Our Team

  • Brent Kakesako Executive Director Brent feels humbled to co-learn alongside communities across Hawaiʻi and beyond and blessed with an awesome team he supports as best he can. He is driven by his family upbringing, the connection he feels to this place, and his initial eye opening community engagement experiences. Brent also dabbled in supporting the startup ecosystem, founded a small consulting business, coaches wrestling, and wipes out a lot at Kewalo's. He received his J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law, an M.B.A. from the Shidler College of Business, and his Bachelors from Harvard University focused on the study of teams.
  • Merri Keliʻikuli Office Manager & Program Support Merri Keliʻikuli is responsible for day to day management of the office, accounting/bookkeeping, and support across various programs/projects. Merri's work experience includes her previous role as Executive Director of Hoa ʻĀina O Mākaha, overseeing daily operations, grant and budget management, and community outreach. Prior to that, she led several teams in retail operations while executing merchant planning and buying for more than 25 years. Merri received her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.
  • Corin Thornburg Senior Community-Based Economic Development Project Associate Corin Thornburg supports the team with current activities as HACBED grows partnerships and collaborative projects. Prior to HACBED, Corin worked as a teacher and grant writer at Hakipuʻu Learning Center, Public Charter School in Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu. Following graduation, Corin worked at the University of San Diego, supporting local procurement initiatives in Linda Vista, California. She is grateful to all who have guided, mentored, and taught her. Corin grew up in ʻEwa Beach and Mānana on Oʻahu. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Azusa Pacific University and M.A .from the University of San Diego in Social Innovation.

Our Board

  • Trina Orimoto
    Trina Orimoto President Dr. Trina Orimoto describes herself as a scientist-practitioner-activist. Currently, Dr. Orimoto is the Deputy Director of the State of Hawaiʻi Office of Wellness and Resilience. Until recently, she served as a staff psychologist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Prior to that, Dr. Orimoto 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.
  • Jason Okuhama
    Jason Okuhama Vice-President 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 23 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 was the Board President of HACBED for 22 years.
  • Marcus Kawatachi
    Marcus Kawatachi Treasurer Marcus Kawatachi has worked almost his entire career at the Hawaiʻi 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 Hawaiʻi 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 Kiyabu
    Derrick Kiyabu Secretary 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 Hawaiʻi's agriculture sector, including work at MAʻO Organic Farms, The Kohala Center, and GoFarm Hawaiʻi. Derrick currently lives on Kauaʻi and is the Farm Manager at the University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Kauaʻi Agriculture and Extension Station. He remains passionate about agriculture and community development issues in Hawaiʻi and also serves on the board of Malaʻai and HuiMAU (Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili) on Hawaiʻi Island.
  • Miwa Tamanaha
    Miwa Tamanaha Director 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 the Co-CEO at Hawaiʻi Investment Ready (HIR), a social impact finance intermediary. 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
    Philip Garboden Director 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.
  • Harmonee Williams
    Harmonee Williams Director Harmonee Williams is the Project Director for the Island Remote Area Regional Food Business Center. Prior to this role, Harmonee co-founded and served as Executive Director of Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi and also served as President of the Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance. She holds a BA from Yale University and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

That's where I think HACBED is really important, because without that retooling of [a community's] value system, we're just going to think, "Well, jobs are always important, so that's why we need a TMT, or we need that development, or that golf course," but there's no thought about longer term future for Hawaiʻi. And if we continue to do that like we did with the plantations—you build a whole infrastructure and economy around the very exploitation of resources—that's not sustainable.

Alan Murakami