Delores "Dee" Lim - October Kahiau Award Recipient

Dee Lim
Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise, Alamo & National Car Rental)
Hawaii Group Talent Manager
October Kahiau Award Recipient

​Delores “Dee” Lim is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  She is the proud product of a Retired Captain in the Navy who served his country and the communities where they lived and worked and a generous hearted mother who taught her to give unselfishly.  She has worked in the travel industry on Oahu since 1997 and is currently the Hawaii Group Talent Manager at Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise, Alamo & National Car Rental).  Dee credits her success to her parents who provided her with not only the love and support, but also the challenges that come with moving across the country every 2 years growing up.  In addition, when she joined Enterprise, she found a company that mirrored her personal and family values.   In fact, Enterprise is named after the company’s founder who served on the U.S.S. Enterprise in WW II.  

Along with her day job, Dee has been very instrumental in leading by example with one of the key Enterprise Core values that states “we strengthen our communities one neighborhood at a time.”  As a privately owned, family run company, “Giving Back” (not just monetarily) and getting involved in the communities in which we live and work is so important and this is trait the Dee embodies every day.  Dee is not one to talk about her efforts and rather always looks to deflect the credit to others.  However, she is a key leader who helps coordinate and drives Enterprise’s community initiatives.  This includes helping oversee an annual giving budget in Hawaii to local causes in excess of $500,000/year.  A major driver of this is the annual United Way campaign, which over the past few years has given back over $300,000/year across all islands.  Dee personally has taken on the challenge of coordinating the Enterprise annual campaign and works with the leaders on each island to ensure they are maximizing all potential resources.  With Dee’s guidance, the focus has been on working together, finding fun and creative ways to raise money while making all employees feel like they can contribute.  This is seen both through employee volunteer participation as well as giving.  For her leadership, she has been honored with a Spirit of Community Award from Aloha United Way.

In addition to Dee’s efforts with the United Way, she volunteers annually with dozens of worthwhile causes, including the Hawaii Foodbank, Make A Wish, MDA Hawaii and American Cancer Society, just to name a few.   Her positive attitude and ability to rally the team inspires many others to step up and make a difference.   Dee understands the importance of wanting to teach others to do the right thing, get involved and give selflessly, without any expectation of something in return.  This Aloha spirit is truly what the Kahiau Award is all about.

Not only does Dee give of her herself with her whole heart, but she also gives her time and instills the same values in her two daughters, Naiya (13), and Kayla (10).  Living in Hawaii for over 25 years and married for more than 20 of those years to her husband, Jae, Dee truly lives and breathes Aloha Spirit to everyone she meets.  Her constant and consistent focus on others that she comes into contact with demonstrates her generous nature.  Dee always looks out for those that need a hand and always has an extra hand to lend to those in need.  Her philosophy is simple, give of yourself always, be nice to others always, live and love unconditionally always, and you will always be happy and full in life.

Upon finding out about this recognition, Dee was quick to ask if this can be given to the company and not her personally.   To Dee, it’s always about what the Enterprise Ohana accomplishes as a team.  Dee is a very worthwhile recipient of the Kahiau award and this is a great reflection of her hard work and dedication to the Hawaii community as a whole. 

Dee is a member of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), Association of Talent Development (ATD), National Association of Women Professionals (NAWP), and serves on the Advisory Board for Career Technical Education (CTE) Program for the State of Hawaii.