became almost the traditional swim-and-gym, but there’s so much more.”
For Lupenui, the renovations are like coming full circle for her. When she first entered the YWCA 11 years ago, it was as an entrepreneur invited to take on the task of bringing a healthy and innovative perspective to the Laniakea Cafe. Now she is taking part in the transformation of that cafe, but on a much grander scale.
Lupenui’s credentials that gained her the invitation from then YWCApresident and CEO Susan Doyle was through the success of her Broke Da Mouth restaurants on the Big Island and Oahu. Coupled with a MBA in finance and marketing from Tulane University, Lupenui brought the skills and experience needed to take on the tasks at hand.
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“When I started the Broke Da Mouth restaurants I realized that there was a social consciousness to the kind of business I’d like to run,” says Lupenui. “Then it was using sustainable agriculture and using locally grown products such as kalo, sweet potato, etc. - a healthy and affordable plate lunch. I was encouraged and given the chance to bring a healthy menu to the YWCA. So that was my entry to both nonprofits and the YWCA.”
Bringing people together from all different backgrounds through food, good company and good conversation has always been a passion for Lupenui.
Born and raised in Maryland, Lupenui remembers the dinner parties her parents would have. She learned the process of such extravagant and time-consuming social affairs and the positive effects of good food and good company.
It’s when she moved to Hawaii, where her father grew up and her paternal family (Kauhane) reside, after high school that she discovered a completely new and equally important meaning of dinner parties.
“What’s so great about Hawaii is how everyone comes and shares in the responsibilities for a party,” says Lupenui, who is of Hawaiian, Chinese, Italian, French, English and German descent. “Our vision is to host our members, but also create a true partnership - where we’re all in it together.”
She says since moving home (Hawaii) she’s felt a calling to really put her roots here and make this her community.
A haumana (student) of Halau Mohala Ilima, Lupenui has performed at the Merrie Monarch Festival for the past seven years. She also is on the Hawaiian Resource Advisory Board for the Hawaii Tourism Authority and is the first native Hawaiian to head the YWCA.
And five years ago, Lupenui’s ohana here in Hawaii expanded when she married local boy Boots Lupenui, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools.
“Any free time I have, it’s with my husband - he’s the love of my life,” says Lupenui. “We’re living the grandest love affair, at least that’s our goal.”
The happy couple is learning Hawaiian language together and other free-time activities include exercising together at 3:30 in the morning and traveling.
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But free time doesn’t come around too often for Lupenui as she has a lot of responsibilities that venture outside of her role as CEO. She’s currently on the board of OWL (Organization For Women’s Leaders), on the national board of The Center For Asian Pacific American Women and on the community-building committee for Aloha United Way. She says she’s been cutting back lately because the YWCA is requiring more of her attention.
Moreover, Lupenui has found balance, and through her years as a business owner and CEO of YWCA, she has learned that being a leader doesn’t mean doing everything by herself.
“Now I know that leadership is based on the quality of the relationships I have, and so I feel very fortunate,” says Lupenui, who admits to being called an over-achiever. “I’ve definitely channeled my overachievements to realize how I can achieve amazing things with others. My greater achievement is inspiring others to achieve their goals, and it’s really about inspiring others to greatness. So I’ve gotten a lot of joy in my role here watching staff and members really shine with their talents.”
Lissa Guild Eveleth, senior marketing manager at Hawaiian Telcom and first vice chair of the board of directors of YWCA of Oahu, has witnessed Lupenui’s work as CEO firsthand, having served on the board for the past six years.
She says, “Cheryl has been an excellent leader and resource as the YWCA board struggled to make our mission relevant to the girls and women of today. She has been great at keeping us focused on our strategic goals, helping us define the details and leading us through the first phase of our capital campaign and renovation.”
A woman committed to her work, her family, her community and herself - those are the common threads the YWCA works hard to connect.
“We are a community of women who have a driving need to grow as people and serve the larger Hawaii community,” says Eveleth. “We derive much of our strength and purpose from one another. Cheryl exemplifies the YWCA characteristics personally and professionally, and it’s been a pleasure working side by side with her through the years.”
A model employee, Lupenui admits that her life “is not separated by work and non-work.” After all, she credits that very idea of integration to adjusting her outlook in life.
“I have a little mantra now and it’s: ‘Being here is getting there,’” says Lupenui.
“It’s really a reminder to appreciate the moment, the people you are with, because that’s it. It does-n’t have to have a bottom-line goal at the end of the day, and I don’t have to check it off my to-do list. So my achievement orientation has really focused more on being present. And really just more appreciative of just the journey itself.”
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