Visionary Voices Leadership Series featuring Suzanne Vares-Lum
In-Person Date & Time: June 30, 1:45PM-3:15PM HST
Live Stream Date & Time: June 30, 2PM-3PM HST
Location: Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi in the Ohana Room
Registration: This is a members-only event. If you have questions about this event or would like to attend, please email us at [email protected].
The USJC Hawaiʻi Region is hosting an installment of the Visionary Voices Leadership Series, featuring USJC Council Leader Suzanne Vares-Lum (Director of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies). Vares-Lum will share her story followed by a fireside Q&A moderated by USJC Council Leader, Representative Andrew Takuya Garrett (Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives, District 22 (Mānoa)).
For the in-person attendees, we will be providing light refreshments and parking will be validated. Thank you to Nate Gyotoku and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi for their support of this event!
This event is part of a series highlighting trailblazers in USJC’s network who will share insights and lessons learned as visionary leaders. Previously featured Keishi Hotsuki in New York and USJC Council Leaders Michael Kobori and John Onoda in Northern California.
Featured Speaker: Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum
Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum became the director of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific
Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) in January 2025. DKI APCSS is a U.S. Department of Defense organization dedicated to advancing security cooperation and empowering U.S., ally, and partner security practitioners to foster solutions for complex security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. Vares-Lum also served as President of the East-West Center, a U.S. Congressionally established Center in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Vares-Lum served 34 years in all three components of the U.S. Army—the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve—retiring as a Major General in 2021. Prior to her retirement, Vares-Lum spent 5 ½ years at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, where she served as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, including periods as acting Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander.
Vares-Lum serves on the Bank of Hawaiʻi Board of Directors, as well as non-profit boards, including the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research and the Hawaiʻi Army Museum. She is a current member of the U.S.-Japan Council and is a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and her Master of Education in Teaching from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, as well as a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. In 2019, she became a National Security Fellow of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She is also an alumna of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.
Her awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, and other personal and unit awards. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and Army ROTC National Hall of Fame Inductee.
Meet the Moderator: Representative Andrew Takuya Garrett
Representative Andrew Takuya Garrett represents House District 22, which includes Mānoa and parts of Tantalus and McCully-Moʻiliʻili. He currently serves as Chair of the House Committee on Higher Education and is a member of the Committees on Labor and on Culture and the Arts.
Before being elected in 2022, Representative Garrett served throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as Deputy Director of the Department of Human Resources Development under Governor David Y. Ige. In that role, he helped lead the successful transition of the state workforce to telework and played a key role in coordinating the statewide COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He has also held executive roles with the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiʻi Institute for Public Affairs, working at the intersection of health care policy, workforce development, and public-private partnerships.
Born and raised in Camp Zama, Japan, a U.S. Army base in Tokyo, he moved to Mililani, Hawaiʻi at age 11. He is a proud graduate of Mililani High School and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration.
A nearly 20-year resident of Mānoa, Representative Garrett enjoys traveling with his family, umpiring baseball and softball, and spending time with his four dogs and four cats—all adopted from the local shelter.