The General Executive Board unanimously approved Administrative Assistant to the General President Derrick Kualapai on January 22, 2024, to take over the role of UA General Secretary-Treasurer, effective April 1, 2024. Brother Kualapai had been elected unanimously to the position of International Representative at the 40th General Convention in August 2021. He has been an Administrative Assistant to the General President since November 1, 2021, working on projects assigned by General President Mark McManus.  

On July 1, 2019, Brother Kualapai had been appointed International Representative. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Derrick Kualapai to join The Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.  

Before his position as International Representative, he had been named Special Representative for California and Hawaii, effective September 17, 2018. In 2016, Brother Kualapai was elected Business Manager of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 342 in Oakland, CA. In 2013, he was elected Assistant Business Manager, and in 2012, as a Business Agent.

He also served his local as an Executive Board member of the California State Pipe Trades Council and as a Contra Costa County Building Trades Council Trustee. He has served as an Executive Board member of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council. Brother Kualapai has attended five UA General Conventions.  

Derrick Kualapai has been a Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 342 member for 29 years. He completed his apprenticeship as a steamfitter/welder with Local 342. In 2000, he was elected Recording Secretary, and in 2007, he was elected President of his local.  

Brother Kualapai worked in refineries and power plants for almost two decades. In 2006, he participated in the UA/EPRI Rigging Certification program and successfully completed this pilot course, which led him to establish a new rigging program in his home local. He later graduated from the Instructor Training Program in 2011.