Linda Lingle
“Toastmasters is the best and least expensive personal improvement class you can go to.”
Linda Lingle took office as Governor of Hawai’i on December 2, 2002. Her success in making government more responsive led to her re-election in November 2006 for a second four-year term as the state’s chief executive with the largest margin of victory in any gubernatorial race in history. Governor Lingle is the sixth elected Governor of Hawai`i. She is also the first mayor, first woman and first person of Jewish ancestry. In November 2005, she was awarded the Diversity Best Practices Award for Leadership in Government – the first such award for a state’s chief executive.
Her background in leadership is extensive. In 1980, she served as a member of the Maui County Council, and went on to complete five two-year terms, three representing the island of Moloka`i. In 1990 she was elected Mayor of Maui County and served two four-year terms. During her tenure in these positions, job growth was faster in Maui County than anywhere else in the state.
Governor Lingle is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. When she was 12, her family moved to Southern California, where she attended public schools. She relocated to Hawai`i in 1975 after graduating cum laude with a journalism degree from California State University, Northridge. In 1976, she founded and began serving as publisher of the Moloka`i Free Press.
She joined Toastmasters several years ago and was recently awarded a “Communication and Leadership” award at a local Toastmasters conference. The Governor thanked Toastmasters for providing Hawai`i residents with opportunities to better themselves through public speaking. "Toastmasters helps members organize their thoughts and express them in a way that can move people to action," Governor Lingle said. She added that as a member of the Toastmasters organization, she learned valuable lessons that have helped her "articulate ideas in a clear and compelling fashion."