Promotions and career moves by the people you know — and those you should

Underwood
Robert A. Underwood, president emeritus of the University of Guam and former Guam delegate to Congress, was appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress, where he will serve a term of six years.
The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by Congress to preserve and present American folklife through programs, documentation, archival presentation, live performance, exhibitions, publications and training.
During his time as Guam’s delegate to Congress, Underwood submitted eight items which include booklets, photographs and historical posters that are now part of the American Folklife Center.

Sugie
Hiroki Sugie assumed the position of general manager of the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa. Previously, Sugie had been the general manager of the Hotel Nikko Guam since 2017 and before that, general manager of the Pacific Islands Club Saipan since 2012.

Kerner
Paul Kerner, instructor of culinary and food services at Guam Community College, was awarded the designation of Certified Executive Chef from the American Culinary Federation. Kerner is the only active Certified Executive Chef on Guam.
Kerner has been an instructor at GCC since 2007. Prior to joining GCC, he worked as an executive sous chef at the Ala Moana Hotel and the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

Baza
Luis Rivera Baza was appointed by Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero as deputy general manager for the Port Authority of Guam and confirmed by the PAG board of directors.
Baza has more than 34 years of experience in the public and private sectors, specializing in human resource management. He is the former executive director of the Civil Service Commission — where he remains a board member — and has worked as a human resources manager at Cabras Marine Corp., Merit System Practices and LSG Sky Chefs Guam.

Cruz
Adrian Cruz was appointed by Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero as deputy director for the Department of Agriculture. Prior to his appointment, Cruz worked as a policy advisor in the government of Guam as part of the Leon Guerrero administration and has served as chairperson of the Free Association for Guam task force.

Cepeda
Laura N.Cepeda was promoted to director of public relations and corporate citizenship at GTA Teleguam. Cepeda has more than 10 years of experience in the business and marketing fields and recently launched GTA’s first Youth Lead Program, which highlights high school youth leaders in the community.
She holds a bachelor’s in marketing from Chaminade University in Honolulu and a professional master’s of business administration from the University of Guam.

Guerrero
Therese “Chech” Guerrero was promoted to brand director at GTA Teleguam. Prior to joining GTA in 2009, she was a visual merchandising manager at DFS Guam and DFS Hawaii.
She holds a bachelor’s in communications from the University of Guam.

Hernandez
Restine Hernandez was promoted to director of human resources and learning and development at GTA Teleguam. She joined GTA in 2016 as the learning and development manager. Prior to joining GTA, she worked as a procurement counselor at the University of Guam, training manager and human resources manager at Pacific Islands Club Guam.
She holds a bachelor’s in human resources and a master’s in public administration, both from the University of Guam.

Ilao
Ed Ilao, president of JMI Edison, was presented the American Red Cross Spirit of the Pacific Award. The award was created to reinforce Pacific cultural values while rewarding and recognizing employees and volunteers who exemplify those characteristics. Ilao is a board member of the American Red Cross Guam Chapter.

Asistores
Jocelyn “Joyce” Asistores, general manager for McDonald’s Middle Road, was presented the 2019 McDonald’s Global Ray Kroc Award. The award is presented every two years to the top 1% of McDonald’s general managers in the world. Asistores was promoted to general manager in 2019. She has previously held the positions of crew member and area manager.
Assistores graduated from the General Managers Business Leadership Capstone at Hamburger University — McDonald’s Corp.’s management and training school — in 2017.