The following individuals volunteer as the AAJA Hawai‘i chapter’s 2024 board of directors:
Rick Quan, chapter president
Rick has been anchoring the news at KITV since February 2020. He also worked as a sportscaster for KITV during the 1980s. He is the first Chinese American television sportscaster in the country and the first Asian American male to become a full-time anchor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rick was recently inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle for his more than 25 years of broadcast excellence in the Northern California and Hawaii TV markets. Rick is also an award-winning documentarian, having produced several short documentaries on various Asian American pioneers.
Jill Kuramoto, chapter vice president
Jill is manager of news and content at KHON2 News.
Among her achievements as a veteran journalist with 20 years as a reporter and anchor, Jill earned the Society of Professional Journalists Excellence Award in the “Feature Reporting” and “General News” categories and has been recognized by the state for her work with early childhood development. She also is a two-time Telly Award winner for her outstanding work in video production.
In addition to her involvement with AAJA, Jill currently serves on the selection
committee of the prestigious Living Treasures of Hawaii™ program and as a Commissioner on the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. She serves on the board of ID8, a think tank for innovative educational curriculum and is a member of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
Jill has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from San Diego State
University and holds a Master’s degree in Public Relations from Quinnipiac University.
Megan Tagami, board treasurer
Megan was born and raised in Hawaii and attended ‘Iolani School. She recently graduated from UCLA, where she studied political science and public affairs. During that time, she reported for the school paper, the Daily Bruin, writing features and covering the University of California system. She also covered K-12 and higher education while interning for CalMatters and the Wall Street Journal.
Diane S. W. Lee, board member and webmaster
Diane is the multimedia and engagement editor at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, where she manages newsroom efforts to connect readers with the brand’s various digital platforms via the website, mobile app, social media, breaking news and multimedia. She joined the Star-Advertiser in June 2018. Prior to that, she worked at Honolulu and Honolulu Family magazines for over five years. Her multimedia work was honored in 2017 and 2018 with national finalist awards in Multiplatform Storytelling by the National City and Regional Magazine Association. Over the years, she has earned multiple state journalism awards from the Hawaii Society of Professional Journalists and the Hawaii Publishers Association.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Lee is a graduate of McKinley High School and a proud alumnus of the Poynter and The Washington Post 2020-21 Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media and Chips Quinn Scholars program. She has served as a volunteer board member on the Hawaii chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association since 2022, and volunteers and mentors young journalists in her spare time.
Joe Guinto, board member
Joe has been working in Hawaii news media as a page and graphic designer for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for more than 15 years. A graduate of UH Manoa, he studied and majored in Graphic Design, worked for the Ka Leo O Hawai‘i as a cartoonist and visual editor. He interned at the Honolulu Advertiser where he was hired shortly after. When it was bought by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, he made the transition into the current newsroom he’s been working at since. His hobbies include playing and listening to music, movies, cooking, eating, and collecting sneakers.
Cassie Ordonio, board member
Blaze Lovell, board member
Wes Nakama, national advisory board representative
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