Capt. John “Jack” Sullivan was promoted to senior vice president, vessel operations and engineering at Matson Navigation in January 2020 and named senior vice president of Matson, in April 2020. He is responsible for overseeing the evolution and management of Matson’s fleet, vessel operations and engineering, and offshore labor relations. In addition, oversees the activities of Matson’s Safety, Quality, Environment and Security department.

Sullivan joined Matson in 1993 as a vessel master. He transferred shoreside as vessel manager in 1997 and was promoted to director, vessel operations and offshore labor relations in 1998. In 2003, he was promoted to vice president, vessel operations and engineering. Prior to joining Matson, Sullivan sailed as a licensed deck officer aboard a wide variety of large deep draft U.S. flag ocean vessels.

Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Transportation from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. He also holds a Master’s license for Steam & Motor Vessels of unlimited tonnage, as well as First Class Harbor Pilot licenses for the Hawaii ports of Kawaihae and Kahului. He is a former chairman of the board and current director of the National Cargo Bureau and a member of the Council of American Master Mariners and the American Bureau of Shipping. In 2018, Sullivan was appointed to the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC) by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.

Chris Scott was promoted to senior vice president, transpacific services at Matson Navigation and named senior vice president of Matson, in February 2021. He is responsible for all sales and marketing activities tied to Matson’s China service, based in Oakland.

Scott joined Matson in 1995 in what was then Matson’s new, centralized Customer Support Center in Phoenix. After becoming a supervisor in Phoenix, Scott moved to Jacksonville, FL as manager, depot operations for Matson Logistics. He rejoined Matson Navigation Company in 2001 as sales manager in the Pacific Northwest, and was later promoted to manager, national accounts and eastern area sales, based in San Francisco. In 2006, Scott joined the China team as our company’s first expat based in Shanghai and was responsible for all sales activities. He returned to the U.S. in 2008 as Matson’s manager, container operations in Honolulu. In 2010, he returned to the international team as director, Asia, supervising sales activities once again and working in Hong Kong and Shanghai until returning to the U.S. as vice president, transpacific services in 2015.

Scott started his career in transportation logistics in 1992, working for Sankyu, USA in trucking and warehousing operations.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University.

Laura L. Rascon was promoted to senior vice president, customer experience at Matson Navigation and named senior vice president of Matson in February 2021. She oversees one of Matson’s strongest competitive advantages: the end-to-end personal attention we pay to every facet of every customer move. In her role, Rascon leads all efforts focusing on our strategy, initiatives, and the people that engage with external customers to differentiate Matson in every trade lane that we serve.

Rascon began her Matson career in 1983 as a clerk for Matson Agencies in Long Beach and began working her way up through the organization, ultimately becoming export freight coordinator. When Matson centralized West Coast customer service in 1989, she was one of a core group that relocated to the new customer service center in Phoenix. Rascon took on the customer service supervisor position, which she had until 1995. She’s held various positions at Matson, including freight billing manager, customer service manager, and customer support director. In 2008, Rascon was promoted to vice president, customer support at Matson Navigation. She has led our customer service team through Matson’s substantial growth over the years, with the addition of our services in China, Okinawa, South Pacific, Alaska, and, more recently, the 2020 launches of Matson’s CLX+ and AAX services.

Rascon holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from University of Phoenix.

Rich S. Kinney was promoted to senior vice president, network operations at Matson Navigation in January 2020, and named senior vice president of Matson in April 2020. He oversees Matson’s deployment of terminal, fleet, and equipment assets and finance, purchasing, and administration for the company’s operations division.

Since joining Matson in 1998, Kinney has held various management positions in industrial engineering, vehicle operations, equipment operations, and terminal operations. As equipment and inland operations director, he was a key leader in the acquisition and integration of the Alaska trade, including due diligence, integration of equipment, overseeing transition activities, and office consolidation efforts. Kinney served as the Pasha Transition Services Agreement administrator and led the business team in evaluating a suitable terminal operating system (TOS) replacement for our Alaska ports. He also contributed to systems development, business process development, user training, data migration, and go-live efforts. He was promoted to vice president, equipment and inland operations in 2016 and vice president, West Coast terminal operations in 2017.

Prior to Matson, he spent seven years in the aerospace industry at Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and three years at San Francisco-based investment bank Volpe Brown Whelan & Co.

Kinney serves on the boards of directors of the Pacific Maritime Association, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, and the Board of Managers of SSA Terminals.

Kinney earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Qiang Gao was promoted to senior vice president, Asia at Matson Navigation, and named senior vice president of Matson in February 2021. He spends half his time in Matson’s Oakland office and the other half in Asia, where he is responsible for all business operations and development in China and Asia, except for Matson’s Okinawa operation.

Gao joined Matson’s market planning team in 2003. He was named director, Asia, and opened Matson’s China offices in Shanghai and Ningbo as it initiated China service beginning in 2005. Gao was promoted to vice president, Asia in 2012 and oversaw Matson’s growth from its two small start-up offices to a workforce of more than 120 employees in five offices – the original two, plus offices in Xiamen, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Gao’s leadership has proven to be a major factor in Matson’s success as the service leader in the Transpacific trade. He was a critical member of the leadership team that developed and launched two new services, CLX+ and AAX, in 2020.

Prior to Matson, Gao had 15 years of experience in international shipping, logistics, and cross-border trade in China and the U.S., including roles with MeetChina.com, Booz Allen, Bechtel, and Tianjin Marine.

Gao obtained a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Nanking University, a master’s degree in economics from Acadia University, and a Ph.D. in transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Grazyna “Grace” M. Cerocke was promoted to senior vice president, finance at Matson Logistics and named senior vice president of Matson in February 2021. She is responsible for all finance activities and plays a crucial role in acquisitions, organic expansion, and growth strategy for Matson Logistics and its subsidiary Span Alaska.

Cerocke has been instrumental in developing and improving many of Matson Logistics’ financial accounting processes and ensuring company compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) finance regulations. She played a key role in designing and implementing the company’s proprietary operating system for transportation brokerage and has been integral to all of Matson Logistics’ business acquisitions, leading due diligence and business integration efforts.

Her career with Matson Logistics started in 1997 as a part-time operations clerk while in college. After graduation, Cerocke began working full-time as a senior accountant in 2000. She served as accounting manager, assistant controller, and accounting director. In 2012 Cerocke was named vice president, finance for Matson Logistics.

She serves as a member of the Business Advisory Council for the Northwestern University Transportation Center. Cerocke earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from DePaul University and is a certified public accountant.