Chris Cramer, Founder & Executive Director
Chris is a historian and veteran youth educator who serves as the president for the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center. Chris co-founded the organization in 2007. At the time, the last Hawaiian fishponds in the region were destined for auction and likely destruction. In 2010 he helped secure passage of Act 210 which protects publicly owned Hawaiian fishponds statewide. With guidance from the last surviving pond keepers from the area, he developed site-specific fishpond programs to serve local schools and community groups. As our first Executive Director as of January, 2020, he continues to engage the community at Kānewai Spring and Kalauha‘iha‘i Fishpond to ensure these special places will thrive.
Angela Correa-Pei, President
Angela is the fifth generation of the Reeves ʻOhana making their home in Kuliʻouʻou, Oʻahu. A 1999 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law with an Environmental Law Certificate, Angela currently practices family law. Angela also holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington. Following in the tradition of her ancestors, Angela is committed to protecting the natural and cultural resources remaining in Kuliʻouʻou and the surrounding communities.
Max Mukai, Vice President
Max Mukai was born in Waialae and his Ohana is from Kuliouou. He is a kupa aina of the place his family has been for over 100 years. He graduated from Pepperdine University, with a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Business Administration. He has a passion for fishponds and teaching the community about the incredible innovation of the ancestors.
Jeannine Johnson, Secretary
Born and raised in Niu, Jeannine’s ‘ohana is from Miloli‘i and have been lawai‘a (fishermen and women) for generations in Kona Hema. A 1976 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Jeannine is passionate about the preservation of Hawaiian culture, its traditions, and language. She is the Trust Services Manager for King Lunalilo Home and Trust, and volunteers her time on several non-profit boards in the East Honolulu community. With 40 years of administrative work experience, Jeannine has utilized her effective organizational and secretarial skills as Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center’s Secretary since 2007.
Diane Warncke, Treasurer
Diane was raised in Ohio and moved to Hawaiʻi in 1978. A former registered nurse, Diane retired from The Queen’s Medical Center as Critical Care Nurse Manager and Staff Nurse. Diane holds a Master of Science Degree from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Diane has been involved in many community groups with a focus on Hawaiian paddling and sailing and healthy waters. She has paddled with Hui Nalu Canoe Club since 1981, and currently serves as the club treasurer. Diane is also a longtime member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. She was part of the crew that sailed the Hawaiian double-hulled canoe Hawaiʻiloa in Alaska in 1995, and now serves as a Logistics Committee Member for PVS’ Mālama Honua World Wide Voyage.
Brenda Asuncion, Director
Brenda was raised in Waipi‘o (‘Ewa, O‘ahu) and started volunteering at He‘eia fishpond during holiday breaks from Occidental College, where she received her B.A. in Biology with a Marine Biology emphasis. While pursuing her M.S. in Marine Science from Hawai‘i Pacific University, she continued to work at He‘eia and had many opportunities to visit and volunteer at other loko i‘a. In 2013, she joined the team at Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo and currently facilitates a statewide network of fishpond stewardship organizations and practitioners.
C. Kaui Lucas, Director
Raised initially on Ewa Sugar Plantation, her family moved to Niu, joining many Lucas relatives who have lived in the area for generations. After high school, Kaui spent nine years studying abroad before returning home. Working in residential remodeling allowed Kaui the flexibility to engage deeply with community organizations such as The Contemporary Museum, Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church, Angel Network Charities, Kako’o ‘Oiwi, and The Outdoor Circle. She has been a board member of Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center since its inception. Kaui is passionate about community engagement in rehabilitation and implementation of sustainable resource management rooted in Hawaiian tradition.
Alyssa Miller, Director
Alyssa joined the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center Board of Directors in 2011. She has been actively involved in community-based watershed, coastal and marine projects for over 20 years. An environmental planner, Alyssa has worked on a variety of place-based conservation and restoration initiatives, specializing in long-range planning, project management, and partnership-building among nonprofit, government and private sectors. She holds degrees in natural resource planning, urban planning and geography, and currently works for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and World Heritage Site.
Laura Thompson, Director
Laura is a lifetime resident of Niu, Oʻahu, and a renowned civic leader with a familial legacy of stewardship of Hawaiʻi’s lands and animals. She is a descendent of King Kamehameha who awarded the ahupuaʻa of Niu to Alexander Adams, another ancestor, in 1850. Her father, Charles Lucas, was a dairyman and rancher before “development” in Niu took place. Laura formerly lead the Hawaiian Humane Society as Executive Director, and has been instrumental in numerous conservation and Hawaiian cultural efforts including getting the Manu O Ku (white tern) designated as the official bird of the City and County of Honolulu, and advising the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Alu Like, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Mālama Maunalua, Mālama Hawaiʻi, and the Koʻolau Mountain Watershed Partnership. Laura’s late husband Myron “Pinky” Thompson was a beloved social worker and community leader on many Native Hawaiian issues. Laura and Pinky are the parents three children Lita Blankenfeld, Myron K. Thompson, and Nainoa Thompson, who have all distinguished themselves in continuing familial and cultural traditions of nurturing a green and healthy Hawai‘i.