Brandee Menino is the Chief Executive Officer of HOPE Services Hawaii, Inc., an affiliate organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Hawaii, and is focused on ending homelessness in Hawaii.  With more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, she has served as a nonprofit administrator, crisis counselor, outreach worker, board officer, and advocate. Brandee holds a master’s degree in professional counseling with emphasis in marriage and family therapy from the American School of Professional Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Inspired by the belief that serving others is a privilege, she currently volunteers her time serving on three local nonprofit boards including as treasurer for Bay Clinic, Inc., as secretary for the Foodbasket, Hawaiʻi Island’s Foodbank, and as director of the HMSA Foundation Board.

Brandee is also a Weinberg Fellow, and a mom of four children. Spending time with her family and friends keeps her recharged and driven.

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Bob Agres

• Currently serves the community as Program Officer of the Kosasa Foundation, where he’s leading environmental stewardship and opportunity youth programs to promote “wellbeing as a community and uniqueness of place”
• He previously served as the Hawai‘i County Dept of Research & Development Deputy Director (as part of the team of LG member, Doug Adam,)
• Before that and very relevant to today’s session, Bob served as the Manager for Disaster Recovery Community Engagement and Collaboration in the Hawai‘i County Planning Department, where he led (he would say, co-led) the Kilauea Recovery Team and local and long-lasting public-private initiatives after the 2018 Puna eruption
• He is a community-based planner at heart and known for leading the Hawai‘i Alliance for Community-based Economic Development (HACBED) for 13 years, teaching generations of urban & regional planners at UH-Mānoa, and other roles at Islander Institute and HART
• On a personal note, Bob lives in Hilo, currently works on O‘ahu, and calls Maui home.
• Bob can speak of the intentional approach between Hawai‘i County and the community navigating through the recovery process together, which involved both clock and cloud approaches 
• Doug Adams can pick up to share this continues…

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Doug Adams is a member of the Maui ERC Community Interest Learning Group. From an East Hawaii kamaʻaina family, Doug serves as the Director of Research and Development in the County of Hawaiʻi.

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• Program Administrator for the Water Resources Division of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, where he’s worked for 39 years
• Brings his experience working in water systems analysis, environmental, capital planning, water resource management, conservation, reuse, water rights and land use planning
• Barry is licensed professional engineer in Hawaii with a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
• He led the development of O'ahu’s 8 regional Watershed Management Plans for resource protection and water use and development, and is a member of the Hawai'i Community Foundation’s Freshwater Council which developed the State Freshwater Blueprint for water conservation, reuse and recharge targets to ensure 100 mg/d of resilient water by 2030

• Program Administrator for the Water Resources Division of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, where he’s worked for 39 years
• Brings his experience working in water systems analysis, environmental, capital planning, water resource management, conservation, reuse, water rights and land use planning
• Barry is licensed professional engineer in Hawaii with a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
• He led the development of O'ahu’s 8 regional Watershed Management Plans for resource protection and water use and development, and is a member of the Hawai'i Community Foundation’s Freshwater Council which developed the State Freshwater Blueprint for water conservation, reuse and recharge targets to ensure 100 mg/d of resilient water by 2030

Ka'iu Odom, MPH

• Executive Director, Good Foods Alliance some text
  • A diverse hui of individuals and organizations who share in the production, aggregation, and distribution of food, and share in the practice of mālama ʻāina to re-build thriving community food systems.
  • Good Food Pillars: Culturally Grounded, Food as Medicine, Equitable, Community-Based, Mālama ‘Āina

Previously, Ka'iu was Program Director of  ROOTS at KKV and Ho‘oulu‘āina, a land-based nutrition program that works to restore our community food systems by celebrating and strengthening farmer capacity to produce cultural staples and to form strong, enduring linkages from those farms to the plates of our community. Ka'iu has planned meals for the Polynesian Voyaging Society's Worldwide Voyage, started ROOTS Cafe to nourish the community with foods grown at Ho‘oulu‘āina and locally, and addresses hunger and well-being with real-life ways to integrate health and healing into systems and places.

• Executive Director, Hawai‘i Community Lending
• Bio leads with “Housing is a human right, not a privilege for only those who can afford to pay the most.”
• AmeriCorps in Northern California: working with children of incarcerated parents
• Honolulu Habitat for Humanity: greater need for Native Hawaiians
• Hawaiian Community Assets→founded Hawai‘i Community Lending in 2014
• Winner of Hawai‘i Business’ 2024 Social Impact Entrepreneur
• In August, HCL quickly set up the Kānaka Anti-Displacement Fund to prevent displacement of kānaka maoli by preserving their stewardship and access to ʻāina (land) on Maui over the next five years

Kawika Freitas is the Director of Public and Cultural Relations at Old Lahaina Luʻau and has been with this company since 2008.

He has served on the Maui Planning Commission, County of Maui

• Focuses on the area encompassing the island of Maui and the adjacent waters.
• Advises the Mayor, County Council, and Planning Director in matters concerning planning programs.
• Reviews the general plan and revisions thereof prepared by the Planning Director or at the request of the County Council, and after public hearings, transmits findings and recommendations to the County Council for consideration and action.
• Reviews other proposed land use ordinances and amendments prepared by the Planning Director or by the County Council, and after public hearings, transmits findings and recommendations to the County Council for consideration and action.
• Acts as the authority in all matters relating to the Coastal Zone Management Law.
• Adopts rules pursuant to land use ordinances or law.

‘Ekolu Lindsey was raised on Maui (where he loved visiting his grandparents’ home in Lahaina to surf, swim, and fish in the waters of Polanui), Ekolu graduated from Kamehameha Schools on O’ahu, and earned a B.B.A. at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Ekolu’s parents -- Ed Lindsey, a Native Hawaiian, and lifelong school teacher, and Puanani Lindsey -- co-founded Maui Cultural Lands in 2002. After his father passed away in 2009, Ekolu carried forward his family’s legacy of service and their vision of protecting and restoring Hawaiian cultural resources and the marine environment. Ekolu is the president of Maui Cultural Lands and in July of 2015, completed a ten-day, 500-mile journey aboard the voyaging canoe Hikianalia to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to conduct reef surveys and fish monitoring to help better manage Hawai’i’s marine resources. Ekolu also cofounded Polanui Hiu, the first Community Managed Makai Area (CMMA) on Maui. Ekolu sits on many non-profit boards and donates his time freely to create a better world by serving the present for those not yet born.

Matthew Johnson - Pacific Gateway Center

On February 1, Matthew Johnson was appointed the Executive Director of Pacific Gateway Center, a nonprofit founded in 1973 to serve immigrants, refugees, and other low-income residents.

Johnson’s diverse career has been dedicated to non-profit and business development, entrepreneurship and agriculture.  

Matt earned his Bachelors’ degree in business administration from Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 2002 and joined the Peace Corp to work in the Philippines.  He moved to Hawaii in 2006 to work in the non-profit sector supporting the local agriculture and conservation industries. In 2009 he co-founded Oahu Fresh, a farm to home delivery service and in 2015, he co-founded Oahu Food Hub, a co-working space for local food businesses.  “We couldn’t be more excited to have Matt come aboard at this time of significant growth for PGC” said board president Gregory Pai.

Matthew is joined by Emma Bell, Kale Anitema and David Laeha

Jacky Takakura

Jacky is the Administrator of the County of Maui Long Range Planning Division of the Department of Planning.  She brings decades of planning experience in Maui and continuity with the West Maui Community Plan.

Takakura grew up in Kahului and graduated from Baldwin High School. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in business administration and Japanese language and literature from the University of Washington. In December of 2021, she earned a Professional Certificate in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Before joining Maui County in 1998, Takakura worked for Ernst & Young Telecommunications Consulting and taught English in Japan. She began her career at the Department of Water Supply in 1998. Later, she transferred to the Department of Planning from 2014 to 2017 and returned to the Department of Water Supply for a year. In 2019, she rejoined the Planning Department as Administrative Planning Officer in the Zoning Administration & Enforcement Division, and in June 2022 was sworn in as the deputy director of the Department of Planning.

Naomi Sutton, CEAP, LSW, SAP, joined WorkLife Hawaii in 1994 and has served as its Director since 2012.  WorkLife Hawaii is a division of Child and Family Service, one of the most comprehensive private, nonprofit human service organizations serving Hawaii since 1899.  WorkLife Hawaii is a full-service employee assistance program (EAP) that opened its doors in 1983.  It currently serves 115 public and private sector employers, covering 1 in 8 employees in Hawaii.  

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Naomi is a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP), Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and Substance Abuse Professional (SAP).  She works collaboratively and consultatively with the organizations and businesses WorkLife Hawaii serves to understand and address the unique culture,needs and issues impacting their workforce.  She is also a member of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA), which includes EAPs worldwide and provides a global perspective on how employers are navigating these challenging times.

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Dana Okano, PhD, AICP, (she/her) is Director of the Natural Environment sector at Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and is responsible for programs such as Wai Maoli: Hawai‘i Fresh Water Initiative (est. 2013), Holomua Marine Initiative, and co-chairs the Hawai‘i Environmental Funders Group. She is also Director of the EPA-funded Hawaiian Islands Environmental Finance Center, providing Technical Assistance to communities across Hawai‘i for their water needs.

The Hawai‘i Fresh Water Initiative is focused on and finding solutions for Hawai‘i’s long-term water security.   

Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Okano worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program and Coastal Zone Management Program in Saipan, CNMI.  Dr. Okano also previously worked as a Planner at County of Hawai‘i Planning Department, and she began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Benin, West Africa.  

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Christin Reynolds is the Company Founder and Owner of One World One Water. Her expertise includes policy, engineering, mapping, and modeling. As a specialist in coastal and water management issues, she has provided/provides support for federal and local governments in Hawai‘i and American Samoa. With over a decade of professional experience in Geographic Information Systems, water resources, project management, and engineering, her career spans the public and private sectors.  A Rotary ambassadorial scholar, Christin holds a master’s degree in engineering and policy analysis from the Technische Universiteit Delft in the Netherlands and Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, China. She received her bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

Reyna Ramolete Hayashi was born and raised in Kapālama, O‘ahu. She joined the Trust for Public Land in 2019. Prior to that she co-founded Emergent Island Economies Collective, a consulting cooperative focused on creating resilient island economies. She was a fair housing attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i and a workers’ rights attorney at Empire Justice Center (in Rochester, NY). In her free time she loves surfing, hiking, cooking, writing, and spending quality time with the people she loves. Reyna is guided by a loving, resilient community of ‘ohana, mentors, and friends, and reverence for the ea of the home that raised her. She feels humbled to work with and learn from communities and stewards who have intimate, reciprocal relationships to ‘āina. She is mother to Sebio and partner to Brent Kakesako.

Reyna’s work as a community lawyer, organizer, and facilitator is guided by her ancestors, family, friends, and her kuleana to the home that raised her, Hawai‘i. She is the Aloha ‘Āina Project Manager at the Trust for Public Land’s Hawai‘i office where she protects and conserves culturally and historically significant land and supports Native Hawaiian land stewardship. In 2017 she co-founded Emergent Island Economies Collective, a consulting cooperative whose mission is to create new systems of exchange and relationships based on ancestral island values. EIEC stewards community-driven solutions that model the world we want to live in: creating sustainable and resilient island economies and growing community organizations and social enterprises that empower us to meet our collective needs.

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Amber Thompson is the Sustainability Manager at Hulihia Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Hawaiʻi, Maui College. She is a proud graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi, Maui College where she earned a Bachelorʻs in Sustainable Science Management.

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Kevin J. Block, Esq. is a dedicated, experienced and passionate immigration attorney in Maui and the founder of Maui Immigration Law, LLC. The son of an immigrant and the parent of an immigrant, Block is passionate about the positive contributions immigrants make to our Hawaiian community and throughout the U.S. His legal career and long history of service to the community are a testament to his dedication and commitment to social justice.

He currently serves on the ACLU’s Hawaii Affiliate Board of Directors and the Advisory Committee of the Refugee and Immigration Law Clinic at the UH Richardson School of Law. He is on the Board of Directors of The Legal Clinic, which provides high quality immigration services, education and advocacy to low-income immigrants and migrants in Hawaii. Mr. Block is also a consulting attorney to the Mexican Government’s Consul General, Department of Exterior Relations and is one of the founding attorneys of “Roots Reborn” which is a grassroots community organization that arose in the aftermath of the fire to provide services and build capacity in the Lahaina immigrant community.

Mr. Block is married, lives in Kula Maui and is the proud grandfather of three. When time permits, he enjoys paddling for Hawaiian Canoe Club, travelling to Oaxaca Mexico and writing.

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Josie Howard graduated from Xavier High School in Micronesia and attended the Community College of Micronesia. She later transferred to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo studying Biology, Anthropology, and Pacific Island Studies in 1989 making her one of the first Micronesians migrating under the Compact of Free Association Treaty. At the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Josie Howard’s roles included student peer counselor, president of the International Students Association, a student researcher at the Minority Biomedical Research Program, a resident assistant at the student housing, president of the Chuukese Students Association, as well as chairperson for the Campus Ministry. Josie has over 15 years of servicing the community, with 8 years working with private agencies contracted by the Department of Health Waiver program, 5 years in the Department of Education, and 5 years in program development, implementation, and piloting a one-stop center model. Josie’s community involvement includes being the founder of the Young Voyagers, a youth club in Media with ‘Ōlelo, and the Micronesian Cultural Awareness Project. Josie earned her Master’s degree in Social Work and is now working as Chief Executive Officer for We Are Oceania (WAO). Josie is most recognized for her contribution to the “Micronesian Voices in Hawai‘i Conference” where she participated as one of six steering committee members who worked with Micronesian Government leaders, community leaders, as well as conference sponsors. She is also known for her work at Goodwill Industries of Hawai‘i Inc.’s “Imi Loa Program” where she worked with families and their adult children providing direct services as well as managing the programmatic and fiscal operation. Mrs. Howard is a native of Onoun Island in Micronesia and she speaks Chuukese, Onounese, and English fluently.

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‍Kamuela Joseph Nui Enos was born and raised in Waiʻanae, on the island of O`ahu. He is the Director of Office of Indigenous Knowledge & Innovation for the University of Hawaiʻi System. He received his AA from Leeward Community College, BA in Hawaiian Studies from UH Manoa, MA in Urban and Regional Planning where his MA thesis was: Utilizing Traditional Hawaiian Land Use Practices to Create Sustainability Paradigms for the 21st Century. He sits on the boards of numerous community based non-profits, and was recently a commissioner on President Obama’s White House Initiative on Asians and Pacific Islanders. 

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Marian Horikawa-Barth, DNP, RN

Marian is the Chief Nursing Executive at Maui Memorial Medical Center located in Wailuku, Maui. The Medical Center is a not for profit, sole provider, island community hospital. Marian has been a registered nurse for thirty years, performing numerous roles including quality department manager, clinical educator, case manager, and assistant manager of critical care and overseeing eight nursing units or 300 nursing staff members.

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Kapono'ai Molitau, Kumu Hula & Entrepreneur

Kumu is the owner of Native Intelligence, a cultural resource center guised as retail in the heart of Wailuku Town. He is the Kahuna Nui of Puʻukoholā Heiau and Kumu Hula of Nā Hanona Kūlike ʻO Piʻilani on the Island of Maui.

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James Kimo Landgraf, Deputy Director, County of Maui, Department of Water Supply

Mr. Landgraf has worked in the water industry in the government and private sectors for more than 30 years, including more than 17 years with the Maui County Department of Water Supply, where he has served as the acting chief of the Water Treatment Plants Division since 2018. He is a trained civil and mechanical engineer.

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Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, Ph.D.

Dr. Scheuer has twenty five years experience in public policy and land management in the public, non profit, and private sectors, in the Native Hawaiian and broader communities. He assists clients by working with them to develop strategies designed to avoid, manage, and/or resolve deep and complex conflicts over the control and management of natural resources. Likeke also served on the State of Hawaiʻi Land Use Commission from 2014 through 2022, for which he also served as Chair for a number of years.

Dr. Sean Connelly (born 1984) is a Pacific Islander American artist born, residing, and working in Honolulu, Kona, Oʻahu. Sean's multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, installation, film, design, and cartography, frequently integrating experimental methodologies. Their work delves into the interplay with the built environment, intersecting oceanic intellect and futures in contemporary practice, spanning both tangible and theoretical domains. This exploration is informed by cultural, ecological, historical, material, water, food sovereignty, and land justice themes.

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