Eight of the 13 recipients of the awards, sponsored by the University of Hawaii's Pacific Business Center, were women.
One was Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who, in her keynote speech spoke about the influence of her mother, the challenges she faced as a young single woman claiming titles that belonged to her father, the first prime minister of Samoa.
She said the most memorable example of resilience and healing for her was the coming together of the people in Samoa after the 2009 tsunami.
