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Speaker Bios
Ed Case is Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2002 to 2007, the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002, and the Manoa Neighborhood Board from 1985 to 1989. A native of Hilo, he graduated from Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy in Kamuela, Williams College in Massachusetts and Hastings College of Law in San Francisco before clerking for Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson and practicing law with Honolulu law firms Carlsmith Ball and Bays Lung Rose & Holma.
Greg Chun was raised in Windward O‘ahu. Growing up with a strong interest in ocean activities instilled in him a strong respect for nature and an understanding of everyone’s kÅ«leana (responsibility) to steward our resources. He is currently an Associate Specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at MÄ�noa where his work focuses on training and applied research in community-engagement processes, particularly as it relates to bridging complex scientific research and policy with culture and community. He is a member of the Hui ‘Ä€ina Momona cluster. Greg is currently working on projects in the areas of water resources, historic preservation, and land use policy. Greg is also President of Awa Kele LLC, a consulting firm specializing in community engagement, sustainable land/resource/economic development, and organizational improvement. He is a graduate of The Kamehameha Schools, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (BA), and the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (MA and Ph.D.) with his formal training being in Clinical Psychology.
Makena Coffman is a Professor and Department Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She teaches graduate courses in urban economics, environmental planning and policy. Her research interests include greenhouse gas mitigation, energy policy and alternative transportation strategies. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She is a Research Fellow with the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization.
H. Mitchell (“Mitch”) D’Olier has been a Director of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation since 1994 and was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation and Kaneohe Ranch Company, Limited in July 2002. He became Chair of the Foundation and Ranch in 2014. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Victoria Ward Limited and President and Chief Operating Officer of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. He was also a partner in the Honolulu law firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. D’Olier is a founding member and executive committee member of Malama Maunalua, a community-based stewardship initiative to restore Maunalua Bay on the southeast side of Oahu. He is also the Hawaii Regional Chair of Teach For America. He was a member of the Hawaii Business Roundtable and served as its Co-Chair of the Education Task Force from July 2010 to June 2014.
Tim Hicks has been a conflict management professional since 1993, providing mediation, facilitation, training, coaching, and consulting to individuals and organizations in the private and public arenas. From 2006 to 2014, he led the Master’s degree program in Conflict Resolution at the University of Oregon to a position of national prominence as its first director. Tim is co-author of The Process of Business/Environmental Collaborations: Partnering for Sustainability (Quorum Books, May 2000), and author of Barriers to the Use of Mediation in Environmental Disputes (Antioch University, 1997), and Embodied Conflict: Perspectives on the Neural Basis of Conflict (Routledge, forthcoming 2018).
Scott McCreary, President of CONCUR Inc. is a California-based mediator, facilitator and negotiation trainer. He brings a strong background in environmental planning to his work, and specializes in issues related to water resources, oceans, and land use and infrastructure. Scott has a particular interest in devising joint fact-finding processes to resolve complex disputes, and in working in cross-cultural settings. The geographic focus of his work ranges widely from California to New England to Hawai‘i and the South Pacific. Scott holds a PhD from MIT, a MLAEP from UC Berkeley and a BA from UC Santa Cruz.
Colin D. Moore is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Prior to joining the faculty at UH, he served as a research fellow at Yale University’s Center for the Study of American Politics and as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow in Health Policy Research at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Harvard University.
Jim Simon is the managing editor of Honolulu Civil Beat. Previously, he was managing editor of the Seattle Times, where he worked as an editor and reporter for 32 years. He helped lead teams that won Pulitzer Prizes in 2010 and 2015, and has won national awards for his reporting on the environment and mental health issues. Previously, he worked as a wire-service reporter in the Philippines. He was an adjunct lecturer at the University of Washington and has taught and trained journalists in Southeast Asia. He is the current president of the national Associated Press Media Editors board. Simon has an M.J. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ray Soon has spent his professional life splitting time between public service and private entrepreneurship. In both worlds, working with and through the public have been important considerations. Among his significant public positions were twelve years with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the last four of which were as Commission Chairman and Department Director; four years as the Chief of Staff to Honolulu Mayor Caldwell; and nine years as an appointee to the President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
The majority of Ray Soon’s work in private industry can be characterized as deciphering and understanding the public’s reaction to his work or that of his clients. He started and nurtured two consulting firms that specialized in public opinion research, Hawai‘i Opinion Inc. and Solutions Pacific LLC. Ray is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa (BFA ’71, City and Regional Planning) and Harvard University (Masters of City Planning ’76).
Anne Marie Smoke joined the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2016 as administrator of the Appellate Mediation Program and dispute resolution trainer for the State and City and County of Honolulu. Anne’s prior work was with the Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa where she managed the Institute’s academic programs, coordinated practicum opportunities for graduate students, and developed outreach and workshop activities. She is an active facilitator, trainer, and mediator and serves on the board of ACR-Hawai‘i, including two terms as president. She holds a BA in Journalism from Central Michigan University, an MS in Travel Industry Management, and a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution from UH, Manoa.
Melissa White, AICP, is a Senior Planner with SSFM International in Honolulu. She specializes in the design and execution of context-sensitive community planning processes in Hawai‘i, bringing together technical experts, community stakeholders, and government agencies to create outcomes that reflect shared visions for healthy, sustainable, and resilient communities. She has served as lead consultant on projects including Downtown/Chinatown Complete Streets, Downtown Hilo Multimodal Master Plan, Kaua‘i General Plan, WaimÄ�nalo Community Values and Priorities Project, and State of Hawai‘i Natural Disaster Economic Recovery Strategy.
Jana Wolff has helped many corporate and community leaders over the last 30 years consolidate their thoughts into written products that take the form of books, reports, presentations, articles, editorials, and strategic plans. Her ability to ask consequential questions and synthesize complex conversations is honed from decades of experience as a mediator. Jana has helped to train students learning mediation at the UH Richardson School of Law and at the Mediation Center of the Pacific. Her own training includes a master’s degree and executive education at Pepperdine University, Harvard University, and University of Hawai‘i.
Marjorie Ziegler is the executive director of the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, a nonprofit environmental organization established in 1950 dedicated to protecting native Hawaiian plants, animals, and ecosystems for future generations. Marjorie has been active in environmental advocacy since 1986. She worked for Earthjustice and KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance, and has served on the boards of the Hawai‘i Audubon Society, Hawai‘i Peoples Fund, and Environment Hawai‘i. She and Patricia Tummons founded Environment Hawai‘i – a monthly investigative newsletter. Marjorie has a Bachelor of Arts degree with Highest Honors in Geography from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She grew up and lives in Kane‘ohe.