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

Mark K. Rich was appointed deputy project director and operations manager for DZSP 21, overseeing port operations, ordnance and transportation for contracted base support services and operations at Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. Rich previously worked at PAE Global Mission Services as client executive for Navy Programs.

Rich retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of rear admiral after more than 30 years of service and includes among his commands Navy Region Southwest, Naval District Washington, Naval Region Northwest, Naval Air Station Oceana and Fighter Squadron Thirty-Two.

He served as director for veteran-focused non-profit organizations Veteran’s Village of San Diego and zero8hundred.

Rich earned a bachelor’s in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida and a master’s in space systems operations from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Ana Won Pat-Borja was confirmed as legal counsel for the 35th Guam Legislature. Won Pat-Borja previously served as assistant legislative counsel and will be replacing Julian Aguon.

Won Pat-Borja is a 2012 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Gerald M. Zackios was nominated to be secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum by the presidents of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Nauru. The PIF is an inter-governmental organization that aims to foster political and economic cooperation among countries and territories in the Pacific.

Zackios serves as the Marshall Islands’ ambassador to the United States and has previously served as the Marshall Islands minister of foreign affairs, attorney general and chief negotiator for the Marshall Islands Compact of Free Association with the U.S. from 2001 to 2004.

Brenda Iokepa-Moses was appointed state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Hawaii, which has oversight of USDA programs on Guam. Iokepa-Moses has served as president of the Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts, and president of the Ka’u Farm Bureau. She was also a member of the Ka’u Soil and Water Conservation Board and served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve.

(From left): William D. Leon Guerrero, chairman, Bank of Guam; Kenneth Q. Lujan, branch manager, Small Business Administration Guam Branch Office; Keven F. Camacho, vice president and chief lending officer; Vanessa B. Quinata, assistant vice president and credit officer; Joaquin P.L.G. Cook, president and CEO; Janine Eustaquio, assistant vice president and credit officer; and Maria Pernia, loan processor, all of Bank of Guam.
Photo courtesy of Bank of Guam

Vanessa B. Quitugua was named 2019 Banker of the Year and Bank of Guam was named 2019 Lender of the Year by the Guam Small Business Administration.

Quinata serves as assistant vice president and credit officer. Beginning in 1995 as a telephone operator, Quinata has worked in telebanking, customer service and administration. She has also worked with the bank’s retail banking group and corporate banking group.

Quinata has a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Guam and a master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bank of Guam has approved eight SBA loans to small businesses totaling more than $900,000.

(From left) Alfredo Matugas Coro II, mayor, Municipality of Del Carmen, Surigao Del Norte, Philippines; Kate Brown, executive director, Global Island Partnership; Eugene Rhuggenaath, prime minister,  Curacao; Celeste Connors, executive director, Hawaii Green Growth Local2030 Hub; Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio; Austin Shelton, director, University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability; Tony Babauta, chief of staff, Office of the Governor of Guam.
Photo courtesy of Office of Governor of Guam

Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio joined leaders from islands around the world during the United Nations Climate Week conference in New York City to launch the Local2030 Islands Network.

Local2030 is a program to help communities around the world implement local measures to achieve the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Local2030 Islands Network is an organization designed to address the unique challenges and opportunities that face islands striving to meet the 17 SDGs.

Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero on Sept. 25 signed an executive order to create the Guam Green Growth Working Group. The working group’s purpose is to bring Guam’s public and private sector partners together and work with the Local2030 Islands Network to achieve U.N. sustainability goals.

Fernando Sablan swears in as U.S. Marshal before magistrate judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan and chief judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, both of the District Court of Guam.
Photo courtesy of John Vega

Fernando Sablan was sworn in as the U.S. Marshal for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Sablan was nominated for the position May 29, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Sep. 26 and appointed by President Donald J. Trump on Sep. 30.

Sablan is a retired officer in United States Customs and Border Protection in Guam. Prior to his time with CBP, he served for 22 years as an officer in the Guam Police Department, where he attained the rank of major.