Board & Staff

Board President, Sabra Kauka is a kumu (advanced teacher) of Hawaiian arts and culture, a widely respected educator and community leader on Kauaʻi, and a recently retired K-12 teacher with more than 31 years of experience. She is a Founding member and past president of Nā Pali Coast ʻOhana, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of the natural and cultural resources of the Nāpali Coast State Park and Board member of Garden Island Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D).

Vice-president, Jan TenBruggencate is a retired daily newspaper journalist (The Honolulu Advertiser) and communications consultant. He serves on the Kaua‘i County Charter Review Commission, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and the Board of the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, and is a founding director and past president of Mālama Hulē‘ia. He coordinates the Environmental Journalism Fellowship at the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Secretary, LaVerne Bishop held Program and Executive Director positions for over 40 years at Hale ‘Opio Kaua‘i, a youth development and treatment agency. Currently active with the Leadership Council of Keiki to Career Kaua‘i and on the board of Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance, she is a Community Representative for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for Artists in Public Places.

Treasurer, Emory Griffin-Noyes is a conservation biologist with more than 20 years’ experience in predator control, native plant restoration, and natural resource management on Kauaʻi. His work includes managing Limahuli Preserve, conservation at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and ecological surveys and seed collection across the continental United States. As Senior Associate Biologist with Hallux, he protects Hawaiʻi’s endemic birds from invasive predators.

Pelika Andrade is founder and Executive Director of Na Maka Onaona, a Hawaiʻi nonprofit, and an extension agent with the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. A Native Hawaiian born and raised on Kauaʻi, she has worked with communities across the archipelago for 18 years, developing watershed monitoring and management approaches that support ʻĀina Momona: healthy, balanced, thriving communities.

Mason Chock is a Native Hawaiian community leader and educator with more than 20 years’ experience in public service and leadership development. Now President of Kupu Aʻe Leadership Development, he previously co-founded and led Leadership Kauaʻi. His past roles include Vice Chairman of the Kauaʻi County Council, president of the Hawaiʻi Association of Counties and Mālama Hulēʻia, and chairman of the Kauaʻi Resiliency Project. He is a practitioner of lāʻau lapaʻau and hoʻoponopono.

Lee A. Evslin, M.D., FAAP, is a board-certified pediatrician who practiced on Kauaʻi for more than 30 years and served as CEO of Kauaʻi Medical Clinic and Wilcox Hospital. His work on a state pesticide task force helped Hawaiʻi become the first state to ban agricultural use of chlorpyrifos. He received national recognition from the American Academy of Pediatrics for his work advancing children’s environmental health.

Kilohana Haitsuka, PhD, is a Native Hawaiian health researcher and educator from Anahola, Kauaʻi. She uses Indigenous research methods to support community-led, culturally grounded initiatives with organizations including Papa Ola Lōkahi, Pihana Ka ‘Ikena, and Salt River Valley Farms. Her research advances Native well-being by restoring cultural lifeways and expanding access to ‘āina through programs and policy reform.

Chris Kauwe has called Kauaʻi home since Hurricane ʻIniki and is deeply committed to Hawaiian culture, environmental stewardship, and community well-being. An avid canoe paddler, he has witnessed firsthand the impacts of environmental degradation on Kauaʻi’s waterways and coastal ecosystems. He is passionate about the restoration of healthy ecosystems through Indigenous stewardship practices.

Ruby Pap is a Coastal Land Use Extension Agent with the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program based in the County of Kaua‘i Planning Department. She serves as a liaison between university and private researchers, government, and the community to ensure the latest coastal science is available for coastal zone planning, management, and educational activities. Her main focus is on coastal hazards and climate change.