Meeting/Event Information

Distress in the home has a major impact on workplace wellness.  And the number of employees experiencing partner abuse, substance abuse and mental health challenges of all kinds has significantly risen during the pandemic.  Join us as our experts share their experiences and perspectives on the abuse and mental health challenges that impact Hawaii's workplace. 

David Mitchell will share some perspectives from Hawaii’s largest EAP on how Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Wellness have been impacted; resources that EAPs have provided that make a difference;  and some tips for how we can adapt to these changes and support those impacted the most.

Nanci Kreidman will help the participants understand how the pandemic has challenged island families – through a partner abuse lens:

1. Simple definition of power and control tactics.
2. Staying at home is not safer for people who live with abusive partners. They are prisoners.
3. What should employers look for in their employees?
4. What are the red flags?
5. Simple tips for supervisors on how to have a conversation with an employee about concerns.

You won't want to miss this intriguing discussion on how to understand and cope with one of the biggest disruptors in the workplace. 

David Mitchell, MA, CEAP, SAP is the General Partner of the Employee Assistance of the Pacific, LLC. Running Hawaii’s largest EAP and serving over 200 local businesses keeps Dave busy most days, but is a job he enjoys each and every day.

David started his career as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State, where he saw clients, taught classes, and provided volunteer Disaster Mental Health and Critical Incident Debriefing services before coming to Hawaii to lead WorkLife Hawaii, at that time the largest Hawaii EAP. He then ran a large EAP in the Pacific Northwest, serving 600 corporate customers, before he and his wife and business partner, Dr. Vali Hawkins-Mitchell, acquired Employee Assistance of the Pacific and moved back to Hawaii to stay.

He oversees the largest EAP provider network in Hawaii of over 75 counselors across the state, provides management and HR consultation daily, and trains a variety of companies across the state.

Nanci Kreidman, M.A. is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC), formerly the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline.  She has been working with local and national efforts to address family violence issues for more than 35 years.

Nanci has served on many committees in the community and through appointment by the Governor, Chief Justice, Mayor and Attorney General, including Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii State Commission on Status of Women, Access to Justice Commission and Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund.  She has addressed local, national and international audiences on a variety of topics related to families, women, and children. Nanci has been published in Hawaii’s newspapers, interviewed for radio and television news and qualified as an Expert in First, Third and Fifth Judicial Circuits as well as Federal Court. Nanci has served on panels convened by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, been an editor for VAWNET and a Grant Reviewer for the Department of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women.

In 2020, Nanci received the Ola Pono Award published in Honolulu Magazine. In 2016, Nanci was recognized as a Women Who Mean Business Industry Leader, by Pacific Business News. In 2014, Nanci was selected to receive the Ho’okele Award from the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation. Nanci was selected by the YWCA as a Woman Leader by the YWCA for recognition at its Annual Leader Luncheon in 2010. In 2008, Nanci was the recipient of the Giraffe Award, given to a person in the community who “sticks” their neck out! She has been honored by Hawaii Women Lawyers, Salvation Army and National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter. Nanci was featured on Long Story Short (KHET public television community leader series) with Leslie Wilcox in 2011.