100 years

Advancing Nonprofit Excellence
Ho‘okele Award

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The Ho‘okele Award pays tribute to leaders from the nonprofit sector – the guiding forces in our community who strive to make Hawai‘i a better place.

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

The Ho‘okele Award was made possible from 2002-2016 through a partnership between the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF). In 2017, HCF’s Board of Governors created the Kelvin Taketa Ho‘okele Leadership Award Fund in honor of Kelvin’s visionary leadership as former CEO of HCF. The Fund ensures that the award will continue in perpetuity.

 

Congratulations to the 2022 Ho‘okele Award Recipients

Chad Cabral

Chad Cabral currently serves as chief executive officer for the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island, a youth development nonprofit organization that has been servicing community youth for over 70 years. The Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island currently supports over 1,400 youth annually throughout Hawaiʻi Island. During the pandemic, the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island quickly repurposed its staff and services to be able to offer community youth, families in-need, and homeless individuals with critical needs resources through its Mobile Youth Outreach initiative and Community Meal Support efforts. During this time, over 600,000 individual hot meals have been distributed by the nonprofit.
Bgcbi.org

Jocelyn Howard

Jocelyn “Josie” Howard is the chief executive officer of We Are Oceania (WAO), which serves Micronesian and Pacific Island communities throughout the state, with the goal of centralizing support systems for Micronesian communities, families, and individuals in Hawai‘i, so they’re able to acculturate to Hawaiian, local, and American culture, and access available services without losing their traditions and values. WAO’s first project was to open a one-stop Micronesian center dedicated to the development, implementation, and management of initiatives aimed at addressing various Micronesian needs.
Weareoceania.org

Micky Huihui

ʻO au o Micky Huihui, no Pūohala, Kāneʻohe mai au, a noho i kēia mau lā i ke awawa o Pālolo, Oʻahu. Ua hānau kuʻu mau kūpuna i nā hono a Piʻilani, ma ke one o Kahelelani, a me ka ʻāina o Manōkalanipō. He Hawaiʻi au.

Micky Huihui is the executive director of the Hawai‘i’s People’s Fund, a nonprofit organization that has helped support, build capacity, and amplify the impact of grassroots social change movements in Hawai‘i since 1972. Hawai‘i People’s Fund supports passionate, grassroots community groups working for social justice in Hawai‘i. These groups are often considered by traditional funding organizations to be too small, too new, or too controversial. Hawai‘i’s People’s Fund is dedicated to the most creative, passionate, and radical visions of community, bravely navigating the intersections of indigeneity, environment, race, class, labor, gender, art, technology, mental health, incarceration, food, and other crucial issues we face.
Hawaiipeoplesfund.org

Richard Yust

Richard Yust is the executive director of the Maui Food Bank. The Maui Food Bank is Maui County’s primary safety net for hunger relief. Working with 177 total distribution partners and programs, the Food Bank distributes safe and nutritious food to individuals, families, kids, the working poor, seniors on fixed incomes, the homeless, and anyone who is at risk of going hungry. This includes people in need living in the rural communities of Hāna, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i. Of those served, 40 percent are children and youth.
Mauifoodbank.org

 

Ho‘okele Award Recipients

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