Two key elements are crucial to cultivating a culture of sustainability within an organization: supportive leadership and an engaged staff. Kamehameha Schools Sustainability Manager Amy Brinker says that KS is blessed to have both.
“Sustainability is not new to Kamehameha Schools,” says Brinker, who stepped into her position last spring. “We want to make an effort to embrace sustainability as a value that is inherent in our mission.”
Brinker oversees new and ongoing sustainability efforts across the organization and chairs Kamehameha’s Sustainability Council. The cross-functional council strives to create a healthier learning and working environment at KS while reducing overhead costs and increasing revenue.
The 20-person team is leading by example. At its annual retreat last year, the group implemented 25 green practices including: paperless communications, reusable drinking containers, and retreating within walking distance of KS offices.
The retreat earned KS a “Green Event” designation by the Hawaiʻi Green Business Program, supported by the State Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the State Department of Health, and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.
Current KS sustainability efforts include the installation of energy-saving photovoltaic systems, solar LED lighting, and motion sensor lighting at Kamehameha’s three campuses.
In addition to helping KS facilities go green, Brinker also provides staff members with professional development opportunities focused on sustainable food systems and is collaborating with divisions across the organization to establish a sustainability internship program for students.
“The internship program will allow students to craft solutions that will shape the future sustainability of Kamehameha Schools,” she says. “A Land Assets Division internship under development will encourage students to look at the feasibility of making Punalu‘u a zero energy ahupua‘a; meaning all energy used in the valley is generated there.”
According to Brinker, KS is poised to set the model of culturally appropriate sustainability in Hawaiʻi with its new leadership and soon-to-be-launched strategic plan 2020.
“While it is a great task, I think it is a great time and a great organization to charge ahead,” she says. “Sustainability is about resilience. I think we all owe it to our founder to do whatever we can to ensure that Kamehameha Schools is the most resilient, high-performance organization it can be.”
The KS Sustainability Council
Amy Brinker (Chair)
Sustainability manager
Carl Alexander
KSM Campus Operations director
Mililani Browning
Natural Resources manager
Giorgio Caldarone
Land Assets Division regional manager
Wendy Cook
KSK Facility Maintenance and Construction associate director
Rod Floro
KSH Middle School teacher
Peter Fuchs
KSH Campus Operations director
Alex Globerson
Environmental project manager
Janelle Hokama
HR Service Center manager
Samantha Hudson
Capital Program Management senior planner
Sheryl Kahue
KSK Elementary School teacher
Bryan Kuwada
Kamehameha Publishing editor
Brandon Ledward
Aina-Based Education director
M’Liss Moore
Investment director
Lauren Nahme
Strategic Planning and Implementation director
Kanakolu Noa
Strategic Planning and Implementation analyst
Koy-Allan Omo
KSK PE teacher
Nani Pai
KSH Elementary School teacher
Maka‘ala Rawlins
Cultural specialist
Bob Shiroma
Facilities Management and Operations director
Sustainability is about resilience. I think we all owe it to our founder to do whatever we can to ensure that Kamehameha Schools is the most resilient, high-performance organization it can be.
Amy Brinker, KS Sustainability Manager
A planned sustainability internship will encourage college students to look at the feasibility of making Punalu‘u a zero energy ahupua‘a.
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