Cherese Maio

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Cherese Maio:

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“Free Hugs!”

 

Those two words appeared on a sign near Cherese Maio’s desk at Hawaii State Federal Credit Union’s training center. It was an open invitation and a fitting reflection of the warmth, kindness, and connection Cherese brought to the people around her.

 

Throughout the day, colleagues would stop by her desk, sometimes for a hug or a few encouraging words, and sometimes simply because they needed a moment with Cherese. She had a way of making people feel comfortable and cared for. Her full attention, her warm smile, and the reassurance of her presence could leave someone feeling a little lighter than when they arrived.

 

For 17 years, Cherese brought that same care to her work at Hawaii State FCU. As a Learning and Development Professional, she helped prepare employees for success, supported service excellence, and strengthened the credit union’s Right By You culture. Colleagues affectionately called her the “Queen of RBY” because she taught its principles and lived them. She knew how to be there for people during the good moments, the difficult moments, and the moments when someone simply needed to know they were not alone. She did not just teach RBY. She was RBY.

 

Cherese was an exceptional trainer. She prepared carefully for each session, reflected on every class, and looked for ways to improve the next experience. She wanted employees to understand their work, feel confident in what they had learned, and be ready to serve others well. For Cherese, training was always about helping people grow. Her commitment to education extended beyond Hawaii State FCU. Through her service with the Financial Education Alliance of Hawaii, Cherese served as a director, president, and instructor. She shared her knowledge and passion for financial education with learners from credit unions and banks throughout the state. She taught people so they could better serve people, and the knowledge she shared continued through those learners when they returned to their own organizations and communities. Her work brought the credit union philosophy of People Helping People to life. She showed what it meant through the time she gave, the care she took with others, and the way she helped people recognize their own potential. Cherese understood people well. She was perceptive and deeply observant, often recognizing what someone needed before they could put it into words.

 

Above all, she was a gifted listener. She listened with patience, empathy, and genuine interest, giving people room to be honest and feel heard. She brought that same care to every part of her life. Cherese was a devoted wife, mother, daughter, and friend; a trusted colleague; and an accomplished educator. She carried herself with grace and treated people with dignity and respect. Whether she was facilitating a class, serving on a board, sitting with a colleague, or offering one of her familiar hugs, Cherese made people feel that they mattered.

 

Even her goodbyes reflected who she was. Cherese would embrace you, thank you for spending time with her, and send you on your way with the unmistakable feeling that your time together had mattered. That is the legacy Cherese leaves behind. It lives in the employees she prepared, the professionals she taught, and the colleagues and friends she encouraged. Most of all, it lives in the people who felt loved, heard, and supported, and in those who became better because Cherese believed in them.

 

Her sign may have said “Free Hugs!” But what Cherese truly gave, every day, was something much greater: her heart, her time, her knowledge, her attention, her kindness, and her love of people. Cherese showed us that People Helping People is not simply a philosophy of the credit union movement. It is a way of living. And she lived it beautifully. In celebration of Cherese Maio, a remarkable woman, an exceptional professional, a gifted educator, and a beautiful human being who was Always Right By You.