Former field operations secretary brings four years of HSTA experience to new role
Posted: August 4, 2026
The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association is pleased to welcome Savannah Sato to her new role as UniServ Director for its Oʻahu Wālua (formerly Central) Chapter effective July 13. Sato brings four years of HSTA experience after serving as the union’s field operations secretary serving members in the Oʻahu Wālua and Honolulu Chapters.
More than 40 public schools and roughly 2,100 HSTA members are located in Oʻahu Wālua Chapter, which includes the ʻAiea-Moanalua-Radford and Mililani-Leilehua-Waialua complex areas.
In her previous HSTA role, Sato supported chapter leaders and UniServ Directors, answered member questions about contract provisions and workplace issues, and coordinated advocacy efforts. She said those experiences gave her a deeper appreciation for the challenges educators face every day.
“I was getting all these different phone calls and different things from teachers […] It really opened my eyes,” Sato said. “It grew my heart for teachers and the things that they have to deal with.”
Sato, who joined HSTA in 2022 as a field secretary for Oʻahu HSTA chapters, said the encouragement of several UniServ Directors, along with the opportunity to work alongside them over the past four years, inspired her to apply for the position.
“I really got to see their work and how they’ve been a support to teachers,” she said. “I actually have a lot of friends who are in education, whether it be in a private capacity or a public school capacity, and just being able to help them is something that is very near and dear to me.”
As she settles into her new role, Sato is looking forward to helping members learn about their rights and find their voices, particularly as HSTA prepares for contract negotiations this fall.
“Ultimately I’m looking forward to being able to help teachers advocate for themselves,” she said. “A lot of teachers have this mentality that, ʻOh, there’s nothing that we can do.’”
“But, being able to help them get to that understanding of, ‘Hey, there are things that you can do, there are actions that you can take, and yes, there is a point to it, there is a purpose to it,’ and helping them see that,” she added.
Sato was born and raised on Oʻahu and attended kindergarten and first grade at Friendship Christian School in ʻEwa Beach before being homeschooled from second grade through high school. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in office administration and a master’s degree in education administration from West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, Calif.
“One very interesting role I got to do is I was part of a singing group that promoted the college,” she shared. “We traveled across the states, so I’ve had the opportunity to visit 18 states now […] I had the opportunity to expand my horizons in that way, and I really valued that experience that I got to have.”
After graduation, Sato taught third grade at Friendship Christian School during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although she originally planned to pursue a career in the classroom, Sato realized she wanted to continue supporting educators in a different way.
“I still wanted to be a part of the education realm, just in a different capacity,” she said.
Outside of work, Sato enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking, going to the beach, and exploring new cafes in search of the perfect matcha.
She also enjoys traveling and has visited Mexico, South Korea and Japan, with New Zealand on her list of future destinations.