Gwen Yamamoto-Lau
Executive Director
Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority
Gwen Yamamoto-Lau is a Mentor Hawaii Cohort 11 mentor and has mentored for more than 5 years! Learn more about the program here.
About Gwen
Gwen Yamamoto Lau is the Executive Director of the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (“Authority”), an agency attached to the State’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The Authority, Hawai‘i’s Green Bank, was constituted in November 2014 to administer a green infrastructure loan program to make clean energy investments accessible and affordable to Hawaii’s underserved ratepayers, stimulate private investments, and leverage innovative tools to mitigate risks and reach new markets.
In addition to its existing clean energy financing programs, the Authority also administers the federally funded State Small Business Credit Initiative’s HI-CAP Collateral Support and HI-CAP Loans Programs, recently launched its Commercial Property Accessed Clean Energy and Resiliency (C-PACER) financing program, and looks forward to launching the Solar Hui Program.
Drawing from over twenty-five years of experience in conventional commercial financing, Gwen continues to find new ways to facilitate non-traditional financing tools to fill market gaps and promote energy justice and economic development for the State of Hawaii.
Gwen is active with the American Green Bank Consortium, a subsidiary of the Coalition for Green Capital, an organization accelerating the Green Bank movement across the nation and instrumental in the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund legislation. Gwen is often tapped to speak locally and on a national level (Atlantic Council, Council for Development Finance Agencies, NAACP, California PUC, NASEO, Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, Climate Leadership Conference, etc.) on HGIA’s innovative financing programs.
Active in her community, Gwen is Past President of the Rotary Club of Honolulu and serves on the Board and Executive Committee for Goodwill Industries of Hawaii. Gwen was also appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board for a 3-year term ending June 15, 2025. Gwen earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate School of Banking.
Question and Answer with Gwen
What is your preferred communication style when mentoring (in-person, video conference, phone, informal check-ins, structured meetings, etc.)?
In-Person, Video Conference, Email, Phone Call. Prefer in-person.
Why do you want to become a mentor in this program?
With approximately 1/3 of Hawaii’s workforce boomers (1946-1964), it is critical that we facilitate the development of our Next Gen leaders. Mentoring provides me an opportunity to meet some of these Next Gen leaders, and I always find it rewarding – learning from them and gaining new perspectives.
What specific skills, knowledge or experience can you share with your mentee?
Leadership, finance (traditional and non-traditional), management, marketing and business development, introductions to private and public leaders.
What are your expectations for a mentor-mentee relationship?
They need to know what they would like to accomplish during the Mentorship program and be willing to put in the time to work on whatever it is they want to work on.
How do you approach problem-solving and conflict resolution?
LOVE problem solving! Launching new programs or initiatives provides ample opportunities to solve problems – we need every brain in the game and we must be willing to fail forward – innovating is hard. Many times conflicts are borne out of mis-information or lack of information. Sitting down, face to face, and communicating to understand the other party’s perspective can go a long way to resolving conflicts.
How do you envision success for your mentee, and how will you measure it during the program?
Success is when my Mentee accomplishes his/her objectives/goals during the mentorship period. Watching them visibly grow is not only amazing, but also makes me really proud of their accomplishments.