Welcome
Get to know your fellow Rotarian! We will feature Rotary E-Club Pago Bay Rotarians on a regular basis. Please send your Club Secretary or President your photo and a brief bio that we could feature on our page. Thank you for your service to our Club and our Community!
Rotarian Christopher Cruz for the Rotarian Spotlight.
My first taste of Rotary came in 2012 when I met then-President Melner Isaac of the Rotary Club of Pohnpei. I have tried to engage and be engaged by Rotary since then.
My name is Christopher A. Cruz and I am a father of two beautiful, lively young children, Ariana Michaela, 7, and Christopher II, 4. My kids keep me on my toes but if I do get some “free time,” I enjoy recreational/sport shooting, and the occasional visit to the Guam International Raceway in Yigo. I am a 2002 FD graduate and immediately after high school I entered the University of Guam not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with myself. I changed majors three times during my undergraduate college career, first from Criminal Justice, moving to Finance and Economics, and finally finishing with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in the fall of 2006. I returned to the university in 2011 as a member of the School of Business and Public Administration Professional Master of Business Administration’s eighth cohort and finished a year later with my PMBA.
I started a career in banking with the Bank of Guam in July 2007 as a management trainee. After about a year, I was promoted to credit officer with the Upper Tumon branch where I worked for four years before being asked to lead our Pohnpei branch in 2012. My assignment required me to relocate and joining Rotary was the driving force behind my assimilation there.
Pohnpei was a breath of fresh air – life is easy-going, the landscape is beautiful all around, and the people are as genuine and inviting as can be.
As mentioned, I was invited to Rotary by Melner Isaac, who I now consider a life-long friend. Our work led us to assist with projects for the public library, provide sports equipment for children in the outer islands of Pohnpei, and continue providing scholarships for college-bound high school students of Pohnpei, which is the Club’s largest project. During my time, I served on the Club’s board of directors.
My career brought me home in June 2014 when I was asked to join the bank’s newly formed relationship banking group. In my current capacity as Vice President/Relationship Banking Manager, I continue to work closely with our neighboring island customers and branches in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, to ensure we continue providing superior service and value to them.
Now, I hope to continue my service through Rotary with the Rotary e-Club of Pago Bay.