Joy Barua
President
Finance Insurance
Joy Barua is a Mentor Hawaii Cohort 10 mentor. Learn more about the program here.
About Joy
Joy Barua is a multidisciplinary leader with a diverse portfolio in non-profit, healthcare, higher education, and economic development sectors spanning more than two decades. Joy is the President at Finance Insurance Ltd., a member of the Finance Factors family of companies. Previously, Joy served as the Director and Deputy Director with the City & County of Honolulu’s Dept. of Community Services. As chief operations executive he managed $150+ million in publicly funded grants and investments to support housing, economic development, job-creation, workforce development, elderly affairs, and other community assistance programs. He also served as the public information officer and external/public affairs lead for the department. Prior to his City role, Joy served as the Senior Director of Government & Community Relations, and Community Benefit for Kaiser Permanente. In this multifaceted role, he led regional government affairs and served as an advocate on over 300 issues, policies, and priorities, while also managing a portfolio of $77 million in community benefit investments. In addition, he served as Kaiser’s key representative on strategic external relations, community engagement and advocacy. Joy also served in various non-profit executive roles including CEO, CFO and CMO, and managed over $25 million in annual operating budgets and 500+ staff. Concurrently, Joy also served as lecturer with Hawaii Pacific University’s MBA program for 16 years.
His education includes an MBA in management and MA in organizational change. He also completed executive programs at Harvard University’s Law School, Business School and Kennedy School of Government, and Columbia University.
Joy was named “2020 Business Leader of the Year” under big business category by Pacific Business News which also recognized him for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts as a 2021 Business of Pride honoree. He was also first from Hawaii to be recognized nationally among “Top 100 under 50 Emerging Leaders” by Diversity MBA magazine. Locally, Hawaii Business magazine named him among “20 for the Next 20 – People to Watch”. He was commended by the State of Hawaii, House of Representatives as recipient of the “Champion Award” from Project Vision Hawaii and was honored with the “Corporate Social Responsibility Award” by Pacific Edge Magazine, which also featured him as an emerging leader in healthcare. He received Healthcare Association of Hawaii’s “Advocacy Award”, “Public Health Award” and the U.S. SBA’s “Small Business Advocate of the Year” award. Additionally, he was recognized as “40 Under 40 – Hawaii’s Best & Brightest Young Businesspeople” and “CFO of the Year” finalist by Pacific Business News. Most recently, Joy was recognized with the 2023 Wiwo’ole (“courage” in Hawaiian) Award for public health advocacy and community impact by the Hawaii Public Health Institute (HIPHI) and was among 18 Hawaii leaders recognized for giving back to the community as part of Pacific Edge’s “Celebrating the Heart of Hawaii: Honoring Those Who Give Back”.
Joy is both an Omidyar Fellow and Pacific Century Fellow. His civic and professional engagements include over 30 initiatives and causes.
Question and Answer with Joy
What is your preferred communication style when mentoring (in-person, video conference, phone, informal check-ins, structured meetings, etc.).
In-Person Meeting, Phone, Informal Check-In, Meal, Activity, Video-Conference, Structured Meeting
What is your preferred communication style when mentoring (in-person, video conference, phone, informal check-ins, structured meetings, etc.).
Open to any channel to best-accommodate mutual needs, schedules, etc., and to ensure effectiveness in supporting the mentee experience.
Why do you want to become a mentor in this program?
I enjoy mentoring young professionals, emerging leaders, aspiring entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, small businesses, non-profit leaders, anyone seeking to build their professional brand and networks, among others. I simply enjoy helping others. Mentoring is a great way to give back – helping others unleash their hidden potential. As a beneficiary of countless mentors in my own life, the benefits of mentorship can never be overstated.
What specific skills, knowledge or experience can you share with your mentee?
As a multi-disciplinary and multi-sector professional, I am able to offer a wide array of support/mentorship support as an SME (Subject Matter Expert). Sectors include: public, private and non-profits. Industries and sub-sectors include: small/business/economic development, healthcare, higher education, insurance, human services, among others. Leadership areas include C-Suite mentorship in CEO, CMO, CFO and other strategic roles. Functional areas include marketing, brand, PR, government & external relations, change management, strategic planning, fund development, business planning & coaching. I have nearly 30 years of combined experiences in these areas.
What are your expectations for a mentor-mentee relationship?
Expectation: commit to open and authentic exchange of ideas, thought-partnership and mutual commitment.
I focus on helping mentees realize their unique “differentiators” and strengths, increase self-awareness, and support their development, growth and leadership aspirations.
I enjoy seeing and helping others succeed!
How do you approach problem-solving and conflict resolution?
Situations vary and there are no “one size fits all” solutions. I start with authentic listening and taking the time to understand core-issues driving conflict and source of contention – listening to understand and empathy are key to driving compromise and solution-storming. Sometimes the “process” is more important to help build trust, mutual-understanding and (re)building team-rapport. Leaders can play an objective and facilitative role as “change architects” in evaluating values and stakes, and ultimately getting to that realistic “happy” medium or place.
How do you envision success for your mentee, and how will you measure it during the program?
Short-term: level of engagement, follow-up and follow-through via e.g. frequency of meetings, touch-points, completion of activities, goals, ongoing feedback, etc.
Long-term: success achieved in mutually defined goals and accountability via e.g. benchmarking progress, milestones, development targets, etc.
Ongoing feedback to and from mentee will help us remain aligned/on track using mutual feedback as an accountability tool.
