[ INSIDE HAWAII INC. ]

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Coraliee Chun Matayoshi said the Hawaii Red Cross responds to disasters about every two days.

Lawyer comes to rescue
at Hawaii Red Cross

Coraliee Chun Matayoshi New job: Chief executive officer of the Hawaii chapter of the American Red Cross Background: Executive director of the Hawaii State Bar Association for 13 years, serves on KHON's Action Line advisory board and the Neighborhood Justice Center Board, contributing editor of Hawaii Bar Journal, and 1976 Narcissus Queen.

What attracted you to the top job at the local chapter of the Red Cross?

I think it's the lawyer in me that really embraces the idea that whatever your race or religion or social standing, even if you are an enemy at war, the Red Cross will come to your aid. After all, we're all human beings.

Are there changes you'd like to see at the agency?

We need to get more out into the community because we are the best-kept secret. People just assume we're going to be there. People don't realize that we are not a government agency. I think we've been shy about asking for money and people just assume we have it, but we don't. We have no reserves in case of a disaster. The national Red Cross has disaster reserves of $1.5 million, it anticipates adequate reserves would be $65 million. What that means is if there was a hurricane or something big here, we would have to be raising funds while we were trying to help with a disaster, and national wouldn't be able to back it up. When Iniki hit, we got back-up from national. That cost $12 million and, again, we had no local reserves.

The Red Cross jumps onto everyone's radar screen when there's a crisis, but what's the CEO's job in quieter times?

There is no quiet time. Every day my disaster person tells me about things. People think it's hurricanes, floods, the big things. But we were there at Sacred Falls, at Ehime Maru, at Xerox. We're there at house fires. Just (recently) we responded to two events, the helicopter crash on Kauai and that traffic accident that took the life of a police officer. We're there to provide counseling and guidance to the families of victims and also to the rescue workers. We respond to about 125 disasters in Hawaii every year, that's an average of one every two days. We're there for all kinds of things, not only food, clothing and shelter, but mental health services. We also offer disaster preparedness planning and classes in everything from CPR to baby sitting to pet first aid.

How has your legal career prepared you for this work?

That legal background always helps; in dealing with people, in thinking about all sides of things. But I think my non-legal background has done more to prepare me for this job. I basically ran a business as executive director of the Hawaii Institute for Continuing Legal Education. It was in a very bad financial situation and I had to turn it around. I had to learn a lot of things I didn't learn in law school, marketing, budgeting, spreadsheets. I learned all that myself. And then my work at the bar really prepared me for this. We really built that organization up. It went from being a volunteer association to the court requiring mandatory membership for all lawyers in Hawaii. When that process started, we had one computer in the office. There were a lot of changes involved in that. Coming on board at the Red Cross presents a really nice challenge for me. It's giving me a chance to expand my service to the community to beyond just the legal community.

Do you think Hawaii's economy is more at risk from manmade or natural disasters?

Probably natural if it's the big catastrophic stuff. But the small disasters have an impact and a lot of that is preventable. Before I was at Red Cross, I'd look at the news and see there was a fire or a drowning or a car accident and it didn't have the same impact. Now, we're there. I realize if more people could help, a lot of lives would be saved. We offer classes in first aid, in water safety. No one thinks it's going to happen to them. You just don't think that your kid could knock their head on a table, but what would you do?

What kinds of things would you like to see taken into account in disaster response planning?

Everyone needs to be prepared at the family level. Plan how to leave the house in the event of a fire. Don't wait for the hurricane warning to buy batteries. Know first aid.

Do you worry a lot more now that you have this job?

That's funny. You know, a lot of lawyers were sad to see me leave, but a lot lawyers came up to me and said, "Coraliee, with you in charge of the Red Cross, I'm going to sleep easier at night." That was a nice thing to hear.

---

Inside Hawaii Inc. is a conversation with a member of the Hawaii business community who has changed jobs, been elected to a board or been recognized for accomplishments. Send questions and comments to: business@starbulletin.com.