“Aloha for All is Good Business”
The Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce is growing Hawaii’s LGBTQ+ allies business community. We represent and advocate for small businesses, individuals, corporations, and nonprofit associations whose members share values of inclusion, diversity, and equality of opportunity in the workplace, marketplace and society.
The Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce offer education, training and networking events to connect you to like-minded people and opportunities. We know that Aloha for All is Good Business!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kelly Pinzak
(she/her/hers)
Kelly has a professional background in education and a Master of Arts in Human Development, which informs her understanding of the significance of life changing factors and how this influences her clients. As a realtor for BHGRE Advantage Realty West, Kelly is devoted to understanding the needs of her customers in order to provide the tools and resources necessary to make real estate ownership a part of a client’s legacy. Kelly especially understands the needs of active military and veterans and their families with her past experience of being military spouse and has a Military Relocation Professional (MRP) designation.Kelly’s embrace of a lifestyle of aloha also flows to giving back to her community at large, where she serves as a guardian ad litem volunteer for children and families, and as a board member of the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce. Kelly enjoys networking with other professionals to support inclusion and diversity in Hawai’i communities, and currently lives in Oahu, with her awesome goldendoodle. In her free time she enjoys cooking, traveling to new places and relaxing on the beach with a great book.
Walter Kinoshita
(he/him/his)
Walter is a Certified Massage Therapist and enjoys helping clients who seek wellness through this healing modality. Prior to this, Walter was Sponsorship and Promotions Specialist at UHA and has been deeply committed to involvement with the community. Walter previously served for several years as the president of the HGLCF, which produces the Hawaii Rainbow Film Festival. Walter grew up in Hawaii and currently resides in Honolulu.
Shannon K. Smith
(she/her/hers)
For 24+ years, Shannon has delivered spirited service one home at a time. A realtor and broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hawaii Really, Shannon handles a wide variety of clients specializing in working with military personnel and families, but also has experience with first-time buyers, 1031 exchanges, buyers/sellers in Waikiki, and even those in need of a short sale. With strong emphasis on understanding the desires and needs of all her clients to develop a plan and strategy that will best position them in the market. Shannon has won numerous client service awards and her desire to help others also extends into the community, where she has served on real estate boards and has also chaired events around O’ahu that have helped area elementary schools better the lives of their students. One of Shannon’s favorite organizations she has volunteered with is Project Visitation, which sponsors events reuniting siblings separated in the foster care system in Honolulu. In addition to having served as a board member of the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation, Shannon is a founding member of the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce. Originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Shannon visited Honolulu in the summer of 1993 to work with her great-aunt at Fort Shafter and never left. Shannon worked for a developer after graduating with a MA in American Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1996. Since 2016, Shannon has been married to her partner, Lidia, of twenty years. She is excited about supporting the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, and bringing the greater community together.
Winston Welch
(he/him/his)
Principal, Diamond Head Group LLC, and a co-founder of the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce. Working with amazingly dedicated and passionate board members to advance the mission of the chamber, Winston is delighted to advocate with other board members on the mission of the chamber. Professionally, Winston is a Certified Association Executive and has run local, state and international nonprofit organizations. He holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University and has traveled, worked and lived overseas extensively. Winston is the Principal of Diamond Head Group LLC, consulting in both association management and meetings/conference venue site selection & hotel negotiations worldwide. Winston sits on several boards, including the chamber and others of local interest. Winston hosts a talk show “Out and About” on ThinkTech Hawaii which focuses on people, organizations and events doing good in our city, state, country and world, with special emphasis on LGBTQ+ topics. Fundamentally, he views the whole conversation about LGBTQ+ issues as a larger discussion of humanity coming into its wholeness where people are valued for the unique gifts and qualities of both who they are and what they bring to the world.
ADVISORY BORD
Vincent Kimura
(he/him/his)
Vincent Kimura has more than 25 years of entrepreneurial and industry experience throughout the Asia-Pacific region, Vincent partners with public and private entities worldwide to enhance strategic sustainability management, technology programs, community building and business development. Born in Honolulu and raised in Hawaii and Asia, Vincent holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BS in Environmental Science from Oregon State University. He has also earned certifications in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Government Cost Accounting from George Washington University, and is a certified Food Safety Scheme Practitioner under the Global Food Safety Initiative.
Travis Knott
(he/him/his)
Travis Knott, a co-founder of the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, previously served as Co-Chair for the Equality Hawaii Foundation. “Seeing the unity of the community during the final years of the legislative battle for marriage equality was truly inspiring. Working with the Rainbow Chamber is another way to strengthen our local LGBT community. We want to be so much more than just a membership group, we hope to foster prosperity for our community with the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber. I have two areas of primary focus for our new Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce. The first is to help locally owned companies to uncover new business by tapping into the Supplier Diversity initiatives in place across the country. This will bring new dollars into our Hawaii market and could expose local businesses to new and unexpected sources of business. The second area is to help local companies to develop their own LGBT Employee Resource Groups. An Employee Resource Group helps to create an environment where you can bring your full self to work. It is a very powerful way to show your employees and your customers that happy employees leads to more productive employees, and better quality in service and products overall.” Travis and his husband D.J. moved to Hawaii in 1999. They celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2022.
Sonja “Sunny” Monteiro
(she/her/hers)
Sonja “Sunny” Monteiro owns The Sidewalk’s End, a web and graphic design company specializing in online brand development, analytics and marketing. Sunny and her wife have two adorable fur babies, Cookie and Jojo Beasley. Sunny has lived in Hawaii since August 2002.
Kevin Moran
(he/him/his)
Kevin Moran is a personal life coach based on Oahu, where he focuses on providing life coaching to LGBTQIA+ individuals to assist with empowering the mental well-being of the queer community. Kevin joined the Hawaii Rainbow Chamber of Commerce to support fellow LGBTQIA+-owned businesses and the community. Originally from the midwest, he now lives in West Oahu.
Skyler G. Smela
(they/them/their)
Skyler Smela got their start in human rights advocacy as a volunteer for various LGBTQ+ non-profit organizations in Japan and the mainland US. As the former the Business Services Case Manager at Pacific Gateway Center, a non-profit dedicated to serving the disadvantaged, uprooted and displaced, they leveraged their background in advocacy, IT and international business to help further diversify Hawai’i’s small business community. They operate their own editing, proofreading, and translation business, Literal Solutions. They have a BA in International Relations & Japanese Language from Beloit College, hold JLPT N1 fluency in Japanese. Skyler moved to Oahu in 2019 after almost a decade in East Asia and resides in Manoa with their partner and dog.
Dave Stevens
(he/him/his)
Dave Stevens is an IT / Cyber Security Instructor at the University of Hawai’i Kapi’olani Community College and the co-founder of Kapu Technologies, LLC; a local Cyber Security company focusing on risk analysis and security governance. He is a graduate of Hawai’i Pacific University with a Masters in Information Systems (MSIS), a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), a Project Management Professional (PMP), and is the host of “The Cyber Underground” on ThinkTech Hawaii. Dave is currently working on his PhD in Communication and Information Sciences (CIS) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Lee Stevens
(she/her/hers)
Lee Stevens is a Senior Business Analyst, currently serving as an IT Contractor for Michell Martin. Previously, Lee served as a contractor for Citi, Vice President & Senior business Analyst for First Hawaii Bank, and Information Technology Manager of Mad Pac Petroleum, LLC. Lee received her Master of Science in Information Systems from Hawaii Pacific University and her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Lee is also co-founder of Kapu Technologies, LLC, a local Cyber Security company focusing on risk analysis and security governance.
Laura A. Young
(she/her/hers)
Laura Young loves her job as a Financial Advisor because she knows she can make a huge impact on the lives of the clients she serves. Laura’s mission is for her clients to feel valued, understood and confident that she has their best interests at heart.Laura received her Bachelor of Arts from California State University-Monterey Bay, and currently makes her home in Kailua.