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 Trina Orimoto (she/her) is the proud mom of Cole and Miles. She is a licensed psychologist and Deputy Director of the Office of Wellness and Resilience, housed in the Office of the Governor of Hawaiʻi. With over a decade of experience in health data analytics, she develops data-driven tools and leads trauma-informed systems transformation efforts. She is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and completed her clinical training at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • Marcus Kawatachi
    Marcus Kawatachi Treasurer Marcus Kawatachi has worked almost his entire career in public service at the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission, currently serving as its Executive Director. The Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission is the agency that enforces the State's antidiscrimination laws in the areas of employment, housing, state services, and public accommodations. 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 is the Co-CEO of Hawaii Investment Ready, a social impact investing intermediary committed to building a just, humane, and place-based island economy for Hawaii and its people. Miwa has worked in environmental justice advocacy/policy and community-based economic development initiatives in communities and ecologies from artisanal fisheries in Baja California to national parklands in Tanzania, including as the Executive Director of KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. From 2011–2021, Miwa co-founded and served as the Co-Director of local non-profit Kuaaina Ulu Auamo (KUA). She continues to serve as an advisor, and member of the Limu Hui at KUA, a network of native seaweed practitioners which she helped to establish in 2014.
  • 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 Director of the Islands & Remote Areas Regional Food Business Center. She previously served as Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance. Prior to that, Harmonee co-founded and served as Executive Director of Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi. 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