STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3439

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 528, 529, 650, 651

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 528, 529, 650, and 651, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

 

Early Learning Advisory Board

 

G.M. No. 528

LISA KIMURA,

for a term to expire 6-30-2014;

 

G.M. No. 529

LISA KIMURA,

for a term to expire 6-30-2016;

 

G.M. No. 650

ALFRED CASTLE,

for a term to expire 6-30-2016; and

 

G.M. No. 651

M. NAMAKAOKALANI RAWLINS,

for a term to expire 6-30-2016,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Lisa Kimura, Alfred Castle, and M. Namakaokalani Rawlins to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Early Learning Advisory Board.

 

LISA KIMURA

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Lisa Kimura from the Executive Office of Early Learning, Good Beginnings Alliance, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, and two individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that Ms. Kimura received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and her Master of Arts degree in Business Marketing from Hawaii Pacific University.  She is currently working toward a Certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University's Parent Coaching Institute.

 

     Ms. Kimura is currently the Executive Director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii.  She previously served as the Director of Marketing for Aston Hotels and Resorts, the Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Aloha United Way, and Public Relations Account Executive and Account Coordinator for Sharon Serene Creative.

 

     Ms. Kimura has previously volunteered her time with several organizations, including the March of Dimes, Volunteer Legal Services, and Alzheimer's Association.  She has also served as a member on various task forces and working groups, such as the Prenatal Smoking Workgroup and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Task Force.

 

     Ms. Kimura's professional experience in the business and nonprofit worlds will provide her with the skills necessary to serve on the Early Learning Advisory Board and to help the Board promote early education in the State.

 

ALFRED CASTLE

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Alfred Castle from the Executive Office on Early Learning, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, Good Beginnings Alliance, and four individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that Mr. Castle received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in History from Colorado State University.

 

     Mr. Castle is a distinguished pioneer and member of the philanthropic community.  Prior to returning to Hawaii in 1998, Mr. Castle was the Vice President and an adjunct professor of history in the California State University system.  He returned to take the helm at the one-hundred-twenty-year-old Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation.  He began an active partnership with Good Beginnings Alliance and most recently has been serving as a member of the Early Learning Council's Finance Committee.

 

     Mr. Castle has served as a member of the Early Learning Advisory Board's predecessor, the Early Learning Council, and he brings a wealth of knowledge on early education and private foundations to the Early Learning Advisory Board.

 

     Mr. Castle's dedication to building a high-quality, integrated, comprehensive education system in Hawaii will assist the Early Learning Advisory Board in fulfilling its mission.

 

M. NAMAKAOKALANI RAWLINS

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of M. Namakaokalani Rawlins from the Executive Office on Early Learning; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Aha Pūnana Leo, Inc.; Good Beginnings Alliance; Native Hawaiian Education Council; and two individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that Ms. Rawlins received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Hawaiian Studies from the University of Hawaii at Hilo.  She is currently working toward her Master of Arts degree in Hawaiian Language and Literature at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. 

 

     Ms. Rawlins is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations at Aha Punana Leo, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and propagation of the Hawaiian language and culture.  This is the oldest statewide native organization in the United States that provides education through the Language Nests and Language Survival School model.  Ms. Rawlins previously served as the Director of Aha Punana Leo, Inc.

 

     Ms. Rawlins has been actively involved in the promotion and preservation of the Hawaiian language for over twenty years, serving as a Hawaiian Language College Adjunct Assistant Professor and Chairperson of the Native Hawaiian Education State Council from 2007 to 2011.  Ms. Rawlins has also served on the Language Access Advisory Council.

 

     Ms. Rawlins' professional and educational background make her an asset to the Early Learning Advisory Board and to help ensure that early learning programs are taught in both of Hawaii's official state languages, English and Hawaiian.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

 

 

____________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair