GUAM'S FIRST LADY JOANN G. CAMACHO

"Our children are our greatest asset and we must focus on underage drinking as a community. Educating our communities to take the lead and the issue of children experimenting and using alcohol seriously is everyone's job. Together we can take the issue head-on and give our children a bright future, free of alcohol and other substance abuse, illiteracy, child abuse and academic failure."
—Joann G. Camacho

Introducing Joann G. Camacho, First Lady of Guam

Joann G. Camacho brings her concern for children and families, and her extensive public service background to the Leadership.  She is known as an energetic catalyst within the community, bridging people and ideas and working closely with public and private sector networks to raise the quality of life across Guam.

Mrs. Camacho joined Leadership in March 2005; in April she participated in SAMHSA’s 2005 Reach-Out Now Teach-In by speaking to a class of sixth graders. As First Lady, Mrs. Camacho also focuses on promoting literacy and serves as Guam’s “Ambassador for Reading,” partnering with Scholastic Books representatives and all teachers and schools to help increase children’s interest in reading. Mrs. Camacho is also a leading advocate for community health issues, including building resource support for Guam’s sole publicly owned hospital and leading hospital volunteerism, heart health, catastrophic illness, and natural disaster recovery and relief projects. In April 2003, she established the Guam H.O.P.E. foundation, which aims to improve the welfare of children and families and find solutions to specific challenges they face in education, health care, and work life-balances.

Mrs. Camacho has volunteered her time and services for many public-sector organizations. She has served as a board member of the Guam Civil Service Commission, Alcohol Beverage Control board, the Power Authority, and Visitors’ Bureau. Additionally, the first lady has served as a board member and treasurer for the Guam Special Olympics and the Sugar Plum Tree Project.

The First Lady, a native of Guam, graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in finance management. She is retired after a 23 year career as a divisional merchandise manager of Duty Free Shoppers. Mrs. Camacho’s dedication to her family is paramount and she balances her role as wife, mother and grandmother with her responsibilities as “ambassador for the island of Guam ” She and her husband, Governor Felix P. Camacho, have been married for 23 years and have three children, and one grandson.