Domestic Violence Action Center is at a point of transition.
For more than 33 years, co-founder Nanci Kreidman led the statewide nonprofit agency, which provides resources such as individual counseling, agency referrals, legal services and help with housing and personalized safety plans, for victims of domestic violence and their families.
Kreidman retired in June 2023 and the following year, Monique Ibarra was named CEO. Prior to her appointment, Ibarra served as executive director of Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Centers Inc. She previously spent two years at the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline on Maui (DVAC’s name in the early 2000s).
Earlier this month, Ibarra stepped down for “personal reasons,” according to DVAC, which tapped Laurie Tochiki, former president and CEO of nonprofit EPIC ʻOhana Inc., as interim CEO.
Tochiki, whose background is in family law, social services and human resources, co-founded EPIC, an organization “that strengthens ʻohana and enhances the welfare of children and youth,” its mission states. She has taught family law courses at the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law and is a current member of the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association.
“I do want to express our gratitude for Monique and her dedication to DVAC over the last two years. She stepped into the organization during a very difficult time,” Board President David Tumilowicz told Aloha State Daily. “That was DVACʻs first-ever leadership transition. It’s hard to anticipate how difficult it can be to follow in the footsteps of a founder. Monique did some really important work at DVAC during her time there.”
Tumilowicz, who is the senior director of marketing and community health at Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i, shared that Tochiki “is the right person at this point in time to continue DVAC’s life-saving work for a couple reasons: her background in decades of experience advocating for Hawaiʻi’s children and family and her deep belief that everyone deserves to live in a safe home."
Tochiki’s relationship with UH's law school is key for one of the organization’s current priorities of developing the local pipeline of attorneys, he noted, adding, “We believe she is ideally suited to help DVAC innovate and bring more legal resources to the community.”
It was intentional, too, that the board named Tochiki as interim CEO “as soon as possible,” Tumilowicz said. “While Laurie and Monique’s tenure did not overlap, Laurie came in on Monday following Monique’s departure, so there wasn’t any in-between time.”
As the search for a permanent CEO begins to get underway, Tochiki will head the agency for the next year, he said. “When it does [begin], it will be with staff and community engagement as it has been in the past.”
DVAC currently has 44 employees. In fiscal year 2025, staff responded to more than 2,700 helpline calls resulting in 1,029 safety plans, 695 community referrals, and more than 1,100 callers who received legal information and education. DVAC also provided more than 7,000 court-related services and a total of 121 legals services, which included court appearances, legal consultations, divorce decrees and post-decree cases, and protective and temporary restraining orders.
According to DVAC’s 2024 annual report, its annual operating budget is $4.5 million.
Tumilowicz told ASD more about where the organization stands currently and where it’s headed. He shared DVAC’s short and long-term goals, as well as his own personal commitment to speaking out against domestic violence.
What lessons have you/DVAC’s board learned since moving away from a founder-led organization?
So many people are at DVAC because of Nanci Kreidman, me included. Nanci approached me when I was publisher at Hawai’i Business [Magazine] many years ago and said, ‘Hey David, I bet you don’t know it but domestic violence is a business issue you should be writing about.’ ... Nanci is tenacious and persistent, and we continued talking about it until I did come to understand how the issue of domestic violence is a community issue, a moral issue and a business issue.
The agency has transitioned away from such a charismatic leader, who was responsible for its growth over the years in an ad hoc way. Oftentimes one of the opportunities moving on from the founder is to create stronger processes and systems and so forth, moving to a more bureaucratic structure.
The board is the governance body and the most important thing that a board does is select the leader of the organization. We are not running the day-to-day, but our focus is on employee well-being, along with the clients, as our most important stakeholders and audience. Board members, me included, went and spent time with staff in-person to inform them of the most recent leadership transition and to talk it through.
We all knew this was going to be a significant transition for DVAC, but I don’t think anyone really understood what that fully meant in terms of the details.
Moving forward, what are some of the operational goals under Tochiki’s leadership over the next year? Going forward with Laurie, we’ve identified a couple of major themes. The first is to focus on staff and staff well-being; building meaningful career development opportunities and ways to support our staff even better is high on the list; providing a safe place to process secondary trauma they experience in work that they do; and making sure we have the right culture at DVAC. Another thing is DVAC, like any employer for-profit or not-for-profit, has to be concerned about the challenges of cost of living here in Hawaiʻi. So, we’re striving to compensate our staff adequately and provide a living wage.
The second piece is around bringing more legal resources to the community. DVAC has been a learning ground for many lawyers over the years and I think that we need to understand that better. We’re really excited about exploring and bringing some innovative ways to solve the legal staffing issue to the table.
Third, is building upon our relationship and collaboration with other agencies. No one can do this work alone. None of us. We all need to work together to ensure everyone has a safe home to live in.
Right now, we want to make sure we’re focusing internally, building the strongest organization possible and navigating the leadership transition.
What does the organization need most right now? It’s really thinking about the problem of domestic violence as a community issue that we all need to find our voice and learn about so we can each weigh in. DVAC welcomes volunteers, so that’s an area for engagement. We do hold the annual Men’s March Against Domestic Violence, which is a very important opportunity for men to learn about the problem of domestic violence and find their voice. That’s how I got involved with DVAC initially as a participant and then later, helping to organize and grow the march to over 1,000 men each year. The way that we did that was by engaging with all our Downtown [Honolulu] businesses.
I’m a parent, I have two sons in their early 20s. I talk about the second conversation after the birds and the bees that we need to have with our children about our expectations for how they’ll treat each other and their significant others. Domestic violence affects 1 in 5 adults in Hawaiʻi. DVAC is working closely with care delivery organizations including Kaiser Permanente, conducting trainings with our care providers to help us understand how we can support patients who are victims of abuse, hopefully before they end up in the emergency room. DVAC is an incredible partner for [Kaiser] to refer our patients to for safety planning and services.
What is DVAC’s overall goal? Ultimately, the goal is to end domestic violence. We believe everyone has the right and deserves to live in a safe home. We’ve made progress in removing some of the stigma associated with domestic violence, putting the problem of domestic violence on the same tier as any other social issue. This is all of our problem. This affects our moms and sisters and aunties and families and we can’t tolerate it!
All of DVAC’s services are fully operational. We want the community to know that we’re here for you. If you or someone who you know is struggling, please reach out to our helpline at 800-690-6200, or textline at 605-956-5680. It is truly life-saving work.
When I look back at my experience, this was a very uncomfortable issue for me to get engaged with 15-plus years ago. I was uncomfortable talking about the problem of domestic violence. I felt the stigma of the conversation. It’s really with practice and understanding that we get past that stigma to truly address this in a human way and to provide true help for people who are suffering.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC)
Mailing address: P.O. Box 3198, Honolulu, HI 96801
Oʻahu helpline: 808-531-3771
Toll free helpline: 800-690-6200
Textline: 605-956-5680
Business Office and Administration: 808-534-0040
Email: dvac@stoptheviolence.org
Website: domesticviolenceactioncenter.org
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
