WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Employee Ownership Foundation announced today that Frieda S. Takaki, President and Chief Executive Officer of CHART Rehabilitation of Hawaii, Inc. located in Honolulu, Hawaii, will take over as the new Chair of the Foundation. The Employee Ownership Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Foundation dedicated to promoting employee ownership and is an affiliate of The ESOP Association, a national trade association for employee owned companies.

Ms. Takaki is active in the Hawaii Chapter of The ESOP Association has served on the Executive Committee's State & Regional Chapter Council. From 2007 – 2009, Ms. Takaki served as Chair of The ESOP Association.

CHART Rehabilitation of Hawaii, Inc. is a multi-disciplinary outpatient physical rehabilitation clinic and is one of the most innovative and comprehensive orthopedic rehabilitation centers in the country. CHART pioneered the active rehab concept in the state of Hawaii in 1979 specializing in work injury and auto accident patients. Ms. Takaki has been with CHART since 1983 and was promoted to President and CEO in 1989.

Effective May 1, 2011, Ms. Takaki will take the reigns from outgoing Chair Joseph Cabral. Mr. Cabral served as Chair of the Employee Ownership Foundation for the past four years.

"We are excited Frieda will be taking over as Chair of the Employee Ownership Foundation," said J. Michael Keeling, President of the Employee Ownership Foundation. "She is a dynamic leader with many new ideas to lead the Foundation forward."

The Employee Ownership Foundation supports research, education, and public awareness of programs that will increase the level of understanding and appreciation of the benefits of employee ownership and increase the number of employees who have access to this benefit. For more information: http://www.employeeownershipfoundation.org. The Employee Ownership Foundation is The ESOP Association's affiliated 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting employee ownership.

Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association represents over 1,400 ESOP companies who believe that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation and strengthen our free enterprise economy. For more information: http://www.esopassociation.org.

SOURCE Employee Ownership Foundation.