2024 Executive Committee Elections
The 2024 Executive Committee elections will run from November 20 to December 21.
Only active due-paying members may vote in the Executive Committee elections. Elections will take place online only.
Members will receive an email from the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi with their ballot or you may use the Google Form ballot here.
If you do not know what your member number is, you can find it by visiting Sierra Club MyAccount, myaccount.sierraclub.org, or by contacting Member Care at member.care@sierraclub.org or (415) 977-5653.
You will find the candidates for the Hawaiʻi Chapter and its four groups below. Candidates elected this year will serve a two year term, 2024-2025.
2024 Candidates
Hawaiʻi Chapter
Niruban Balachandran
Niruban Balachandran is a passionate conservationist who has become an active voice in the fight for clean water throughout East Asia, Flint, Michigan, and Red Hill, Hawaiʻi. Serving in the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for approximately two years, Niruban witnessed firsthand the Flint water crisis' devastating, life-altering impact on humanity—one of the world's worst man-made disasters of the last 100 years. He also spent seven years serving in the World Bank, most recently in its Environment & Natural Resources Global Practice; he was based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Since he was young, Niruban has been inspired by environmental champions such as Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson, Wangari Maathai, David Suzuki, and Tetsu Nakamura. He earned his B.A. in psychology (honors) degree at Rutgers University and a Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Niruban is also an impassioned writer and speaker. By serving in the Sierra Club of Hawai'ʻi, Niruban hopes to inspire others to mobilize philanthropic finance and take action to protect the ecosystems of the State of Hawaiʻi and our world.
Nanea Lo
Nanea Lo is from Papakōlea, Oʻahu. She is a Kanaka Maoli. Lo currently works for HAPA (Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action), as an Administrative and Programs Coordinator. Lo’s educational background is community planning and urban planning infrastructures. Lo is a public servant and serves as the Kona representative for the Oʻahu Burial Council, a commissioner on the Oʻahu Historic Preservation Commission, sits on the board of the Hawaiʻi Workers Center, and serves on the grant making committee for Hawaiʻi People’s Fund. Through civic engagement, podcast hosting, and community organizing, Lo advocates for Hawaiian sovereignty, Aloha 'Āina, and feminism on the national and international scale. Lo has been a part of innovative local and international programs such as Hawaiʻi-Asia Pacific Leadership Program, Native American Political Leadership Program, Kuleana Academy, Young Pacific Leaders, and Peace Scholars. She believes that relationships are the fabric of life and that Aloha ʻĀina is forever.
Kaikea Nakachi
Born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island, Kaikea Nakachi completed his master’s at University of Hawaii at Hilo after graduating Magna Cum Laude from Florida Institute of Technology with a degree in Biological Oceanography. His thesis focused on his family’s practice of kahu manō and non-invasive photo-ID of tiger sharks. His passion for ocean stewarship is evident in his work with the Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Council, Hui Aloha Kīholo, and in the founding of Mālama Manō and Hui Kahuwai. He seeks to continue to aid Hawaiʻi and its biocultural resources however he can to continue his moʻokūʻauhau rooted in aloha.
Letani Peltier
Letani is from Heʻeia, Oʻahu. He is a proud graduate of Castle High School and holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Puget Sound, a master's degree in economics from Portland State University as well as a Juris Doctorate and Certificate in Native Hawaiian Law from the William S. Richardson School of Law. Letani is currently a public policy advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Growing up, Letani spent a lot of time hiking in the mountains, playing on the beaches, and fishing in the ocean. Through these experiences, he developed a deep appreciation for how blessed he is to call Hawaiʻi home.
Hawaiʻi Island Group
Janine "Kara" Dumaguin, M.Ed.
Janine "Kara" Dumaguin, M.Ed., is the Cultural and Wellness Specialist at Innovations Public Charter School. Growing up on a farm in the Kaʻawaloa ahupuaʻa, her family's go-to beach was Keʻei and she gathered from mauka to makai the way her kūpuna taught her. Kara also comes from a long line of Kaitiaki, guardians of the environment in Aotearoa New Zealand who manages resources based on Māori worldview. She serves on the Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Committee and has worked with Jean-Gabriel Cuby, Executive Director, Canada France Hawaiʻi Telescope, as an educator and advocate for culture-based approaches in social change.
Chuck Flaherty
Charles (Chuck) Flaherty, a retired CPA who moved to South Kona in 1996, is a member of the Sierra Club of Hawai’i Executive Committee, Hawai’i island Na Ala Hele Advisory Council, Kona Hawaiian Civic Club Board of Directors, and is SCH’s Hawai’i Island Group Executive Committee chair.
Chuck and Citizens for Equitable and Responsible Government received the Big Island Press Club’s 2011 Torch of Light Award for a successful Charter amendment effort requiring greater openness in the County Council redistricting process.
He is a long-time haumana of Hawaiian traditional and customary practices and advocate for environmental and cultural resource protection.
Kencho Gurung
Kencho Gurung grew up predominantly in South and Southeast Asia and belongs to a tribe Indigenous to the Himalayas. She now lives in Kohala, where she tries to grow as much of her own food as possible. Since childhood, Kencho has been a fierce advocate for equality and justice for BIPOC people and for the climate. She currently works at Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, and is a Kuleana Academy graduate, food justice advocate, organizer, volunteer and educator. She hopes to continue helping to strengthen the environmental justice movement in Hawaiʻi.
Cindi Punihaole
Cindi Punihaole is the Director of the Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center (KBEC) a program of The Kohala Center. Rich in historical, cultural, and environmental treasures, Kahaluʻu Bay welcomes more than 400,000 visitors annually, making it West Hawaiʻi’s most popular tourist destination. Visitors unknowingly were “Loving Kahaluʻu Bay to death”. In response, Ms. Punihaole, a native of West Hawaiʻi, cultivated a partnership with the County of Hawaiʻi to revive and revitalize Kahaluʻu Bay and Beach at the 4.2-acre county park in Kona.
She now has a fifteen-year history of successful community development and public education experience and oversees all programs and activities at KBEC including the successful volunteer programs ReefTeach and Citizen Science. ReefTeach includes more than 400 volunteers and provides reef etiquette education at the bay. Citizen Science engages volunteers to monitor the bay’s health by collecting water quality samples and other environmental data.
Ms. Punihaole also initialed the first cauliflower coral spawning closure at Kahalu‘u in 2018, a reef rejuvenation strategy that has continued in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. This successful project is embraced by the community and serves as a model for other bays around the island. In 2021 State Parks at Waialea Bay on Hawai‘i Island followed Kahaluʻu’s lead by commencing its first cauliflower coral closure days.
During January - July 2022 Ms. Punihaole organized community leaders across the state, scientists from the mainland and abroad, local youth, and Aloha Ambassador ReefTeachers at Kahaluʻu Bay to successfully pass County Bill 167 to prohibit the sale of non-mineral sunscreens on Hawaiʻi Island to be effective on December 1, 2022. For this history of leadership and innovation, Ms. Punihaole has received the Kona Kohala Chamber of Commerce Pualu Award for outstanding work in Environmental Awareness.
Maui Group
Momi Fortune
Momi was born and raised on Hawaii island and now lives and is raising her family in Ha’iku, Maui. Momi is an avid hiker, especially enjoying the East Maui streams and watershed. She has participated in the East Maui stream water quality monitoring volunteer program “Eyes on the Streams.”
Raina Myers
Raina Myers has lived off-grid on a small farm in East Maui for five years and has worked closely with other Sierra Club volunteers to monitor local stream conditions. She has a background in permaculture design and small farm management and is skilled in social media communications. Raina was appointed to a vacant seat on The Maui Group Ex-Com in February 2023 and is now seeking a full two-year term.
Charlene “Char” Schulenburg
Charlene was raised in Hawaiʻi, graduated from Maui’s St. Anthony High and California’s Santa Clara University. She has a background in media production and event and property management. She has volunteered for many years with organizations that help children, homeless families and the Kīhei community. Char serves as Maui Group Secretary and advocates for wetlands protection. She is active in many campaigns to protect natural and cultural resources in the South Maui area.
Jeanie Stewart
Jeanie is a life member of the Sierra Club who served as the first chair of the Delaware Chapter in the 1990s. She teaches at Maui’s Kulanihako’i High School and has a passion for outdoor education, hiking and protecting our native plants and animals. Jeanie serves as Treasurer of Maui Group.
Scott Werden
Scott is a geophysicist by training but is now retired. He spends his time working on environmental issues on Maui and is passionate about restoring forests and ecosystems. He is an avid hiker, surfer and outdoor enthusiast. Scott and his wife lived in Washington state for many years, and for the past 12 years have lived on their 2-acre farm in Haiku. He serves on the boards of the Haiku Community Association and Malama Hamakua Maui. Scott also has an interest in land use and water policies and hopes to share those skills with the Maui Group.
Gina Young
Gina was born in Hawaii and grew up on the mainland, returning to Maui to raise a family after earning a Masters degree in Public Administration in Washington DC. Gina has worked for the Maui County planning department and is currently a County Council executive assistant. She has expertise in Maui water issues, agricultural policies, and cultural resource protection. A longtime Kula resident, she served as past president of the Kula Community Association, but currently lives in Wailuku. Gina was appointed to a vacant seat on the Maui Group Ex-Com in February 2023 and is now seeking a full two-year term.
Oʻahu Group
Adele Balderson
Adele Balderston is a geographer, urban planner, and artist from Ko‘olaupoko, currently pursuing a J.D. at William S. Richardson School of Law. She holds an MA in geography and GIS from Hunter College (CUNY) and a BA in new media communication studies from New York University. In 2014 she created 88 Block Walks, an ongoing series of walking tours that use multimedia storytelling to share diverse place knowledge and cultivate urban aloha ‘āina. She previously served on Honolulu Neighborhood Boards 10 (Makiki, 2017) and 14 (Liliha/Alewa/Pu‘unui, 2021) and as Vice Chair of the Sierra Club O‘ahu Group Executive Committee in 2022. Adele lives in Pu‘unui with her cats, Borges and Flula. “
Angela Huntemer
Angela is an environmental and Community activist. She works with the North Shore Community Land Trust and the Ko’olau-Waialua Alliance to protect and restore native ecosystems. Angela was a founding member of Save Sharks Cove Alliance, which sued the Department of Planning and Permitting for controversial permitting near Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District. She holds degrees in Psychology and Education. She has served as an officer on Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships. She is a teacher at Ka'a'awa Elementary School and enjoys hiking, freediving and working on environmental projects.
Jun Shin
Jun Shin is a Dining Services Worker born and raised on the island of Oʻahu. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, majoring in Ethnic Studies and American Studies. Jun is a labor and social justice activist who has fought for environmental justice alongside the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi (at times as a Sierra Club volunteer) in both the halls of power and in the streets.
Karen Shishido
Karen was raised in Leeward O‘ahu and spent several years on the continent for college, teaching in Japan, volunteering for an NGO, and pursuing a master’s in energy and environmental policy. She is currently a project manager for Hawai‘i Energy, a ratepayer efficiency program, where she manages clean energy workforce training, K-12 education, and advancement of Hawaii’s energy conservation code. She a passionate advocate for social justice and the environment. Prior volunteer board service includes Sierra Club O‘ahu Group (Secretary and co-editor of Mālama), Kanu Hawai‘i, Common Cause Hawai‘i, Shifted Energy and currently the Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA).
Kauaʻi Group
Judy Dalton
Judy Dalton has served on the Kaua‘i Group Executive Committee for 28 years and served on the Chapter Executive Committee for 21 years. She facilitated the cease of construction of a 3/5-mile-long beach-destroying seawall fronting the Wailua Golf Course in 1996. She initiated formation of Mālama Māhā‘ulepū in 1999; and succeeded in legally challenging the Planning Commission to increase coastal setbacks for the Kealia Kai subdivision at Kuna Bay (Donkey Beach). Recently Judy was a key player in the legal action to stop Hokua Place.
David Dinner
I’ve had a deep connection to nature and conservation throughout my life and being a member of the Excom has deepened that experience over the years. My personal activities have shifted 1) into a group of individuals working to change the context of aging and the shift from the idea of “old" to “elder" as an avenue of restoring the value our society places on wisdom (www.requestingwisdom.com) and 2) expanding my writing to include poetry, and the exploration of how our understanding of the environment and the aging process can be enhanced through writing.