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Board of Directors
Eric Knutzen, Board Chair
County of Kaua`i, IT/Communications and Projects Leadership
Returning five years ago to rejoin family in Anahola after 18 years of living overseas in Sweden, Eric holds a passion for facilitating county work process improvements and delivering information technology solutions which benefit the entire island. After selling the company he founded and led as Chairman and CEO called KSG Systems AB in Sweden (72 consultants, Swedish and European Microsoft Partner of the Year 2001, 2002), Eric returned to Kaua‘i and was appointed by our Mayor to join the Mayor’s new administration in January of 2003. Currently, Eric heads up the team of County IT workers who are delivering IT and various e-gov solutions – such as credit card payments online as well as over-the-counter, permit tracking online, GIS, GasBoy – a fuel tracking system, integrated public safety systems including mobile data terminals, open government streaming media solutions, imaging of government records and various efficiency-improving IT solutions across the county. Eric also has an avid interest in renewable energy solutions to lessen dependency in the long-term on conventional fossil fuels. Eric’s enthusiasm is evident when he mentions that “…serving the entire island with infrastructure solutions which directly or indirectly improve everyone's quality of life, and may even help save lives - is truly motivating”.
Marissa Sandblom, Vice Chair
Grove Farm Company, Inc.
Marissa
L. N. Sandblom is Vice President of Grove Farm Company, Inc. and
President of the Grove Farm Company Foundation. Born and raised on
Kauai, Marissa is a 1997 graduate of Waimea High School and earned her
B.S.B.A in Corporate Communications and Marketing from Hawaii Pacific
University (HPU) in 2000. The following year, Marissa received her
M.B.A. in International Business from HPU. After
working for several years at City Bank in Honolulu, Marissa was
afforded the opportunity to return home to work for Kauai Economic
Development Board (KEDB). She served as KEDB’s Finance & Business
Development Officer and in addition to helping to nurture industry
cluster-based economic development opportunities, she was also involved
with Team Tech Kauai and Aloha ‘Ike initiatives. Marissa currently serves on the board for the Kauai Visitor's Bureau and KEDB.
Mark Hubbard, Treasurer
Lawai International Center
Mark Hubbard was raised in Hawaii and has been a resident of Kauai for past 26 years. Married for 32 years, he and his wife, Barbara have three boys, ages 25, 28, 31. A consultant in the field of Human Resources with 30 years experience and 10 years experience in property management, real estate sales and leasing. Mark has worked for the U.S. Navy, Amfac Sugar-Hawaii, Grove Farm Company, Inc. Mark has a BA in biology from Stanford University and an MBA from U.H. He volunteers with many nonprofits and community groups such as Rotary, Hale Opio, Leadership Kauai, Kauai Community College, and Lawai International Center.
Belma Baris
Kaua`i Filipino Community Council
Belma A. Baris is currently the Deputy Director of Finance for the County of Kauai. She was formerly the Chief of Finance at Mahelona Medical Center, a hospital of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation and a previous registered principal for a securities brokerage company. She served as Chairman for the Tax Review Commis-sion, State of Hawaii, under Governors John Waihe`e and Ben Cayetano. A graduate of the University of the East, Manila, Philippines, and a former member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Mrs. Baris was Regional Chief Accountant for the National Food Administration, a Philippine government agency, prior to immigrating to Hawaii.
Beryl Blaich
Malama Maha‘ulepu
Beryl Heolani Bailey Blaich is the coordinator of Malama Maha‘ulepu. Born and raised in Honolulu, she graduated from Punahou School, Vassar College and the University of Hawaii (Master's Degree in Urban and Regional Planning). Beryl and husband Gary moved to Kilauea, Kauai in 1979 where, with other Bailey family, they raised daughters Mehana and Maleana and many citrus trees. Beryl is lucky to work with other volunteers on the County of Kauai Public Access Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission, the Kilauea Neighborhood Association, the Manoa Heritage Center and Kualii Foundation and the Hawaii Justice Foundation. For Beryl, poetry, painting, community participation, planting and pruning are constant sources of renewal.
Puna Kalama Dawson
Garden Island Canoe Racing Association
A community development organizer, Puna serves on the Board of Directors for the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association of Hawaii and is a member of the Garden Island Canoe Racing Association of Hawaii. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Kauai Health and Wellness Association and Child and Family Services of Kauai Policy Council. She has served as Secretary of KPAA’s Board of Directors since 2003. Puna is a founding board member of Kanu Ika Pono, a public charter school in Anahola, and holds a staff position there as Kumu for Cultural Practices.
Bob Farias, Jr.
Kaua`i Cattleman's Association
Bob was born and raised in Hawaii. He has been married to wife Tobi for 17 years and they live in Kilauea raising two teenagers, Rachel and Robby. He is a Kapaa High School graduate who grew up on the East side of Kauai where he and his brother helped run the family business, a Feed and Farm Supply store, for 20 years. Involved in ranching at an early age, Bob grew up raising cattle and horses and later received training to become a Farrier (a person who shoes horses). He did this for about 6 years in Hawai`i and in Colorado and Kansas where he also competed in rodeo. Moving back to Hawaii, he started a consulting company, All Property Consulting Inc., which handled property management and consulting along with commercial permitting. Bob, along with his dad, currently owns and operates Farias Cattle Company on 3,000 acres comprised of two parcels on the East side of Kauai. They run a cow/calf operation and are working to make local beef available to the island.
Gilbert Peter Kea
Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter 3
An attorney, Peter is a product of Kamehameha Schools. He attended the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and received his law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law. He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils and is President of Garden Island Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. He is an Alii and Kakaolelo of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter 3, "Kaumualii". He has served as a member of KPAA's Board of Directors since 2003. Peter is also a long-time executive board member of both the Kauai Unit of the American Cancer Society and the Kauai Law Enforcement Pistol Club.
Jody Kono Kjeldsen
Poipu Beach Resort Association
Jody Kono Kjeldsen was born and raised on Kauai. She is a graduate of Kauai High School and Arizona State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing. Following graduation, Jody returned to Kauai and was employed by Grove Farm Company as the Marketing Manager for Kukui Grove Center. After a few years, she moved to Oahu to pursue a career with the Hawaii Convention Center as a National Sales Manager and later as the company's Marketing Manager. In 2005, Jody made her way back to Kauai, accepting a position as the Executive Director of the Poipu Beach Resort Association and Poipu Beach Foundation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation-Kauai Region; the Koloa Plantation Days Celebration and represents PBRA on a number of committees island-wide. Jody is passionate about Kauai and its people and hopes to help create a sustainable future for the island community and visitors. Jody curently resides on the South Shore with her husband, Maui, who is a County FireFighter and daughter, TaiMana.
Owen Moe
Garden Island Resource Conservation & Development, Inc.
Owen
came to Kauai in 1961 and lives in Kekaha. He holds a B.A. degree from
Ambassador College, A.S. Degree in Welding Technology from Kauai
Community College and a B.A. Degree in Business Administration from
U.H. - West Oahu. He was Engineering Supervisor at Kekaha Sugar
Company, where he worked for over 20 years, until he started a
consulting business in 1997. In 2000, he worked for Kauai Electric as
its Customer Service Projects Administrator. In 2002, he became an
Industrial Engineer for Gay & Robinson, Inc. Owen
is president of Kekaha Federal Credit Union and West Kauai Community
Development Corp. and treasurer of Garden Island Resource Conservation
& Development, Inc. He has also served on the County Cost Control
Commission, General Plan Citizens Advisory Committee, West Kauai Soil
& Water Conservation District.
Rebecca Rhoades, DVM
Kauai Humane Society
Dr. Becky is the executive director of the Kauai Humane Society. She oversees twenty-seven staff and dozens of volunteers to provide animal management services for the County of Kauai, a public spay/neuter clinic, private pet boarding and quarantine services, a Lihue thrift store and the sheltering of over 6,000 animals annually. Dr. Becky began her work in the animal care field in the late 1970’s as a humane officer in Colorado and later attended veterinary school there. After practicing veterinary medicine primarily on horses for six years on Oahu, she returned to shelter work with Hawaiian Humane Society in 1992 as their director of operations. In 1999, Dr. Becky worked a brief tenure as director for Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control in Florida. She returned to the islands in 2001 and has been leading the Kauai Humane Society and also assisting with national animal welfare efforts as a board member and chairperson of the disaster committee for SAWA, The Society for Animal Welfare Administrators.
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