About Us

Email: kinkinen@inkinen.com

As President and Owner, Kathryn Inkinen created in 1992, and continues to build, a successful executive search and human resources consulting firm. Her professional foundation includes an extensive background in human resources management having held the top Human Resources positions for City Bank and the Kahala Hilton Hotel. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Kathryn serves on the Boards of several community organizations, some of which include the Travel Industry Management Alumni Association at the University of Hawaii, the Better Business Bureau, UCERA, and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. She is a life-time member of the University of Hawaii Alumni Association, the YWCA of Hawaii and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. Kathryn is a past inductee to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Alumni Hall of Honor, College of Business Administration.

Email: wcook@inkinen.com

Wendy Cook is an exceptional Executive Search professional who has been with Inkinen & Associates since 1995. Se has been dedicated to providing the highest level of consultative support and service to clients of Inkinen & Associates. Her strength is her highly evolved and developed skill of listening to the needs of our clients and effectively sourcing and presenting the right matches of high caliber candidates. Wendy’s extensive and varied professional work experience has ranged from working directly with the world renowned Jacques Cousteau, to delivering personal style management seminars to managers and their staff. She was a partner in a public relations firm on the mainland. Her varied endeavors have consistently involved the nurturing and development of relationships and people. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is a member of Hawaii Retail Merchants and the Hawaii Economic Association

Email: lmaeda@inkinen.com

Lianne Maeda has been involved in the career development field for over 20 years. She worked at the Hawai‘i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations School-to-Work Transition Center Program where she developed and administered a career center and later performed administrative work involving curriculum development, program monitoring, budgeting, marketing, and staff development training for over 60 employees. Lianne also worked at Hawai‘i Pacific University for 12 ½ years first as the Director of Cooperative Education and Internships and then as the Director of the Career Services Center. In that capacity, she worked with countless employers and with students and alumni to assist both parties in finding the perfect match.
Lianne is a member of the Honolulu Business Network and in the President's Club for Sandler Sales Training. She served on the Advisory Board of the Hawaii State Department of Labor's Career Kokua Program and was past President of the Pacific Association for Cooperative Education.

She received her BA in Psychology from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and an MS in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Fullerton.

Email: akatekaru@inkinen.com

Ann Katekaru is a Senior Consultant with Inkinen & Associates. She joined the firm in 1998 and provides executive search and human resources consulting services. Ann is a Certified Representative in the use and administration of the Professional Dynametrics Program™, a personal styles profiling tool supporting employee development applications. Prior to joining Inkinen & Associates, Ann was a Senior Vice President in Human Resources for Bank of America in Hawaii. Her background includes more than 30 years of Human Resources management experience in the financial, real estate and health care industries with a breadth and depth of knowledge in a wide range of human resouces disciplines. She earned a designation as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), through the Human Resources Certification Institute, the national accreditation body of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). Ann serves of the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii and Board of Trustees of the Oceanic Institute, an Affiliate of Hawaii Pacific University. She is also a member of the Soroptomist International of Waikiki and the University of Hawaii Alumni Association and served for over 10 years on the Board of Directors for SHRM(Society of Human Resorce Management), Hawaii Chapter and is a current member. She is a past Examiner for the Hawaii State Award of Excellence and earned a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Email: lkobata@inkinen.com

Lorri Kobata is a Consultant with Inkinen & Associates providing a combination of human resources consulting and executive search services to corporate and individual clients. She has been with the firm since 2000. Lorri has more than 25 years of Human Resources management experience. Prior to joining Inkinen & Associates, she was a Human Resources Officer with First Hawaiian Bank handling employee relations statewide for all branches and departments. She served as Director of Human Resources for Sheraton Hotels' neighbor island properties and as Employment Manager for Sheraton Hotels in Waikiki. Lorri is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. She is involved with the University of Hawaii Alumni Association, the Travel Industy Management Alumni Association and is currently a board member of the East Oahu Breakfast Club.

Email: mlow@inkinen.com

Meredith Low is an Executive Search professional with 20 years of experience working with Hawaii’s businesses. She has been a business resource to both large and small businesses, developing extensive customer service skills as a consultant. Her experience in media, marketing and sales offers insight into determining the needs of the client and ultimately the presentation of the right candidates.

Meredith has a varied background that includes professional experience in the media, food and telecom industries. Her professional experience in media includes positions as Retail Sales Manager and Sales/Traffic Manager with The Honolulu Advertiser and Advertising Director at Hawaii Business magazine. As a Pacific Century Fellow, she also experienced insight into industries that include – Environmental, Economic Development, Education, Military and Criminal Justice.

She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BFA, with emphasis in Photography and is a 2007 Pacific Century Fellow. Meredith has served on the Board of Directors for the Punahou Alumni Association.

Email: cmukai@inkinen.com

Christie Mukai brings valuable mainland search experience to clients at Inkinen & Associates since joining the Inkinen team in 2003. She has worked closely with client companies of various sizes and industries to fill technical, management and executive positions. Christie was formerly the Executive Search Manager for The Management Center in Northern California. There she conducted and facilitated significant searches primarily focused on positions such as CEOs, Presidents, Executive Directors and CFOs. She also managed The Management Center's interim executive placement program called TempExec. Her professional background includes over 17 years of combined experience as an Executive Search Consultant, Recruiter and Human Resources generalist for companies such as Inkinen & Associates, The Management Center, Cheap Tickets Inc. and InterPacific Hawaii Retail Group. Christie is a member of the Hawaii Society of Business Planners, the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California and the Mid-Pacific Institute Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization Ohana. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.