Newsmaker
Monday, September 22, 1997
Name: Debbie Malilay
Age: 31
Education: Stanford University, UH
Occupation: Work force staffing and development analyst, Hawaiian Electric Co.
Hobbies: Aerobics teacher
At 31, Debbie Malilay has been a trailblazer for most of her life, though you'd be hard-pressed to get her to admit it. Blazing trails at Iolani
Last month she became the first woman to be elected president of Iolani School's alumni association and will oversee the board that represents the 8,000-member association.
"I love this school, and I'm there purely for the best interest of Iolani School," she said. "If that makes me in some way a trailblazer, then I guess it's not such a bad place to be."
Malilay was among the first 50 young women to attend Iolani School in 1980, breaking a 110-year-old tradition at the formerly all-male school.
She graduated from Iolani in 1984 after a "tough four years."
"There was some resistance to having girls in the school because it disrupted the Iolani brotherhood," Malilay said. "Some of the resistance surfaced in jest, and others you could just sense they were uncomfortable.
"We had to be comfortable with men -- that's tough enough in a co-ed school, but being in an all-male school made it even more challenging. It was tough, but we were all outgoing young women and willing to make it work."
Malilay was also one of 26 Hawaii residents selected last month as a Pacific Century Fellow. The fellowship program is modeled after the White House Fellows program in Washington, D.C.
The program, in its second year, brings together residents from diverse occupations -- law, education, business, politics, health care and social services -- with track records of achievement.
City Councilman Mufi Hannemann started the program last year to help people who will be future leaders of Hawaii and to give potential leaders the opportunity to explore issues that current leaders are struggling with. The group will meet once a month for the next nine months.
Veronica Fajardo, Star-Bulletin
