Diane S.L. Paloma

Diane Paloma is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Hawaii Dental Service (HDS) which offers Hawaiʻi families affordable dental plans to maintain healthy smiles and total body health. Previously, she served as the Chief Executive Officer for the King Lunalilo Trust and Home and is also the former Director of The Queen’s Health Systems, Native Hawaiian Health Program. Prior to Queen’s she spent time at the John A. Burns School of Medicine as a faculty member, worked for HMSA and its subsidiaries, and started her career working for a private physician.

A Kamehameha Schools graduate, she earned her BS in Physiological Science from UCLA, MBA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and PhD in Healthcare Administration from Capella University. Paloma has spent her career in the health field since 1995 and was able to combine her passion for Native Hawaiian culture with the health and medical fields.

A lifelong learner, she is a proud graduate and former faculty member of the UH System. She spent some time growing up on the Mānoa campus, Keller Hall, as her mother was a 30-year UH employee.

Paloma volunteers her time as a board member with various community organizations advancing health and education. In 2002, she completed the ʻuniki process for the status of ʻōlapa with Ka Pa Hula O Kamehameha. She currently serves as ʻalakaʻi (halau leader) for Ka Pā Hula O Ka Lei Lehua.