GOV. GREEN APPOINTS MEMBERS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

Office of the Governor Press Release, Aug 23, 2023

HONOLULU  ̶  Governor Josh Green, M.D., has announced several appointees to state boards and commissions.

Walt Kaneakua and Sanoe Marfil have been appointed to the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Walt Kaneakua is a director for the Hawaiʻi Pacific Foundation (HPF), a nonprofit, Native Hawaiian organization based in Honolulu. He is a member of the foundation’s Strategic Planning Committee and oversees part of the HPF portfolio for charitable giving in the Native Hawaiian community. Kaneakua is a professor for the U.S. Naval War College at Pearl Harbor and an adjunct professor at Pacific Rim Christian University. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and earned additional degrees at the University of Southern California, University of Oklahoma and the Naval War College. His Doctorate in Organizational Leadership was earned at the University of Phoenix.

Sanoe Marfil is a nonprofit leader with nearly 20 years of experience in people, program and project management. Marfil currently serves as chief program officer at the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE), in Waiʻanae. She is a graduate of Leeward Community College, University of Hawaiʻi, West Oʻahu, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Present-Fielding Graduate School, having earned there a Doctorate in Education in Leadership for Change.

Both appointments require advise and consent of the State Senate for a term that ends June 30, 2027.

Mike Hamasu and Regina Ostergaard-Klem have been appointed to serve on the Council on Revenues.

Mike Hamasu is director of consulting and research at Colliers in Hawaiʻi. He has more than 30 years of experience in market research at commercial brokerages, with a focus on providing information to assist in strategic decision making for investors and other brokerage clientele. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and San Francisco State University, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration.

Regina Ostergaard-Klem is an associate professor of environmental science at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. Among other honors, Ostergaard-Klem attended the University of Lodz Department of Urban Economics in Poland, as a Fulbright Fellow. She earned her Ph.D. in Systems Analysis and Economics for Public Decision Making from The Johns Hopkins University, in addition to other degrees from Johns Hopkins and Lehigh University.

Both appointments require advise and consent of the State Senate for a term that ends June 30, 2027.

Kristin Davidson is being reappointed to serve as administrator for the State Council for the Interstate Compact for Juveniles. As Social Services Manager, she plans, directs and coordinates day-to-day operations of the Juvenile Client Services Branch of the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary. On behalf of the Judiciary, Davidson also prepares testimony on proposed laws affecting children and families, relating to delinquency and crime, as well as other matters. She is also an independent grant writer. Davidson is a graduate of Boise State University, as well as Chaminade University of Honolulu, where she earned a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration.

Confirmation by both the State Senate and Chief Justice are required for this reappointment, with a term to run through June 30, 2026.

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