2021 annual meeting & election

Welcome to the 2021 annual meeting and election page. On this page, you will find everything to know about this important event.

 

  • To vote, please check your email inbox starting Monday November 1st. A link will be send to current members to vote. You can vote until Friday, Nov. 6th, 11.59pm. Thank you for voting!
  • To participate in the meeting, please check your email as well. A mail with the meeting credentials will be send to current members soon.

 


Annual Meeting

 

Saturday, November 7th, 2021, 1.00pm

 

 

 

   Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

 

 

 

Slate for Board of Directors, 2021-22

 

 

 

 

 

New Board Nominee for Director (3-year term)

  

Michael Bell (term would expire in 2024)

 

Big Island born and bred, Michael is a lifelong resident of Hawaii. He graduated from West Hawaii Explorations Academy and was raised in the tourism industry. He is currently employed as the general manager of his family’s business, Body Glove Cruises. In this position, he was recognized in 2018 by Pacific Business News “40 Under 40” for the State of Hawaii. An active community service volunteer, he currently serves as Vice President for the Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawai'i (STAH) and a board member for Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai'i (VASH), and Community Forums. He is also a former board member of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District (KVBID), and currently chair of the Program Services Committee. In 2021 he was appointed to the Hawaii County Water Board by Mayor Roth to represent District 7.

 

 

 

 

Re-election of Current Director (3-year term)

 

 

M.E. “Meg” Greenwell (new term would expire in 2024)

 

 

Meg is a niece of Amy B. H. Greenwell and remembers visiting her at her residence and garden property.  She is President of the family corporation, Kealakekua Ranch, Ltd., of which Amy was a Director and Treasurer for many years before her death.   Kealakekua Ranch/ChoiceMart received the competitive 2016 Statewide Family-owned Business of the Year Award through the Small Business Administration.  Through her personal enthusiasm and recognized leadership, Meg carries forward a generations-long concern for serving Kona through family business, promoting local jobs and local foods, and also advancing charitable interests and community events.  Kealakekua Ranch, Ltd. donated the land on which the Visitor Center is located and is very interested in the Garden and committed to seeing it service the community again.  

 

Ashley Kaiao Obrey (new term would expire in 2024)

 

 

Ashley was raised in Hōlualoa, Kona, where she can trace her ‘ohana back generations.  A graduate of KS, Pepperdine University, and the William S. Richardson School of Law, Ashley currently works as an attorney at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, representing clients on issues dealing with land, water, and natural, cultural, and historic resources.   Previously, she has worked as a land asset manager for Kamehameha Schools and as a law clerk to Chief Justice Moon at the Hawai`i Supreme Court.  Ashley is a mom to a four-year-old who attends preschool at Pūnana Leo O Kona and an ‘ōlapa of Hālau Kaʻeaikahelelani in Keauhou.  She loves spending time on the ‘āina and at the kai, learning new things (especially nā mea Hawaiʻi), working out, ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi, and, most recently, growing Native Hawaiian plants at home.  Ashley is excited to see the renewed impact that the Garden will have on our community, our keiki, as well as the preservation and perpetuation of traditional Hawaiian knowledge.

 

Alan Rolph (new term would expire in 2024)

 

Alan is ecstatic about his return to the Big Island. He was born in Honolulu, moved to New Zealand and returned to the Big Island to attend High School at Hawaii Preparatory Academy. He graduated from Denison University and the University of Cincinnati with a Master’s degree in Geology.  His career with Shell Oil took him worldwide in search of energy resources.  He is now retired and enjoying woodworking and making improvements to a 5-acre property and home in Captain Cook.

 

Alan has always had great love for nature and history.  He is a descendent of the Cooke family who arrived with the 8th company of missionaries to Hawai’i in 1837. The Amy Greenwell Garden holds a very special place in his heart as his mother, Dorothea Rolph, worked with the Garden in its early years helping to propagate and grow native Hawaiian plants.  He is looking forward to continuing this work of maintaining and preserving this region’s native plants and their cultural history entwined with the people of the Big Island.

 

Rose Schilt (new term would expire in 2024) 

 

 

As a community advocate, with Master’s degrees in anthropology/archaeology and public health, Rose has worked in Hawai‘i, the Pacific and the US Midwest.  She brings 12 years of experience as a nonprofit executive director and Weinberg Fellow, focusing on public health advocacy and policy for youth and families.  She directed archaeological projects throughout the islands and believes in the relevance of the past to the present. Rose served as the second director of the Garden in the 1980’s, helping to develop it for opening to the public, and is now committed to ensuring that it serves as a cultural and educational center for a sustainable future.   

 

      ______________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Current Officers of the Board of Directors

 

 

Maile Melrose, President (2022)

 

Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, Vice President (2022)

 

Shirley A.P. (Cho) Kauhaihao, Vice President (2022)

 

Marie Morin, Secretary (2022)

 

Pat Todd, Treasurer (2023)

 

 

 

Note:  Year shows end of an elected term, in Fall of that year. No term limits.