Advisor Dan was a Serteen back in 1983-1986. He served as the Serteen Club of Hawaii’s Sgt. at Arms, President and Governor (now known as VP Leadership Development). He graduated from Moanalua High School in 1986, attended Boston University on a full-tuition scholarship and graduated in 1990 with a B.A. degree in Political Science with minors in History and International Relations. If he could do it over again, Dan would have skipped the double minors and just graduated with double B.A. degrees in Poli Sci and History–it is a good idea to seek advice from academic advisors, which Dan did not. After much procrastination, Dan went back to school and earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix in 2004. For his career in the insurance industry, Dan obtained his Senior Claims Law Associate designation in 2021. While Dan never intends to quit learning and growing as a human being, he surely hopes that his time as a tuition-paying student is finally over.
During Dan’s years in Boston, he learned and grew in life experience. Going away to college may not be for everyone, but the challenges of dealing with homesickness and learning to create new relationships and friendships contributed greatly to learning outside of the classroom. After graduating from BU, Dan stuck around for another year in Boston working in that dynamic city, but in 1991, he returned to Hawaii and went to work at a law office, doing paralegal work. He was happy to leave the New England winters and return to sunny Honolulu.
It was while working as a paralegal, that Dan reconnected with another Serteen Alumnus, Kristl Kanekiyo, whom he met going to KMCs as a Serteen. Kristl was from Kauai, and during their Serteen years, Dan remembered Kristl as one of the Kauai Serteens who spoke pidgin better than standard English, but she could turn it on or off at will. In the years since being Serteens, Kristl had graduated with a degree in English from U.H. and she worked for a big nationwide insurance company, Liberty Mutual, that ironically was headquartered in Boston, MA, which was Dan’s car insurance company when he was in Boston.
Dan was intrigued with Kristl and from 1992 to 1993, he courted her and on January 3, 1993, he proposed to her in of all places, at a rock concert. Fortunately, Kristl forgave his lack of judgment, and said “YES!” Dan later re-proposed on bended knee with a ring and did it the right way. Fortunately, Kristl did not change her response to the do-over proposal.
Dan’s career went from Paralegal to insurance adjuster in 1992 and during this time, Kristl left Liberty Mutual to work for a technology company. Dan worked for a Swiss-based insurance firm from 1992-1996. Ironically, in 1996, a headhunter firm set up an interview for Dan the insurance adjuster at Liberty Mutual, the company Kristl used to work for. He got the job a week before he and Kristl were married. Dan worked at Liberty Mutual for 20 years and since 2016, he works at First Insurance Company of Hawaii as a manager in the Claims Department. If you ever have a question about workers’ compensation, TDI, automobile or homeowners insurance claims, Dan won’t steer you wrong.
During Dan and Kristl’s long engagement (1993-1996), they became Advisors to the Serteens Club of Hawaii in early 1994. They were a duo along with another duo of Advisors, Lloyd and Vickie Asato. Advisor Steven Nakano made up the fifth of the Advisor team during that period. Advisors to the Serteens Club of Hawaii have pretty much been growing since 1998, with Kristl and Dan, Jared Kuroiwa, Darryl Ching, Steven Nakano, Sid Savara, Keane Nishimoto, Maria Quidez-Glidden, Byron Inouye, Kelly Kawaoka and Leah Aiwohi all contributing their love and time to be Serteen Advisors at some point over the past 30+ years since Caren Noda and Royanne Doi advised the club after George B. Carter returned to the mainland. Dan wants you to understand that one of the most understated and humble Advisors is Darryl Ching. He has done so very much to create the foundation of Serteens, as the first club President back in 1973-74, and as a Honolulu Sertoma President, and as a Director for Sertoma National. He was the national President of Sertoma! All of the Advisors are truly wonderful people, and Dan is honored to call each and every one of them, past, present and hopefully more in the future, close personal friends.
Being a Serteen Advisor is a big part of Dan’s DMP in life, and he takes great pride in seeing Serteens accomplish so much during their years as Serteens, and even more so as they change the world for the better as adults. It is one of Dan’s greatest pleasures to be friends with Serteens alumni, and to share fellowship with great people who were once Serteens like himself. Advisors Keane, Kelly and Maria were once Serteens when Dan was an Advisor, and it is a tremendous honor for Dan to work with these fellow Advisors who have their own Hero’s Journey to share with Serteens.
As Dan looks back on his life to date, he is compelled to take a moment and give tribute to the man whose love and commitment to Hawaii’s Gifted and Talented youth made so much of Dan’s life what it is. George B. Carter, the Dragon Slayer, is Dan’s hero. George was such a positive influence in the lives of thousands of people, and Dan will be eternally grateful for the influence George has made in his life. George was Dan’s inspiration for becoming an Advisor, and Dan will always do what is necessary to keep the legacy of George’s dream for the Gifted and Talented in Hawaii alive with the Serteens Club of Hawaii that bears his name.
One man’s dream to create a haven for gifted teens has inspired the creation of the Honolulu Sertoma Club to carry on the sponsorship of the George B. Carter Serteens Club of Hawaii. Dan works with fellow Sertomans to take care of the logistical and definitely un-cool administrative work to make sure that the Honolulu Sertoma Club d.b.a. the George B. Carter Serteens Club of Hawaii meets all of the bureaucratic and legal requirements of being a Hawaii non-profit, federally tax-exempt organization. Meeting and maintaining our status as an IRS 501C-3 organization means a lot of paperwork and headaches. Dan is famous for grousing about filing 990 EZ forms with the IRS and grousing about filing general excise taxes, but he does this out of a deep abiding love for the Serteens Club of Hawaii, and these banal and tedious exercises are a practical manifestation of action to keep George Carter’s dream for Hawaii’s gifted and talented youth alive. I hope you find some value in these behind-the-scenes efforts that all Honolulu Sertomans contribute in the sponsorship of the Serteens Club of Hawaii. Remember, all the Advisors are Honolulu Sertomans, and when the time is right for you, you can join in this marvelous organization to become a benefactor for the betterment of mankind.
This autobiography is just a work in progress. There are many mountains to climb and dragons to slay. Dan looks forward to the journey and hopes to walk alongside with persons who will accomplish great deeds. People like YOU! It is an honor and privilege to be of service to mankind and to be your friend.