The Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture &  Design is a place where art, ideas, and people come together.

Home to the only U.S.

museum  dedicated to Islamic art.

Here, every tile and carving is intricate, layered, and intentional.

So  too is Amy Miller.

From marine science to hunger relief, her journey is grounded in empathy,  driven by data and powered by kindness.

As the CEO of Hawaiʻi Foodbank, Amy is  confronting a crisis hidden in plain sight.

30% of Hawaiʻi families are food insecure.

So that means there's not enough food in that family for everybody to live a healthy, active  lifestyle.

And that could range from needing to make compromises on the kinds of foods that  you purchase, all the way to skipping meals, going without food for whole days or losing weight  because there just wasn't enough money for food.

We have kids that are going to bed hungry at night  on this island.

And I just think that's not okay.

I think that 30% just sounds  astounding to me to think about, you know, three out of ten families not having  enough food on a regular basis.

I think a lot of people will be surprised to hear that,  especially because we are a community and, and a culture that really prides itself  on taking care of one another.

Why do you think there might be that disconnect or that  people might be surprised by those numbers?

I think food insecurity is one of those  things that can be very hidden.

People are proud.

They might be ashamed to ask for help,  ashamed to let folks know.

We know that people are making choices between going to the doctor,  or paying for medication and paying for food, or do I pay my electricity bill?

Do I pay to  put gas in my car and allow me to go to work, or do I pay for food?

And so, these  are really intense struggles.

We call them impossible choices that we're forcing  families to make and yet it can be very hidden.

Heart and strategy guide Amy’s  leadership.

Since becoming CEO in 2021, she’s expanded the Foodbank’s reach, drawing  on values shaped by her upbringing in Seattle, where she was raised by a  Japanese mom and Caucasian dad.

My dad was actually the first non-Japanese person  to marry into my mom's family and he was accepted because he ate all the food.

But when we  would go, go to family dinners, one of my aunts would be like, oh, the Millers are coming,  so we brought extra bread.

So, it’s like, it always felt a little, a little different.

And  when I was growing up, though, we used to come to Hawaiʻi every year on vacation.

And I actually  think, like, my mom felt very at home in Hawaiʻi, because the Asian culture is such a big part  of this big melting pot we call Hawaiʻi.

Growing up, she did it all, soccer, swimming,  flute, piano and Amy thrived academically, earning a place at Harvard.

It was there, in conversation  with another student, that she felt truly seen.

So, she was a freshman and she was from Hawai’i  and she took one look at me and she's like, oh, you're hapa.

And no one had ever said  that to me in my whole life and I just felt like really seen and like I belonged.

And  I think that was one of the reasons that ended up attracting me to come to Hawaiʻi cause  like I really kind of felt like I belonged.

Tell us about how you came to  Hawaiʻi and how you ended up staying.

When I was graduating from college, I went to  the career center and I was like, paging through, you know, the binder of all these different job  and internship opportunities.

And I saw this internship in Hawaiʻi at the Kewalo Basin  Marine Mammal Lab.

It's five months long, working with dolphins, studying dolphin  cognition.

And I just thought, like, what an amazing thing to do for five months.

And then I can actually had a job in New York.

I'll go do this for five months.

I loved Hawaiʻi  and then, I'll start my real life after that.

So, I came here and I just fell in love.

I fell in love with the dolphins, with the work, with the people, with  the place.

And that was in 1997.

You know, it's so unusual to meet someone  who was a dolphin trainer, especially was a dolphin trainer for seven years, what, what of  that experience do you still carry with you?

A lot.

You know like really thinking about  what motivates somebody.

So, with working with the dolphins, always trying to understand, okay,  what motivates this dolphin?

Like, I'm trying to teach you something that like is a complicated  concept and you know you try one thing and it doesn't work so you've got to try something else  and it really, I do think like that's something that I've brought through both in terms of being a  mom and okay if I try to communicate something one way and it's not working, it's on me to figure  out another way and also in work and in life, like really trying to put yourself in somebody  else's shoes and figure out like if I want to say something to you and you're not hearing  me, I have to figure another way to do it.

And in the dolphin case, you're  actually teaching dolphins how to communicate.

I think when people hear  dolphin trainer, they are thinking of someone at the Kāhala that is helping them  swim with tourists.

This is very different.

Yeah, no it's a dolphin research lab.

We're really focused on understanding, you know, how dolphins think, how they can learn.

In your heart it seems like you're a scientist.

That’s where I you know grew up in science  and then working at the Dolphin Lab.

I ended up doing my master's there in  psychology, marine mammal behavior, and biology.

Maybe just a lens through which  you can see the world.

Like I am, I love data.

I love analytics.

I really feel like you  know understanding the world around you, understanding people, the data, it has always  been something that really intrigues me.

She traded dolphins for development, taking a role  in fundraising at Bishop Museum.

Then in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, Amy  became CEO of Hawai‘i Foodbank.

You step into this roll when hunger is really  at the center of so much of what people are going through.

How did you take that on?

What were those first few months like?

Really steep learning curve, you know, I  had been in nonprofit work my whole life, but this was really different.

Everything  had changed, right?

So, the food bank had done the same thing for many years and done  it really, really well.

And all of a sudden, the pandemic comes along and throws everything  into disarray.

You know, the number, the need goes up dramatically.

The places that we  normally had sourced food.

We did a lot, primarily, almost all the food that we  distributed was donated and now you know we were all buying all the food off the shelves  at the grocery stores.

A lot of our retail donations went down.

So, it was a time to really  kind of rethink what the food bank's role was.

And that’s I think, one thing that the  pandemic did that was really beautiful, is it kind of opened this little empathy window  for people to understand how that could be me.

We saw like how fragile, especially in a place like  Hawaiʻi, where cost, it's so hard to make it.

And so I think we had a huge outpouring of folks  that wanted to help and were volunteering or donating.

And then, you know I also think it  maybe made it a little bit easier for people to say like, hey, I do need.

I need help, and  that's exactly why we're here.

We think about that all the time.

Why are people ashamed to  ask for food?

This is a basic human need.

No one should go hungry, especially in a place like  Hawai’i, where we all take care of each other.

Still ahead, the scale is massive, the  need urgent and Amy is guiding the team that meets it every day.

That’s  when A Leader’s Journey continues.

The Hawai‘i Foodbank warehouse in Kalihi holds a  staggering one and a half million pounds of food.

It’s a daily operation that begins before dawn  and feeds communities across Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.

So, it comes from a variety of different sources.

An important source for us is donated food, food rescue.

So, our trucks are actually  out on the road every morning, five, six in the morning.

They go to Safeway and Costco  and Sam's Club.

They pick up food that's nearing its end of shelf life for whatever reason, comes  back here, we have volunteers that inspect every single food item, make sure it's safe, and  then we get it out on this distribution.

Here, Amy’s deep sense of purpose  and her love of data come together in a place where every box and  barcode means someone gets to eat.

How many people will this food reach,  ultimately?

How many are you serving?

We're serving on average right now  at about 173,000 people per month.

When you look at that lift, 173,000 people,  how do you not get overwhelmed by this task?

Well, that's a good question.

You know, it can  overwhelming just to think about every single one of those people that we serve is a human  being, right?

A family, a kid that needs food, a parent, a grandparent.

And so really making sure  that we're taking care of every single family, right, and making sure every person gets the kind  of experience we want them to have.

They're not waiting in line for hours.

They're able to access  fresh and healthy food.

It can get overwhelming, but also I'm very much is kind of like  a systems and a program person, like I like to have projects, like to have lists and in  the end, it comes down to how well do we plan.

Part of that planning is knowing who needs  what and where.

A third of the Foodbank's distribution is fresh produce.

To get fruits and  vegetables to more people, Amy and her team are launching a new solution: cold storage vans that  bring fresh food directly into neighborhoods.

So we can actually look in by zip code, how  many pounds of fresh produce are we getting out per food insecure person?

And we saw  that there were some areas that just didn't have the same level of access as others.

So, this was one of our solutions.

Okay, if we can't get cold storage through other  mechanisms, let's bring fresh food to them.

Yeah, and I also really love the idea that you  get to pick out what you actually want to have.

Makes such a difference.

I think  the better we make that experience for people seeking food assistance, the  more likely they are to want to do it.

Amy’s all about solutions but some  challenges don’t come with clear answers.

Tell me about a time when your leadership  was really tested.

You've had all of these diverse experiences.

What's been a  struggle that you faced as a leader?

When I first came to the food bank, we  put together a strategic plan.

And so, we were really trying to understand, what's  our role in this place?

As a food bank, what are our strengths?

What can we do more of?

And what's are overall mission?

And one of the things we looked at was both ensuring that  people get, don't go to bed hungry at night, so, making sure people ave food today but also  this idea that if we're still doing the same thing 20 years from now that we're doing today, like we  will not have been successful, right?

Like nobody wants to wait in line for food.

And really, is  there a mechanism for us to both focus on meeting the daily need, but use that system to try to  shorten the line so that people get what they need to get out of line and stand up on their own two  feet.

And that actually was really interesting, this idea of ending hunger.

So, we added, we  talked about adding the phrase ending hunger to our mission.

And the interesting thing was,  for some of the long-term staff at the food bank, that was a really hard add.

And I was surprised.

It was really the internal staff that had trouble with it and it came down to, you know, it  was really hard to put something out there that you might not be able to accomplish.

And  so, we talked about it and we talked about it, and then one of our team members said, you  know what, we might not able to end hunger, but we're gonna work our okoles off every single  day to get there.

And we said, that's it.

So, our mission is to nourish our ʻohana today.

And work to end hunger tomorrow.

And that word work was put in there very specifically to  acknowledge the fact that you know this is a big challenge.

It's not something that we can solve  overnight, but we're gonna work to get that done.

You're working towards a goal that is  arguably not impossible, but certainly very difficult.

How do you lead a team toward  a goal that you might not ever achieve?

So, I'd say that there's two parts to that.

And  one is that hunger is just something that happens every day, right?

So, every single time that  you're able to support a family with groceries, that's a night that they didn't go to bed  hungry, right, so you have a little win every single day.

You're helping somebody's life  a little, you know, be a little bit easier, taking that worry about food off the table,  even if it's just for one day or one week.

The other piece of it though, is I  actually think in a place like Hawaiʻi, food insecurity is not an impossible thing  to solve.

We live on islands.

We live in a place where people take care of each other.

We don't have that many people and we have, we don't have porous boundaries, right?

And I really believe that it's something that we, if we have the will, that we can  deal with it.

I really do think so.

So, and maybe that's like naive of me, but I  do believe that we could, we can solve it.

We need that optimism.

I mean, you know, we  have to have someone leading an organization like yours with that kind of intention  and optimism and true belief.

Because if you didn't believe that, then you wouldn't  be the right person in that role, right?

Well, and food insecurity is tied to  all these other big things, right?

Like, you can't, in the end, you couldn't  probably just solve food insecurity because it's connected to the cost of  living and housing and all these things, but the thing about food is it's not that  complicated compared to, say, housing, right, and it's not that expensive compared to some of  these other, big issues.

So I do feel like if this is something that we can tackle and we can tackle  it together and we can actually make big strides.

Still ahead, Amy's call to action.

I really actually think it is time for us  to stop kind of working around the edges and really address the big systemic issues that we  have that make it so hard for so many families.

That's when A Leader's Journey continues.

Hawai‘i’s challenges are critical  and Amy Miller says it’s time to act.

What do you think Hawaiʻi needs  most from its leaders right now?

I think courage is something that we need  to step up into the space right now.

I mean, I think that Hawaiʻi is in a really, we're  in a pivotal time.

We are losing population.

More native Hawaiians live outside of Hawaiʻi  than in right now, I was speaking with somebody the other day who is a real estate agent, said  he's selling more homes in Las Vegas to families than here in Hawaiʻi.

And I think it's a real  crisis.

People cannot afford to live here.

And we have to fix that.

Otherwise, what will  this place be without the people?

And so, I really actually think it is time for us  to stop kind of working around the edges and really address the big systemic issues that we  have that make it so hard for so many families.

So what does that look like in practice to you?

Being willing to say what  is okay and what isn't okay.

Being willing to think about big changes  and maybe, like, us accepting that the status quo isn't acceptable anymore.

That we can get together and say, like, this isn't okay.

And these are the things that  we need to do as a community in order to be sure that everybody comes along.

But I think that  we have to be willing to understand that it's, you know our lives today, like for those of us  that are lucky and we have jobs and we aren't struggling.

That, that's, you know, there's so  many families that aren't in that position and it's just not okay.

It's not okay for us  to pretend that's not happening anymore.

I was recently at a talk and this woman shared  that even intermittent food insecurity for very young children can cause permanent changes in  the brain structure.

And I just thought like, we just can't do this.

We are jeopardizing  our future as a community because we are not ensuring that our, especially our youngest  kids have access to safe and healthy food.

So, I really do think that this is something like  if we can tackle it together.

And address it and just make sure.

Make sure our kids have food,  make sure our families have food.

That opens up so many other great like opportunities  and outcomes for our whole community.

In my interactions with you, what always  strikes me is that you're so warm and kind, and I wonder how kindness  is an asset to leadership.

I mean, that's like what I tell my kids every  day.

Being kind I think is so important, right?

It's all about connections  and connecting with people.

And you know, if you have an opportunity to  make somebody's life a little bit better, you know to me that's a big part of being human.

It's important to be kind, to be thoughtful, to be thinking of other people.

I do think  it is an important part of leadership.

What advice do you give to other  leaders, particularly women?

One is around just being clear about your  boundaries.

One thing that I learned when I had my first daughter is that I realized I used  to do most of my work after 5 PM.

You would.

You have meetings all day long and then kind of  people wind down and then, oh, soon I do my work.

And then when I had Claire, I realized like, wow,  I can't, I got to go, I've got to pick her up, otherwise they start charging you.

And so  being able to carve out time to say like, okay, I'm going to put my work aside and be a  mom for the next however many hours and being able like make that shift.

That's something that  I think I do well, and it's been healthy for me to be able to just like, okay, I try not to let  work bleed over too much into my family time.

So often we kind of think about, work is like  the more the better.

Like if you, the volume is important and I think I've come, I used to think  that too and I kind of have come to see like, not so much.

You know it's about getting what  needs to be done, done, and but also being healthy you know and not, being sure that you're  not burning out and you're burning out your team.

Is there a quote or maxim that you  return to when things get hard?

This is kind of cheesy, but I really, I  think about the golden rule, you know, and that's, that's something  that I really think about, like how would I like, want to be treated in  this situation.

And so, when things are tough, I really kind of focus on like, okay, what  would I want out of this, in this situation?

We always end the same, and that is to ask, what's  the best piece of advice you've ever received?

My mom always said, you know, just do your  best.

Do your best, and I think for me, that has kind of morphed over time.

Like I think  when I was in high school and do your best meant be the best, always achieve, and you know you  have to get straight A's or you have do these things.

And over time, I've also come to see  like maybe do your best is also shifts, right, And what your best is might be different for  different people.

And so, I do really think about that a lot.

I want to make sure I'm  bringing my best and doing my best but that doesn't mean burning myself out.

And it doesn't  mean this person might be doing their best, and it might look different from what my  best is.

And that's OK.

That's beautiful, right?

We all bring different skills and talents  into the workplace or community or whatever.

So yeah, that's my advice that I've always kind  of stood by from my mom.

And just do your best.

Amy leads with a simple truth: do  your best, to help others do theirs.

For A Leader’s Journey, I’m Yunji de Nies.