As we adjust to a “new” normal these days, we continue to find ways to connect and stay connected, even if virtually. We were honored to continue our bi-monthly OWL meetings with Denise Hayashi Yamaguchi as our guest speaker for our webinar meeting in July. She appropriately titled her talk with us “tsunagari”, which means to “connect” in Japanese, and shared her vision and version of connectivity in her life.
Denise is the CEO and Founder of the Hawai‘i Ag and Culinary Alliance (dba, Hawaii Food & Wine Festival) and the Executive Director of the Hawai‘i Agricultural Foundation. From her experience at a nonprofit to a multi-billion dollar corporation, she shared that the breadth of her work provided her with the foundation she needed to undertake the projects she has made flourish.
With a background in marketing and business, she would never have imagined doing what she is doing today. She credits a lot of her professional direction to her experience working with the late Senator Inouye. Her time with him was a pivotal point in her life and is where she decided to take her education and experience and do something different.
Making connections has been a part of every aspect of her work. Through the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, the goal of the Local Inside program, a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, is to connect farmers with the community. Now, not only do the farmers have a way to connect people directly with their produce, but the community also has a deeper appreciation for the farmers and their work. During this pandemic, a challenge she saw in the community was that people did not know which restaurants were open for business. So through the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation, Denise helped create Food-A- Go-Go to connect people directly with restaurants. Through this on-line, free community resource, people can access the latest information on which restaurants are open for take-out, delivery or curbside pickup. This effort has helped the community still enjoy their favorite dishes while supporting local restaurants statewide. These are just a few ways she has demonstrated her art of connectivity.
A book titled, “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein, helped Denise frame the successes of her career. She explains that generalists find their path late. They juggle many different interests instead of just one, and this diversity creates someone who is more creative, more agile and more able to make connections that a specialist may not be able to make. Adaptability is what has helped Denise thrive and hints this is what we need today. She reminds us to remain adaptable and find ways to connect, especially during this time, because if we’re in this together we need to work together.