Board of Directors

Jerome Kekiwi Jr.
Network Po'o 2025-2026

Jr. is president of the nonprofit Nā Moku ʻAupuni ʻo Koʻolau Hui, a group of lineal descendants in Ke‘anae and Wailuanui who fought for decades to return the water to the streams and is now nurturing over 20 lo‘i kalo on a roughly 5-acre parcel of land in Wailuanui. 

Barry Chang
Network Vice Chair 2025-2026

Barry serves on the Board of Ke Ao Hāli'i. Born in Pu'unene, raised in Hāna, Barry boarded and graduated from Lahainaluna High School. Barry is a founding member of Hāna Canoe Club, the Pohaku Corporation, and a youth soccer coach. Today he lives life for ‘ohana, conservation, sustainability, Kai, Wai, ‘Aina and Honua.

Maile Shannon
​​Network Treasurer 2025-2026

Maile is a co-founder of the Wailuku Community Makai Management Area. ​She has been involved in ‘āina-based work since 1999. Formerly a farmer/rancher, she has worked and volunteered as a conservationist in the nonprofit world since 2009 while raising her three children.

Kamalei Lind
​​​​Network Secretary 2025-2026

Kamalei Lind is the Executive Director of Kīpahulu ʻOhana. She has volunteered with Kīpahulu ‘Ohana since 2009 and became the Finance Manager in 2019 and Executive Director in 2023. Kamalei graduated from Hāna High School and studied at both the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources Management in 2018 from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa – Shidler College of Business.

Kelson "Mac" Poepoe
Board Member 2025-2026

Uncle Mac Poepoe has long been a leader with Hui Mālama O Mo'omomi. He is a Native Hawaiian fisherman and respected community leader who has dedicated his life to sharing his deep knowledge of marine resource management and traditional Hawaiian aquaculture practices that date back to 900 A.D. Uncle Mac uses Hawaiian science methods such as kilo to note imbalance and decline of marine life. In the early 2000s, he helped envision and bring to life Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo, the organization that supports a network of community-based natural resources managers to share traditional practices and restore Hawaiʻi communities’ role as caretakers of their 'āina. In his Moʻomomi community, he worked to unite local fishermen and subsistence practitioners to organize, propose, and pass legislation for a two-year pilot Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area from 1994-96 on the northwestern shore of Molokaʻi.

Tiani "Ani" Cook
​​​Board Member 2025-2026

Tiana Pua'a Kawa'auhau-Cook is the Executive Director of Ka Honua Momona. Ani is a passionate young leader dedicated to preserving the natural and cultural heritage of her beloved Moloka'i, Hawai'i. Born and raised on the island, Ani’s journey with Ka Honua Momona began in her teens as a pond intern, before working her way up to office intern, executive assistant, and is now the Executive Director - using her deep connection to the ‘āina to guide the organization’s mission. As a wahine entrepreneur, Ani’s all-time goal is to soak up the wisdom of her kūpuna and pass it down, ensuring the next generation becomes the true caretakers of Moloka'i.

Kolomona "Sol" Kaho'ohalahala
​​Board Member 2025-2026

Uncle Sol is a seventh generation descendent from the island of Lāna‘i and founder of Maunalei Ahupua'a Community Managed Makai Area. He served in the Hawai'i House of Representatives from 1999 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2005. He resigned his seat to become Director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission in 2005, serving until 2008. He also served on the Maui County Council from 1994 to 1998 representing the Lāna‘i City district. Uncle Sol participated in the 1998 Hōkūleʻa voyage to Rapanui and has been involved in various environmental and cultural initiatives, most recently focused on banning deep sea mining in the Pacific.

Edwin 'Ekolu Lindsey
​Board Member 2025-2026

'Ekolu Lindsey is the co-founder of Polanui Hiu, a community-managed grassroots movement working to restore marine resources and traditions once practiced within the ahupua'a of Polanui in Lahaina. He is also the president of Maui Cultural Lands, Inc., a grassroots land trust organization where he works with volunteers to stabilize, protect, and restore Hawaiian cultural resources. As the son of local legend Ed Lindsey, 'Ekolu continues the legacy of bringing the residents and visitors of Maui together to restore and protect our native lands.

Claudia Kalaola
​Board Member 2025-2026

Claudia Kalaola is a founding member and Director of Nā Mamo O Mūʻolea. She is a Maui Hikina decendent. Her kulaiwi is the ahupuʻaʻa of Mūʻolea located between Kīpahulu and Hāna moku. Her parents are also Maui Hikina born who lived and worked their entire lives in Hāna. Claudia graduated from Kamehameha Kapālama, and attended UH Hilo. Along with her 7 siblings she was raised to respect ʻāina, kai, and all the resources that are important to a subsistence lifestyle. Along with a handful of people in Hawai'i, Claudia is a Certified Festivals and Events Executive, and for 15 years chaired the annual Hāna Limu Festival.

Lyons Cabacungan
​​​​Board Member 2025-2026

Lyons Cabacungan is the Director of Na Kāhako o Kaupō. Ancestors from both of his parents originate from Kaupō. As a child, he resided in Makawao and spent most weekends in Kumunui, Kaupō, tending to family land. He is a 2002 graduate of Lahainaluna High School and went on to serve nearly 10 years as an Aviation Operations Specialist in the U.S. Army. He returned to Maui and attended UH Maui College to pursue a degree in Agriculture and enroll in Hawaiian Studies courses. Not only does he want to help his family, but all Hawaiians. Traditions, protocols, legends, history, and so forth all come into play in life as a Hawaiian farmer, and he tries hard to pass it on. He currently serves as the Program Manager and Instructor for the Agriculture and Natural Resource Department at UH-MC.

Staff

Tate Keli'iho'omalu-Fernandez
​​​​Network Manager

As the Manager for the Maui Nui Makai Network, Tate leads and coordinates efforts to advance community-led marine stewardship across Maui Nui. She supports Alaka'i and Kāko'o Member organizations through strategic collaboration, grant management, and cultural grounding in mālama ʻāina practices. Her key responsibilities include coordinating semi-annual Network gatherings, leading grant writing, budgeting, compliance, and tracking across multiple public and private funders, and supervising two part-time Project Coordinators responsible for grant implementation and place-based coordination.

John Villarimo
​​​​​Network Project Coordinator

As the Network Project Coordinator, John leads grant management for a three-year NOAA grant, the "Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grant for Tribes and Underserved Communities." He coordinates financial and performance reporting for subawards to partners, and he helps plan site visits between awardees. 

Noah Kalaola-Richardson
​​​​​Network Project Coordinator

As the Network Project Coordinator, Noah supports community-led planning for regional makai management across the four moku of East Maui: Ko‘olau, Hāna, Kīpahulu, & Kaupō. In 2019, East Maui fishers who wanted to have a say in how their resources are managed developed a draft proposal and called it the Maui Hikina Huliāmahi Initiative. Noah helps coordinate discussions around fisheries management with the goal of bringing all of East Maui together.