Jason T. Okuhama has worked his entire professional career in the banking, commercial and consumer lending industry spanning the past 41 years. For the past 22 years he has been self-employed and specializes primarily in USDA Rural Development, US Small Business Administration and USDA Farm Service Agency loan programs. Jason has been the Board President of HACBED for the past 22 years.

Dr. Trina Orimoto describes herself as a scientist-practitioner-activist and currently serves as a staff psychologist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Until recently, she led the Program Improvement and Communications Office at the Department of Health's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division. While there, Dr. Orimoto championed the division’s research, legislative, policy, and strategic communications efforts. She also supervised student research and clinical work and would often pinch hit as a clinical lead at local Family Guidance Centers. Her research centers on understanding practice patterns and evidence-based treatments in community mental health settings. Dr. Orimoto is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Marcus Kawatachi has worked almost his entire career at the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission, the agency that enforces the State's antidiscrimination laws in the areas of employment, housing, state services, and public accommodations. He currently serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission, providing direct supervision to its legal and investigative staff. As a member of the HACBED board Marcus hopes to continue to assist individuals and families in creating opportunities to live their lives as they choose. He is a proud graduate of Princeton University and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Derrick reconnected with HACBED by joining the board at the end of 2020. From 2000 - 2005, he worked at HACBED supporting its capacity-building training and technical assistance initiatives. He’s since spent the last 17 years working in Hawai‘i’s agriculture sector, including work at MA‘O Organic Farms, The Kohala Center, and GoFarm Hawai‘i. Derrick currently lives a few miles north of Hilo, in Onomea, on Hawai‘i Island and manages a tropical fruit production farm management company. He remains passionate about agriculture and community development issues in Hawai‘i and also serves on the board of Mala‘ai and HuiMAU (Hui Mālama i ke Ala ‘Ūlili) on Hawai‘i Island.

Miwa has served environmental and economic justice efforts in non-profit, private and public sectors, for over 20 years, including as a Co-Founder and Co-Director of backbone organization KUA (Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo) and advocacy non-profit Executive Director of KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. Miwa holds a joint- B.A./M.A. in Economics from the University of Southern California. Miwa is currently serving in an Impact Residency at Hawaiʻi Investment Ready (HIR), a social impact finance intermediary. There, she serves as HIR’s first Artist-in-Residence, working to further the art of community-building at HIR. At HACBED, Miwa hopes to contribute to HACBED’s long legacy of supporting community economic self-determination, and the vision of its founders.

Philip Garboden is a professor at The University of Chicago, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Phil's primary research focuses on how landlords, developers, and property managers – respond to state, local, and federal housing policy in ways that exacerbate the structural marginalization of low-income and non-white communities. Prior to his position at The University of Chicago, Phil was the inaugural HCRC Professor in Affordable Housing Economics, Policy, and Planning at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.