Congratulations Alpha Kappa Psi chapter President, Nastassja Dinulong!
Nastassja Dinulong, Kapi‘olani Community College HOST student, won the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Distinguished Regional Officer award. In addition to being the Alpha Kappa Psi chapter President at KapCC this year, she is also the Pacific Region President. There are over 100 regional officers in PTK and less than 10% receive this prestigious award.
Holding two high-level leadership positions is difficult, but Nastassja has done both exceptionally well. She received this award because of all of the amazing work she has done to further the mission of PTK at the regional level. Some of her accomplishments as Pacific Region President include revitalizing The Pacific Chronicles newsletter to include the distant chapters (such as American Samoa, Palau, Micronesia, etc.) and facilitating better communication between all 15 chapters in the Pacific Region; collaborating with her officer team to plan, carry out, and MC the two-day fall regional leadership conference and the spring convention; promoting PTK EDGE programs (free online professional development programs that help members further develop soft skills, research skills, and employment skills, like writing an effective resume and interviewing); and helping all chapters achieve their five-star status goals.
In addition to the individual award, Nastassja was instrumental in helping the region win the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Region Award. With 15 chapters across the Pacific Ocean, providing equitable opportunities and including everyone in regional events is challenging because of the vast distances between chapters, the separation of chapters via the ocean, and the huge time zone differences. Despite these challenges, Nastassja worked hard with her officer team and the Regional Coordinator, Erin Millard, to accomplish the goal of inclusivity and equity.
I am so proud of all that Nastassja has accomplished. Through her involvement in PTK, she has grown personally and professionally and I know she will continue to do great things. Please help me, Professor Julie Rancilio (Historian and PTK Alpha Kappa Psi chapter advisor) in congratulating Nastassja!