Sally Ancheta Bids Farewell After 20+ Years of Service

For more than two decades, Sally Ancheta has dedicated her time, talent, and heart to improving the health and well-being of her Hawaiʻi Island community. As Sally prepares to conclude her time with the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute (HIPHI) at the end of October, we celebrate an extraordinary career of service, community leadership, and commitment to prevention.
Sally’s connection to this work goes back even further than her time at HIPHI. Before joining the organization, she served as the Hawaiʻi Island Program Coordinator for the American Lung Association, where she developed deep roots in tobacco prevention and control and became an important part of the local coalition movement. In 2003, Sally joined what was then known as the Tobacco-Free Big Island Coalition as a community member volunteering her time to an issue close to her heart, and hosted the inaugural meeting. Over the years, the coalition evolved and changed its name, becoming Tobacco-Free East Hawai‘i in 2010 and Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Island in 2017. Through each chapter, Sally remained a dedicated part of the coalition and its work.

In September 2010, Sally joined HIPHI as the Coalition Coordinator for Tobacco-Free East Hawai‘i. Over the next 12 years, Sally became a familiar and trusted face throughout Hawaiʻi Island. She consistently showed up for her community, built relationships, brought people together, and helped turn community concerns and ideas into meaningful action.
One of Sally’s most significant accomplishments was her work in tobacco prevention policy. Alongside community advocates and policymakers, Sally helped build the support that led Hawaiʻi County to become the first county in the state to pass a Tobacco 21 law, raising the minimum legal age for tobacco sales to 21. This landmark achievement was an important step in protecting Hawaiʻi’s young people, and it became a model for other counties in Hawai‘i, and for the nation.

Sally’s contributions extended well beyond tobacco prevention. Through her work with HEAL, she supported efforts to promote healthy eating and active living, and helped communities consider the broader environments and policies that shape health. In 2019, she and advocates from local active transportation non-profits helped lead a county-level policy to raise the general excise (GE) tax by 0.5%, earmarked for local multi-modal transportation projects, county road improvements, and mass transit. Passed in early 2020, the policy is estimated to provide up to $500 million to the County to expand and improve multimodal transportation options countywide.

In 2022, Sally began another chapter of her HIPHI journey when she transitioned to the role of Coordinator for the East Hawaiʻi Drug-Free Coalition. For the past three-plus years, she has brought her decades of prevention experience and community relationships to efforts addressing underage drinking in East Hawai‘i.

A Legacy Built on Relationships

While Sally’s career includes many accomplishments, her greatest legacy may be the relationships she has built over the years.

Sally has worked with community members, youth, parents, educators, health professionals, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, policymakers, and countless other partners. She has brought people together around common goals and helped communities recognize their own capacity to create change.

For those who have had the chance to work alongside Sally, her commitment has been evident in the countless meetings, community events, coalition gatherings, presentations, trainings, and one-on-one conversations that have filled her 20+ years of service. She has been a consistent advocate for prevention and, perhaps most importantly, a person who genuinely cares about the communities she serves.

As Sally’s time with HIPHI comes to a close at the end of October, we want to say mahalo, Sally, for everything you’ve given to HIPHI and to the people and communities you’ve served. Your contributions will continue to make a difference for many years to come. We wish you all the best in your next chapter!