President Hilda Heine, the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ first female leader, received the East West Center’s (EWC) third annual Women of Impact award at a gala ceremony on October 25. She was recognized for her leadership, activism toward women’s rights and climate change, and countless other achievements she has fought to earn throughout her life.
President Heine graciously made time for a brief Q&A with the Mānoa Mirror, answering the following three questions regarding how she got to her position today and her hopes for the future.
MM: What was the first (or one of the first) events that you can recall that sparked your passion for leadership? If you have ever had a time where you wanted to give it up or felt insufficient, how were you able to get over this?
“There’s not one moment or single event that sparked interest in leadership. My career evolved over time and leadership roles evolved along with those roles. After serving as the first President of the College of the Marshall Islands I was recruited to the role of Secretary of Education for the Ministry of Education. These are important leadership roles in their own rights. Later on, I would become the Minister of Education. I aspired to take on that top leadership role in education because I wanted to sit at the table where Government resources are allocated. Obviously, I felt not enough resources were given to education. I wanted to change that. To do this I had to run for politics. That is how I entered politics and was put in a position to become president. I was there at the right time when a new government needed to select a President.
Feeling insufficient comes with the territory. Anyone in leadership role can feel insufficient at any time because most leaders are not expert in all fields. We need to accept that and roll with the punches so to speak. Acknowledging that one does not have all the answers is critical for a leader.”
MM: What added pressures or standards have you felt as the first woman in your position? How have you combated those, and what advice would you give to another woman taking on such a role?
“The greatest pressure is not to fail. Being the first female President (for RMI) carries with it important responsibilities and one of those is to prove to everyone that a woman can perform successfully in this role such as a male president can.”
MM: Being that you were the first from the Marshall Islands to receive a doctorate, do you plan to expand higher education to make this more widely plausible? If so, what is your hope for the Marshall Islands and Micronesia as a whole when it comes to higher education?
“Education continues to be the most important priority for me in my role as President. We recently doubled the amount of scholarships for higher education for RMI students. Eventually one of the higher education goals is to have 4 year college education available locally to our residents. Currently our two year institution offers four year college degree in selected programs, like education. We want to expand those opportunities and to be able to offer BA programs in other areas as well.”
