Regent

Saedene Ota

Sae Design is a six-person graphics firm that focuses on strategic marketing and communication graphics. Ota is also the owner of Maui Thing, a lifestyle apparel retail company located in Wailuku, Maui. Besides supervising overall operations of the company, Ota oversees brand messaging and creative, social marketing and community events.

Ota’s community activities include board involvement with the Maui Board of Economic Development, Hawai‘i State Art Museum, Maui Young Business Round Table, Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation and A Keiki’s Dream. She performs pro bono design services for organizations such as the Hawai‘i Department of Education, Hale Makua Health Services, Kidney Foundation Hawai‘i Chapter, Lanakila—Meals on Wheels, Maui Youth and Family Services, Maui Chamber of Commerce, Maui Coastal Land Trust, Maui Community College, Maui County Farm Bureau, Maui Equal Opportunity, Maui Farm, Women Helping Women and the Wailuku Community Association.

Ota studied at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, University of Washington and California State–Northridge while a UH Manoa exchange student. She received her bachelor of fine arts with honors at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.