Mailer retiring as Kamehameha Schools CEO

Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer Monday announced plans to retire at the end of 2014.

“Today, I have notified our trustees of my decision to retire from Kamehameha Schools in 2014, providing our trustees with ample time to properly recruit your new chief executive officer,” Mailer said in an email to faculty and staff. “Retirement means I will step out of a role I have been very fortunate to be in for 10 years at Kamehameha Schools. 

“However, I will never leave Kamehameha’s mission, people, or the kuleana that has been a blessed part of my life.”  

Kamehameha Schools confirmed Mailer’s pending retirement in a news release.

“Dee Jay’s engaging leadership style, unwavering commitment and strong values have helped to manage Kamehameha Schools through challenging times,” Micah Kane, board of trustees chairman, said in a news release. “Most importantly, she supported trustees in their successful defense of Kamehameha Schools’ Hawaiian preference admissions policy, allowing the Schools to fulfill its mission of creating educational opportunities to improve the capability and well being of Hawaiian people.”

School officials say another announcement from the board is expected once the steps for choosing a successor are in place. Mailer has planned her retirement with the trustees and in connection with the unveiling of a new 2015-2030 Strategic Plan for Kamehameha Schools. 

Mailer joined Kamehameha Schools as chief executive in January 2004. She previously served as chief operating officer of the Global Fund, an independent, public-private partnership and multi-billion-dollar trust  based in Switzerland. Prior to that she held executive leadership positions at Health Net, Inc. in Woodland Hills, Calif., and was CEO of Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Honolulu.

She is a 1970 graduate of Kamehameha Schools and has a B.S. in Professional Nursing and an M.B.A from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.