SAS Team

Aimee Chung has over 20 years of experience in social work and education. In addition to being an independent consultant, she is currently an instructor at the University of Hawai`i, Myron B. Thompson School or Social Work. In her career she has worked as a practitioner and director primarily in programs supporting those who are survivors of family violence, child abuse, and power-based personal violence. Her experience also includes work supporting and advocating for individuals and families with disabilities and economic disadvantage. She has experience in both non-profit agencies and state departments. Although most of her work has been in Hawai`i, she has also lived and worked in California and Colorado.  Aimee’s consultant, leadership, and management experience includes: program evaluation; program quality assurance and improvement; development and revision of policies and procedures; public and private grant and RFP writing; report writing for funders; multi-disciplinary community collaboration; curriculum development and training; staff, intern, and volunteer supervision; supervisor training and coaching; social media development and content management; and project liaison for database development and improvement.

Dr. Billie-Jo Grant, Ph.D., specializes in the design, administration and analyses of randomized controlled trials, mixed-methods research, and qualitative studies of science, reading, and math curricula, sexual violence and abuse research and has more than 10 years of experience serving governmental agencies, educational institutions, and not-for-profit organizations through consulting and technical assistance. She has substantial experience in conducting focus groups and interviews, program and policy evaluation, instrument construction, and large dataset management; and she has taught classes on survey design, measurement theory and data visualization. Dr. Grant has been the lead investigator or a partner on more than 30 evaluation studies, including evaluation studies of STEM related products for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Holt McDougal Biology Program, Pearson Education’s Waterford Early Learning program, and National Geographic’s Science K-5 program. Dr. Grant is a faculty member in the Statistics and Education Departments at Cal Poly State University where she teaches quantitative methods and elementary and advanced statistics. Billie-Jo holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research Statistics and Evaluation from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia and has completed numerous trainings in quantitative and qualitative research methods. Dr. Grant is an active member of the American Evaluation Association and has been the lead of the Crime and Justice Topical Interest Group since 2011.

Edlyn Moana Olaso became a Virtual Assistant in 2015 after doing contract work for Central Oahu Youth Services Association (COYSA), a nonprofit shelter on the North Shore of Oʻahu. It was there that she met Sharon and her life, and purpose became clearer.  As an alumnus of The Kamehameha Schools, Moana has learned to embrace her multicultural heritage and values while expanding her knowledge in the virtual world.   Aside from being parents to their 5 wonderful sons, she and her husband Reyn, also raised their great-grandniece – previously placed in the foster care system – as a welcomed addition to their loving family.  Moanaʻs heart and home will always be in Hawaiʻi, but she and her husband now reside in the high desert of Nevada, where they will one day retire. 

Heather Pierucki is a natural born connector who helps to create positive impacts within the realms of Hawaii’s mental health, substance abuse, and homeless services sector. She is responsible for spearheading the housing first model approach in Hawaii and embodying a harm reduction approach to tackling some of our community’s most challenging social inequities. She is an experienced therapist, and previously served as the Director of Behavioral Health with Helping Hands Hawaii, overseeing programs focused on health, well-being, and supportive care for some of Hawaii’s most challenged populations.  Heather’s experience lends to helping the community understand trauma, its impact on the body, mind, and environment, and how to seek and find support for healing.   She now consults full time for her own company, ChangeWorks, LLC and emphasizes creating impactful change in our local community. 

Mary Tam has over 17 years of experience in the pursuit of social justice, having worked for various organizations in fundraising, programmatic, and grantmaking capacities. Previous employers include Amnesty International USA, Net Impact, and the State Bar of California. Through Nā Hopena Consulting, Mary now works with organizations to achieve outcomes as they relate to goals, impact, and connection. With a focus on stakeholder engagement, she helps clients arrive at fully-informed decisions, ensuring those decisions also translate into action. Her work has assisted clients in shaping program design, strategic planning, and operations. Born and raised on O’ahu, Mary was taught to leave beach houses (and places in general) in better condition than when she arrived, and has kept that lesson with her through life. Mary developed her professional career in California, and has an MBA degree from San Francisco State University. In the simplest terms, Mary is dedicated to the reduction of suffering, inequity, and exploitation. She values integrity, open communication, community, cultural context, and authenticity, and integrates these values into her approach with nonprofit partners.

Verna Wong is the owner and Principal Consultant of Verna Wong HR Services, LLC, offering strategic planning, organizational development, leadership coaching, and other HR services for organizations.  She was a member of the Executive Leadership team, serving as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Hawaiian Host Inc. She oversaw the HR team, and was responsible for strategy, organizational development (OD), and human resources (HR). She was responsible for redesigning the entire OD and HR functions during its acquisition of the Mauna Loa Nut Corporation.  While at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Shidler College of Business, she developed the new Graduate Career Services function which included operational and professional development functions.  She has held additional OD and HR functions in other industries.  Prior to her roles in OD and HR, she held multiple leadership roles in retail operations, new business development, and merchandising with profit and loss responsibilities.  She currently serves as the Secretary on the board at Family Programs Hawaii. She is a member of the Hawaii Community Benefit Consultants Association (HCBC) and Association of Talent Development – Hawaii Chapter.  Her passion is to serve the at-risk community in Hawaii through volunteering. She has served as a mentor to an at-risk foster youth for several years. She has also served in multiple volunteer roles in nonprofit organizations such as Family Programs Hawaii, Help is On the Way, Breakthrough for Youth, Inc., HACBED, Hawaii Food Bank, Design Thinking Hawaii, Society of Human Resources Management – Hawaii Chapter, Association of Talent Development -Hawaii, and at her place of worship.