Board Meetings are Held Monthly

 

74-4966 Kealaka'a Street
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
Phone 808-326-9866
Fax 808-329-9542

Board of Directors

Hualalai Academy's Board of Directors consists of parents, educators, business professionals, and community leaders. They are a committed, reflective, and passionate group of leaders with a clear understanding of their roles, commitments, and responsibilities. As a governing body, the Board effectively carries out its responsibilities in setting policy, fiscal oversight, fund raising, assistance and support of the school Head, and Board development.

Cheryl Holdcroft, President

Profile

Cheryl Holdcroft is a Japanese marketing and trade consultant for Hawaiian businesses. She also has extensive experience as a professional and volunteer consultant to nonprofit organizations.

A graduate of the University of Washington with a BA in English and minor in Japanese Language and Literature, she also attended Whitman College, and Kesennuma Women’s School in Miyagi, Japan. Most recently, she studied at the Academy Language Institute in Tokyo, Japan.

In addition to the Hualalai Academy board, Holdcroft is 2010-2011 Rotary Club of Kona President, and Fundraising Chair for the Kona Outdoor Circle Board. She also serves on the Marketing and Events Committee for the Kailua Village Business and Improvement District and as a volunteer consultant to the Holualoa Foundation for Culture and the Arts. Past board positions include Aloha Performing Arts Company, Hawaii Island Humane Society, Central Kona Union Church, the Hualalai Academy Parents Association and Kona Outdoor Circle.

Holdcroft is married to Todd Holdcroft, and has two high school age daughters. She enjoys travel, gardening, reading, and cooking for family and friends.

Kathleen Kiss Damon, Vice-President

Profile
Kathleen Kiss Damon has forty years of experience in education; she recently retired as the Director of the University of Hawaii Center, West Hawaii where she served since 1998. In the University of Hawaii system, she spent seventeen years as a Dean of Student Services, first at Leeward Community College and then Honolulu Community College. Previous to that she was a tenured professor in English at Windward Community College. Other educational positions held were at public and private high schools in Hawaii and on the mainland as well as Heidelberg College and the University of Iowa. She has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master's degree in American Literature from the University of Iowa, and a Doctorate from University of Southern California. She is a past board member and officer of both the Kona Kohala Chamber of Commerce and Na Leo 0' Hawaii, public access television. She currently serves on the advisory committee for the UH Sea Grant project and is a member of the Kona Branch of AAUW. She joined the board for Hualalai Academy in spring 2007.

Alisha Maynard, Vice-President

Profile
Alisha Maynard is a registered nurse with Kona Community Hospital where she serves in the Emergency Room and the Intensive Care Unit. She received her Bachelor of Nursing degree from Marshall University, where she also received a degree in Adult Fitness. Alisha has three children at Hualalai Academy.

Tanya Power, Secretary

Profile
Tanya Power was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and moved to the Island of Hawai`i in 1989 after earning a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University.  In 1993 she launched a successful career in real estate and became a member of Hawaii Island Board of Realtors (HIBR) and earned the following distinctions: Certified Residential Specialist, Graduate Realtors Institute, ePro, and Accredited Buyers Representative - she is currently working on her EcoBroker designation. Tanya is involved in the Kona Board of Realtors Caravan Committee, as well as being a member of the HIBR Gov't Affairs Committee and a trustee to the Realtor Political Action Committee. She is married to Lowrey Power, a full service mortgage broker and life-long resident of Hawai`i. Her daughter, Jessica and stepdaughter, Nia are alumni of Hualalai Academy. Along with work and volunteer activities the couple keep busy with their fabulous Bichon Frise, Misha. Tanya joined the board in April 2008.

Hazel Beck, Interim Treasurer

Profile
Hazel is President of The Beck Group, Inc., a business consulting practice based on the Big Island of Hawaii. She partners with business owners to reduce operating costs, improve processes and develop strategy. She moved to Kailua-Kona from San Diego, California in 2007. Prior to coming to the Big Island, Hazel had over 21 years of professional experience as a business consultant, facilitator and trainer in global manufacturing environments. She is a member of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, the Kona Executives Association (Vice President) and the Hilo Bay Executives Association (Vice President). Her personal interests include: music, travel, reading, auto touring, quilting, gardening and spending time with her family and grandchildren. Hazel holds a B.A. in Business Management, cum laude, from Hiram College. Hazel is the grandmother of two Hualalai Academy students.

Shane Kitchens, Director

Profile
Shane Kitchens is concurrently completing his architect residency for both Hawaii and California, and is owner and principal at Premier Pacific Design Group here in West Hawaii. He is the retained architectural reviewer for Bayview Estates HOA, and a past vice-president on their Board of Directors. Shane has also served as a member on the Keahou Outreach Committee for the last three years. He actively volunteers his time to local schools to assist teachers in the classroom with students who are below grade level in math and reading. He was formerly the founder and coordinator of the Quick Response Team (QRT) for natural disasters at a large California property insurer, and had been appointed a design team coordinator for their statewide initiatives (think tank) for three years. Shane graduated from university in California and currently lives in Keahou with his wife and daughter.

Karen Au, Director

Profile
Karen Au is the Director of Library Services at University of Hawaii Center, West Hawaii. She holds degrees in Nursing and Sociology and has long experience working with non-profits in West Hawaii. Karen is a long time resident of Kailua-Kona and active in her church and with the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She is the grandparent of a current Hualalai Academy student.

Jason Bangild, Director

Profile
Jason Bangild has been the Director of Golf for Nanea Golf Club since 2003, managing a staff of 25 to 40. He possesses a BBA from the University of Charleston in West Virginia.

Thomas Loratta, Director

Profile
Tom has lived on the west side of the Big Island since 1975, having moved here from Northern California. He has been a real estate broker on the Big Island since 1987, and has worked at many of the successful Gold Coast projects. For the last ten years, Tom has been selling residential property at Hualalai Resort. He lives in Holualoa with his wife and his daughter, who attends Hualalai Academy.

Georgie Kennedy, Director

Profile
Georgie Kennedy is the Executive Director of the Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation. She holds degrees in Law (JD), Business (MBA) and Nursing (BS) and has worked professionally in all three fields. She possesses extensive experience in the practices of non-profit organizations and boards in Hawaii. She is the grandparent of a current Hualalai Academy student.

Kate Mulligan, Director, Ex-Officio

Profile
Kate has her B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and her EdM. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been an independent school teacher and administrator for over 20 years in Hawaii, California, Alaska and Nevada, including three years at HPA from 1986-1989. Her most recent posts before coming to Hualalai Academy have been as the Head of Middle School at the Alexander Dawson School in Las Vegas, and Head of School at Pacific Northern Academy in Anchorage, Alaska.