Promotions and career moves by the people you know — and those you should
Palacios
IT&E has announced the promotion of Velma Ann M. Palacios to the position of executive director – IT&E CNMI.
She previously was director of network operations and engineering, which encompassed managing plant technical services among other responsibilities, including serving in the company’s Regulatory and Compliance team.
Palacios is a member of the board of directors of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, where among her roles she served as president of the chamber from 2016 to 2020. Palacios is board chairperson for the Kagman Community Health Center and the private sector representative and chairperson for Northern Mariana Islands State Workforce Development Board. She is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management CNMI Chapter, and a Pacific Century Fellow.
She is a former member of the boards of the Northern Marianas Trade Institute, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and Brilliant Star School. Palacios also served as a member of the NMI’s Comprehensive Economic Development Commission within the NMI Department of Commerce.
Palacios has been recognized as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce 2018 Business Person of the Year and as a Nominee for the 2017 Guam Business Magazine Businesswoman of the Year.
Palacios holds a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Marquette University in Wisconsin and master’s in of business administration from Hawaii Pacific University.
John
The Bank of Guam announced the appointment of David J. John as a Class II director of its board. John was further appointed to the Trust, Asset/Liability and executive committees.
John is the chairman and managing director of ASC Trust LLC.
His community appointments include chairman of the board of the Guam Economic Development Authority, and Chairman of the Archdiocese of Guam Finance Council.
John is also a member of the boards of the University of Guam Endowment, GTA TeleGuam, the Fidelity Advisor Council, and the University of St. Thomas.
Additionally, he is the Guam Small Business Administration’s 2016 Small Businessperson of the Year.
Wielaard
Guam Regional Medical City announced the appointment of its interim CEO, Dr. Alexander “Beau” D. Wielaard. Prior to his appointment, Wielaard served as senior vice president, chief medical officer and emergency medicine physician, all at GRMC.
Wielaard relocated to Guam in 2016, working at both Guam Memorial Hospital and GRMC in the Emergency Department. He joined GRMC on a full-time basis in 2018. He served as the chairman of GRMC’s Department of Emergency Medicine from 2019 until his promotion to chief medical officer in 2020.
Wielaard holds a undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, a 2007 medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, both in Augusta, Ga. and completed his internship and residency in emergency medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center, R. Adams Crowley Shock Trauma Center, and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Baltimore, Md.
He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is a member of the island-wide Emergency Medical Services Commission.
Jones
The University of Guam has confirmed the appointment of Roseann M. Jones as dean of the School of Business and Public Administration, a post she has held since November 2022.
Jones holds tenure at UOG and is a longtime professor of economics.
She holds a 1998 doctorate in regional planning and health economics from the University of Pennsylvania, a 1996 master’s of administration in public policy analysis from the Samuel Fels Center of Government and a 1996 master’s of arts in city and regional planning, also from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jones co-authored the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report, Medical Education in Transition: The Sciences of Medical Practice and served as a member of the Legislative Tax Review Commission for the Government of Guam.
Muña Aguon
The Guam Memorial Hospital Authority has appointed Dr. Paul Muña Aguon, a gastroenterologist and advanced endoscopist.
Muna Aguon holds a 2010 bachelor’s of science from the Hawaii Pacific University and graduated from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine in 2016. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, Ariz. in 2019, and completed a gastroenterology fellowship program at the University of Arizona in 2022, earning the title of chief fellow.
Muña Aguon served as advanced endoscopy fellow and instructor of medicine at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunwick in New Jersey for a year from July 22, before his current appointment.
He holds a Presidential Poster Award in 2022 for his work on a rare complication of peroral endoscopic myotomy, was a 2nd place in Fellow Developed Case Reports for Advanced Pancreatic-Biliary Interventions, and in June 2019, was recognized as Internal Medicine Resident of the Year.
Jason Katigbak, chief accounting officer for IP&E Holdings LLC; received the Guam Association of Government Accountant’s Educator Award for the education and training of government financial managers. He has been an adjunct instructor for undergraduate accounting courses at the University of Guam since 2013.
Hermosa
James C. Moylan, Guam’s delegate to Congress; nominated three Guam residents to serve on the Veterans Advisory Committee, whose purpose is to prioritize the needs of veterans residing in Guam, other territories, and the FAS nations. Nominated are Charlie Hermosa, general manager of APL, and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps; Sen. Tina Rose Muna-Barnes, Vice Speaker of the 37th Guam Legislature; and Vincent A. Borja, U.S. Army veteran and advocate for veterans in Guam.
The committee was established in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Pay-Less Markets has announced the following appointments:
Sablan
Franklin S. Sablan, as chief people officer. Prior to relocating back to Guam, he was the executive director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a position he was appointed to in January 2022. Sablan joined SAG-AFTRA in 2019 as senior director of culture and employee engagement and was promoted in 2021 to national director of culture and employee engagement.
He has more than 20 years of human resources experience in the public and private sectors, including federal government contracting, the hospitality industry, banking and nonprofits.
Sablan is the founder of Guam’s Alternative Lifestyle Association, a non-profit organization that strengthens the quality of life for the LGBTQIA+ community, providing critical health and social service programs founded in 2008.
Alviz
Mark Alviz as controller. He previously was senior controller at Pathway Capital Management, a private equity firm in Irvine, Calif. and formerly was controller at Pathway.
Alviz worked with Deloitte in Guam from September 2007 to December 2011, rising from an audit associate to a senior auditor.
He hold’s a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Guam and a 2012 certified public accounting qualification.
Sarrosa
Azucena “Cena” Sarrosa as employee relations coordinator. She previously was the marketing department’s promotions ambassador from In 2018, having joined Pay-Less in 2018.
Salvation Army new officers are Major Eric and Jasiel Tumale – arriving Aug. 16.
