100 years

Advancing Nonprofit Excellence
Ho‘okele Award

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The Hoʻokele Award pays tribute to leaders from the nonprofit sector – the guiding forces in our community who strive to make Hawaiʻi a better place.

Named for the hoʻokele, or steersman, the award recognizes the significant role that a nonprofit leader plays in improving the quality of life for Hawaiʻi’s people. The award provides recipients with the opportunity for personal renewal and professional development.

The Hoʻokele Award was made possible from 2002-2016 and 2024-present through a partnership between the Gerbode Foundation, initially led by then-president Tom Layton, and HCF, at the time led by CEO and president Kelvin Taketa. In 2017, HCF’s Board of Governors created the Kelvin Taketa Hoʻokele Leadership Award Fund in honor of Kelvin’s visionary leadership. The Fund ensures that the award will continue in perpetuity.

Congratulations to the 2025 Hoʻokele Award Recipients

Rona Yagi Fukumoto

Rona Yagi Fukumoto, President and CEO, Lanakila Pacific

Rona has more than 25 years of experience in social service management, including serving as Division Administrator for Housing Assistance and Referral Programs at Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi. Rona’s career reflects her commitment to creating a community where all people may live their lives with dignity. Lanakila Pacific’s time-tested programs like Lanakila Meals on Wheels and collaborative partnerships that generate employment opportunities for people with disabilities, as well at the organization’s plans to develop “disability forward” housing, bring her vision to life. Rona is a member of the Workforce Development Council and serves on the Career and Technical Education Coordinating Advisory Council, Hawaiʻi Access to Justice Commission, Hawaiʻi Foodbank board, and Project Dāna’s advisory council. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from UH Mānoa and was named a Pacific Century Fellow in 2010.
lanakilapacific.org

Paddy Kauhane

Paddy Kauhane, President and CEO, Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi

With more than 30 years of nonprofit experience, Paddy Kauhane is the first woman and Native Hawaiian to serve as CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaiʻi (BGCH). Since taking the helm of the organization, Paddy has expanded access to the critically needed after-school youth development services to nearly 10,000 youth in the communities BGCH serves each year on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Prior to her role at BGCH, Paddy served on the executive team at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and Life Foundation. Paddy is a member of the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship and Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Hawaiʻi Emerging Leaders Cohort. She was awarded the Pacific Region Herman S. Prescott Award in 2024, and the National Herman S. Prescott Award in 2025, by the Boys & Girls Club of America for her commitment to diversity, equality and empowerment.
bgch.com

Kaʻimi Namaielua Kaup

Kaʻimi Namaielua Kaupiko, founder, Kalanihale

Kaʻimi Namaielua Kaupiko is a keiki o ka ʻāina of Miloliʻi, one of Hawaiʻi’s last fishing villages, an isolated community that survives through subsistence fishing. Kaʻimi earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business from UH Mānoa, focusing on Marketing and Management Information Systems. In 2010, he began transitioning back to Miloliʻi and started providing project-based programs for the community. He founded the nonprofit Kalanihale in 2012. Kaʻimi has worked with many organizations and boards, dedicating his life to preserving and protecting Hawaii’s natural resources. As a community advocate, his work has taught him about the social and emotional needs of Hawaiʻi’s people and the importance of preparing future generations for success, especially at an early age. His true passion is creating opportunities for the future generations of his community and for rural areas of South Kona and Kaʻu.
kalanihale.org

Delia Parker Ulima

Delia Parker Ulima, CEO, Executive Director, EPIC ʻOhana

Delia has spent the past 15 years leading foster youth boards across Hawaiʻi, as well as policy and practice reform efforts in the child welfare and social services fields. Delia has also worked as an adjunct faculty member with the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at UH-Mānoa, where she taught a Children’s Rights and the Law course. She currently serves as the vice-chair of the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council and sits on the Kalihi-Pālama Culture and Arts Society board. She is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University-Hawaiʻi, a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution, an M.A. in Pacific Islands Studies and a Juris Doctorate from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa. Delia was born and raised in Kaluaopalena, Kalihi and lives there with her ʻohana.
epicohana.org

Ho‘okele Award Recipients

2024

Maude Cumming
Executive Director
Family Life Center

Janice Ikeda
Founding Executive Director
Vibrant Hawai‘i

Kūhiō Lewis
CEO
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA)

Kelly Maluo-Pearson
CEO
Boys & Girls Club of Maui (BGCM)

2023

Līpoa Rae Kahaleuahi
Executive Director
Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke (MKHKI)

Cheryl Ka‘uhane Lupenui
President and CEO
Kohala Center

Ryan Kusumoto
President and CEO
Parents And Children Together (PACT)

Mary Frances Oneha
CEO
Waimānalo Health Center

2022

Chad Cabral
CEO
Boys & Girls Club
of the Big Island

Jocelyn Howard
CEO
We Are Oceania (WAO)

Micky Huihui
Executive Director
Hawai‘i’s People’s Fund

Richard Yust
Executive Director
Maui Food Bank

2021

Kristin Frost Albrecht
Executive Director
The Food Basket Inc.

*Twinkle Borge
Leader
Pu‘uhonua O Wai‘anae

Jeffrey Gilbreath
Executive Director
Hawaiian Community Assets

Sandy Ma
Executive Director
Common Cause Hawai‘i

Darryl J. Vincent
Chief Operating Officer
United States Veteran Initiative

2019

Brandee Menino
CEO
HOPE Services Hawai‘i, Inc.
Hawai‘i

Jessica Yamauchi
Executive Director
Hawai‘i Public Health Institute
Statewide

Deborah Zysman
Executive Director
Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network
Statewide

2018

Jan M. Harada
President & CEO
Helping Hands Hawai‘i
Statewide

Angela Hi‘ilei Kawelo
Executive Director
Paepae o He‘eia
O‘ahu

Susan Maddox
Executive Team Leader
Friends of the Future
Hawai‘i

Randy Wong
President
Hawai‘i Youth Symphony
O‘ahu

2017

Kevin Chang
Executive Director
Kua‘āina ‘Ulu ‘Auamo
O‘ahu

Brenda S. Ho
Chief Executive Officer
Hospice of Hilo
Hawai‘i

Heather Lusk
Executive Director
Community Health Outreach
Work (CHOW) Project, Hawai‘i
O‘ahu

Pauline M. Sato
Executive & Program Director
Mālama Learning Center
O‘ahu

2016

William Akutagawa
Executive Director
Nā Puuwai
Moloka‘i

John and Julianna Leong
CEO
KUPU
O‘ahu

Christine Richardson
Executive Director
North Kohala Community Resource Ctr.
Hawai‘i

Paul Singer
Head of School
Assets School
O‘ahu

2015

Kepā Maly
Executive Director
Lāna‘i Culture & Heritage Center
Lāna‘i

Richard Taaffe
CEO
West Hawaii Community
Health Center
Hawai‘i

Marian E. Tsuji
President & CEO
Lanakila Pacific
O‘ahu

Harry Wong III
Artistic Director
Kumu Kahua Theatre
O‘ahu

2014

Suzanne Case
Executive Director
The Nature Conservancy
Statewide

Howard Garval
President & CEO
Child and Family Service
Statewide

Nanci Kreidman
Chief Executive Officer
Domestic Violence Action Center
Statewide

Nola Nahulu
Executive & Artistic Director
Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus
O‘ahu

2013

Nancy Aleck
Executive Director
Hawai‘i Peoples Fund
Statewide

Nalani Fujimori Kaina
Executive Director
Legal Aid Society Hawai‘i
Statewide

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda
Executive Director
The Garden Island Arts Council
Kaua‘i

Kenneth Zeri
President & CPO
Hospice Hawai‘i
O‘ahu

2012

Jud Cunningham
CEO
Aloha House, Inc.
Maui

David Fuertes
Executive Director
Ka Hana No’eau
Hawai‘i

Connie Mitchell
Executive Director
The Institute of Human Services
O‘ahu

*Marjorie Ziegler
Executive Director
Conservation Council for Hawaii
Statewide

2011

Lea Hong
Hawaiian Islands Program Director
The Trust for Public Land
Statewide

Tony Krieg
Chief Executive Officer
Hale Makua Health Services
Maui

Robert G. Peters
Head of School
Hanahau‘oli School
O‘ahu

Leslie Wilcox
President & CEO
PBS Hawaii
Statewide

2010

Selena Ching
Executive Director
Hawaii Youth Symphony Assoc
O‘ahu

Patricia Tummons
Editor
Environment Hawaii
Statewide

Jeanne Skog
President & CEO
Maui Economic Development Board
Maui

Gregory Dunn
Executive Director
Hawaii Nature Center
O‘ahu

2009

Stacey Sproat
Executive Director
Waipa Foundation
Kaua‘i

Matthews Hamabata
Executive Director
The Kohala Center
Hawai‘i

Drew Astolfi
Executive Director
Faith action for Community Equity
O‘ahu, Maui

Laura Robertson
President & CEO
Goodwill Industries
Statewide

2008

David Derauf
Executive Director
Kokua Kalihi Valley
O‘ahu

Marilyn Cristofori
CEO
Hawaii Arts Alliance
Statewide

Ku Kahakalau
Co-founder/Director
Na Lei Na’auao
Statewide

Chipper Wichman
CEO
National Tropical Botanical Garden
Kaua‘i

2007

Dale Bonar
Executive Director
Maui Coastal Land Trust
Maui

Gary Forth &
Kukui Maunakea-Forth
Wai‘anae Community Directors
Re-development Corp.
O‘ahu

Michael Gleason
President & CEO
The Arc of Hilo
Hawai‘i

*Rose Nakamura
Director
Project Dana, Mo‘ili‘ili
Hongwanji Mission
O‘ahu

2006

Christina Cox
Executive Director
KCAA Preschools
O‘ahu

Roy Katsuda
Executive Director
Hale Mahaolu
Maui

Wally Lau
Executive Director
Neighborhood Place of Kona
Hawai‘i

Thein Tin Myaing
Executive Director
Pacific Gateway
O‘ahu

2005

Bob Agres
Executive Director
Hawaii Alliance of Community Based Economic Development
O‘ahu

Vanessa Chong
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union
O‘ahu

Janice Kalanihuia
Director Molokai
General Hospital
Moloka‘i

Darrell Lum
Editor
Bamboo Ridge Press
O‘ahu

2004

Carol Ignacio
Director
Office of Social Ministry
Hawaii

Robert Witt
Executive Director
Hawaii Association of Independent Schools
O‘ahu

Lynn Maunakea
Executive Director
Institute of Human Services
O‘ahu

Patricia McManaman
CEO
Na Loio – Immigrant Rights
Oahu

2003

Hardy Spoehr
Executive Director
Papa Ola Lokahi
O‘ahu

*Marsha Erickson
Executive Director
Hui O Laka - Koke‘e Natural History Museum
Kaua‘i

Puni Kekauoha
Papakolea Community
Development Corporation
O‘ahu

*Walt Dulaney
Executive Director
Alliance for Drama Education
O‘ahu

George Kon
Managing Director
Alliance for Drama Education
O‘ahu

2002

Andrew Aoki
College Connections Hawaii
O‘ahu

David Nakada
Executive Director
Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii
O‘ahu

Eric Enos
Program Director
Ka‘ala Farms, Inc.
O‘ahu

Jo-Ann Ridao
Lokahi Pacific, Inc.
Maui

*deceased