Board of Directors

PRESIDENT
Jason Kanda
Solution Engineer, Red Ball Technical Services

VICE PRESIDENT
Dann Seki
Audiologist & Special Education, Retired

MEMBERS AT LARGE

Elizabeth Errico
Executive Director, Children's Mental Health Resource Center

Ron Heller
Attorney Of Counsel at Torkildson Katz, a Law Corporation

Brook Lee
Executive Producer and Host, KHII's Modern Wahine Hawai‘i

FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER & MEMBER EMERITUS
Dennis Carroll
1971 - 2021

 

Board of Stakeholders

CHAIR
Jason A. Kanda

VICE CHAIR
Iāsona Kaper

RECORDING SECRETARY
Alvin Chan

MEMBERS AT LARGE

Reyn Afaga

Michael Donato

Julia Gilman

Brandon Hagio

Denny Hironaga

Kahana Ho

Monica Lee

Shannon Murphy

Ryan "Oki" Naka

Dann Seki

Teri Skillman

Darryl Soriano

John Wat

Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak

 

Staff

MANAGING DIRECTOR
Donna Blanchard

A native of Northwest Indiana, Donna Blanchard was recruited to join the Kumu Kahua team because of her unique background in both performing arts and business development and management. She joins Kumu Kahua with her passion for “theatre of place,” recognizing that this theatre is singular in its geographic and cultural commitment.

Most recently the Managing Director of Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso, Indiana, Donna has a BFA from the Professional Actors’ Conservatory of Wright State University. An award winning actor, director and producer, she has worked with theatres throughout the Continental Midwest.

Donna was named Distinguished Hoosier by Governor Mitch Daniels for her work as Managing Director of Chicago Street Theatre. Additional achievements include: Editorial Writer and Member of Editorial Advisory Board for the Northwest Indiana Times (second-largest newspaper circulation in Indiana); Speaker at Elmhurst College MBA Program on “Diversity in the Workplace, An Actor’s Perspective”; Speaker for Various Organizations on Art and Volunteerism in Our Communities; Past Board Member and Artistic Committee Chair of Chicago Street Theatre; Past Chair of Diversity Task Force, Merrillville Chamber of Commerce; Leadership Northwest Indiana Class #27 Graduate.

In addition to her career in the arts, Donna has 15 years of experience in the world of staffing and recruitment and has managed business development for 14 staffing offices across Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan. She has also worked with the consultant team at Insight Strategic Concepts in Elkhart, Indiana to facilitate strategic alignment and success for their clients.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Harry Wong III

A Kumu Kahua Board member from 1989 to 1997, Harry Wong III received an Associate of Arts Degree from Honolulu Community College in 1987, a Baccalaureate in Philosophy from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 1990, and in 1993 went on to receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Direction from UH Mānoa. Harry has been the Artistic Director of Kumu Kahua since 1997.

While a guest lecturer at Windward Community College and Guest Director for Honolulu Theatre for Youth and The Actors Group (TAG), Harry oversees all season selection and direction of productions, as well as the annual playwright contest, and also directs at least one production each year at Kumu Kahua.

Additional achievements include: a Po‘okela for Play Directing for Topdog/Underdog, 2010; Outstanding Alumni Award, Honolulu Community College, 2010; Hawai’i Shakespeare Festival, Co-founder and Director; an Individual Artist Fellow Grant for Theatre Directing, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1999; a Princess Grace Award for Directing, 1996; Participant in the Young Director’s Lab at Lincoln Center Theatre, New York, 1996; Allen Lee Hughes Fellow, Arena Stage, Washington, DC, 1995-1996; and a Masako Sakamoto Scholarship for Acting, Kennedy Theatre, UHM.

OFFICE MANAGER
Sara Ward

Sara Ward has over 20 years of experience in arts management. She was employed at Manoa Valley Theatre from 2002 until July 2021, where she served as the in house Props Designer, Box Office Manager, Administrative Manager, and finally as the Assistant Executive Director. She has worked or volunteered both backstage and front of house at nearly every theatre in Honolulu. She has received 4 Po‘okela Awards from the Hawai‘i State Theatre Council and was the recipient of the 2019 Pierre Bowman Lifetime Achievement Award. Sara is a member of Lima Kokua, a non-profit service organization, where she served as Treasurer from 2018 to 2020 and currently serves as Vice President.

EVENING BOX OFFICE STAFF

Victoria Amara

Kathy Dombrigues

Alyson Wong