It’s been six months since Dee Jay Mailer stepped in to assume the reins at Bishop Museum.
After previously serving on the board, her return to the institution was triggered by a series of tumultuous events.
After a months-long investigation, the board voted unanimously in January to terminate CEO Melanie Ide, General Counsel Barron Oda, and Vice President of Operations, Planning and Program Management Wesley “Kaiwi” Yoon.
The three had been on administrative leave with pay since July 1, after the board released a statement that said there was a "failure to address and resolve serious workplace issues."
For a decade, Mailer served as CEO of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate. She also previously served as head of Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi.
Mailer told The Conversation that she is currently reviewing the existing policies from their administrative era.
"Many of the policies and procedures need to be updated. But we didn't have to change anything, we changed some of our recruiting practices," she said. "And we've looked at our salaries for our people to make sure that there were not disparities between people of the same work."
She also shared plans for renovating the physical campus, currently located in Kalihi.
"We need to refresh our campus plan. I think it's old. I remember when I was on the board. And we were doing it then. And I'm sure it's been refreshed, but we need to refresh it."
Plans include expanding the cafe, refreshing the buildings and bringing back the infamous volcano in the keiki science museum.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Sept. 5, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
