HPU Senior Vice President Selected As an Omidyar Fellow

HPU Senior Vice President Selected As an Omidyar Fellow

Senior Vice President and General Counsel Jan Boivin joins 15 other community leaders in Cohort VIII of the Omidyar Fellows. 

Boivin has been with HPU since 2009 and is responsible for overseeing legal affairs, board governance, and human resources. 

In 2012, Boivin - in her role as chief equity officer - co-founded with the University’s Dean of Students Marites McKee HPU’s “We Care'' Campus Safety Program. The goal of “We Care” is to increase knowledge on key safety issues, including the correlation between alcohol consumption and sexual assault and all students' ability to take the initiative to help others in need. Boivin and McKee have since expanded the “We Care” program, initiating a public service effort to educate Hawai‘i’s graduating high school seniors and their parents on sexual assault prevention. 

In 2019, Boivin and other community leaders hosted the conference, TechForce Hawaii: Digitalization and Hawaii’s Tech-Based Workforce, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  A cumulative, multi-year effort, the conference’s objectives included increasing awareness about the benefits of tech workforce development and helping employers establish work cultures that are premised on change, innovation, collaboration, and co-opetition with Hawaii’s stakeholders.  Also in 2019, Boivin and other community leaders steered the establishment of the 4th Annual Women and Minorities in STEM Entrepreneurship Conference in Kona, Hawaii.  The conference was originally set for March 2020 but was postponed to March 2021.

In 2020, Boivin established the University’s innovative HPU Next Program, which channels employer and employee needs into relevant courses designed to upskill, reskill, and otherwise ensure that Hawaii is able to compete globally and to maintain a strong, sustainable economy into the future.  The program includes institutes for island leadership and HR certification.  Currently, “Transitioning Your Business Online” is being offered through virtual workshops as one of multiple offerings designed to assist Hawaii’s employers during the pandemic.    

In the community, Boivin serves as the president of the Hawaii State Bar Foundation, a board member of the American Judicature Society, and the Hawaii Ombudsman Director for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, Department of Defense.  

The Omidyar Fellows program seeks to cultivate the conditions in which Hawaiʻi thrives by equipping leaders with the skills and cross-sector relationships necessary to collectively affect societal change. Members of the cohort are selected through a rigorous application and selection process. Beginning in October 2020, Cohort VIII Fellows will participate in a monthly session, executive coaching, conversations with community, business, and government leaders, and more. Following this 15-month structured curriculum, the cohort becomes fully engaged in the Forum of Fellows, an active network of 99 transformative leaders dedicated to strengthening the well-being of Hawai‘i. For more information, please visit www.omidyar fellows.org.