MembersStanding CommitteesDepartment of EducationCharter SchoolsLibrary SystemHawaii Teachers Standards BoardSuperintendent Search 2021
AgendasMinutesMeeting Archives
Policies & Framework
StatuteAdministrative RulesBoard PoliciesStrategic PlanBoard BylawsBoard ResolutionsReports
Submit TestimonyListen LiveMailing List Sign UpConnect With Us
Hawaii Board of Education > About > Board Members > Members
Board Members are volunteers, who serve without pay and are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the senate. A public high school student serves as a non-voting student representative and the senior military commander appoints a non-voting military representative.
Catherine Payne |
Chairperson, At Large
Catherine Payne is a retired educator whose career has spanned over 35 years. She most recently came out of retirement to temporarily fill in as the Interim Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area Superintendent. Prior to retiring, Board Chairperson Payne served as the principal of Farrington High School. Board Chairperson Payne was the recipient of the National Milken Educator Award. She also won the Principal of the Year Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals for her work with incarcerated students at the alternative Olomana School. Board Chairperson Payne has served on numerous education boards, including the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, Education Institute of Hawaii, Adult Friends for Youth, and the State Public Charter School Commission as chairperson. She received her Bachelor of Education degree in Secondary English and her Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Board Chairperson Payne's term runs from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021. Effective July 1, 2021 Chairperson Payne will be a holdover Board Member.
Kenneth Uemura | Vice Chairperson, City and County of Honolulu
Kenneth Uemura is a certified public accountant with more than 40 years of experience in business and financial management and was named the 2010 Chief Financial Officer of the Year by Pacific Business News as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hawaii Pacific University. He has also held positions as Treasurer and Executive Vice President of Finance at RESCO, INC./Prudential Locations; CFO, Corporate Treasurer, and Secretary at Pomare, Ltd. (Hilo Hattie); Senior Vice President and Controller at C. Brewer and Company, Ltd; executive positions with Jas.W. Glover Holding Co., Ltd. and Persis Corporation; and was a Senior Audit Manager with Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Board Vice Chairperson Uemura has served on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Honolulu and was a member of Aloha United Way's Finance and Investment Committee. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the City and County of Honolulu's Grants In Aid Commission and is self-employed as a business consultant, providing expertise in corporate turnaround and restructuring, debt restructuring, and business plan execution. He is a public school graduate and received his Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii. He is also a Vietnam Veteran. Board Vice Chairperson Uemura's current term runs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022.
​Shanty Asher | Member, City and County of Honolulu
Shanty Asher graduated from Malem Elementary School, Kosrae High School, received both her Bachelor of Science in Pre-Law and Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Chaminade University of Honolulu, and earned her Juris Doctor (JD) law degree from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. She has been serving alongside Micronesian community leaders, representing needs on boards and task forces to mitigate the healthcare, social, political, educational, and economic sufferings of the FSM and COFA community in Hawaii.
Board Member Asher currently serves as the Pacific Islander Liaison Officer for the City and County of Honolulu after serving as an Education Law Specialist at Pacific Resources for Education & Learning (PREL). Board Member Asher is also serving on the FSM COVID-19 Task Force USA, Board Member for the Legal Clinic in Hawaii and the National Asia Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association, and serving as President of the Kosrae Women Association. Board Member Asher's term runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.
Kaimana Barcarse | Member, Hawaiʻi County
Damien "Kaimana" Barcarse currently serves as the West Hawaiʻi regional director for Kamehameha Schools and is also a DJ and program producer of Alana I Kai Hikina, a radio show which broadcasts entirely in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi on KWXX-FM. He has over 18 years of experience in education, including formerly serving as a Hawaiian cultural-based education department director for Kamehameha Schools, an ʻāina-based education department coordinator for Kamehameha Schools, and staff lecturer of ethno-zoology and voyaging & navigation for Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani, College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. His experience also includes serving as the director of the exploration sciences and voyaging department at ʻAha Pūnana Leo, apprentice navigator on the Hōkūleʻa, captain on Hōkūalakaʻi, member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and providing financial planning and consulting services at Primerica Financial Services. Board Member Barcarse has developed and instructed culture-based photography and video production classes, produced international and multi-lingual radio programming, and worked to develop the Indigenous Rights Radio program with the non-profit organization Cultural Survival. Board Member Barcarse received a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian Studies and a Master of Arts in Hawaiian Language and Literature from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Board Member Barcarse's term runs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022.
William "Bill" Arakaki | Member, Kauai County
William Arakaki is a retired educator who served the Hawaii State Department of Education for 40 years. He began as the Special Motivation teacher at Waipahu High School in September of 1980 then moved to Kauai to teach at Kauai High and Intermediate School in September of 1988. After becoming certified in school administration in 1993, Board Member Arakaki served as the Interim Vice Principal of Wilcox Elementary, Vice Principal of Kapaa High School, Vice Principal of Kapaa Middle School and the Principal of Waimea High School from 1998 through 2006. Board Member Arakaki became the Kauai Complex Area Superintendent in 2006 and retired on June 30, 2020.
Board Member Arakaki has received the Kauai District Secondary Education Excellence Award in 2005 and the Kauai District Secondary Principal of the Year in 2001. School awards under his leadership include the Hawaii State Secondary Blue Ribbon School of the Year, Hawaii Governor's Team of the Year Award, and Department of Education Team Excellence Award. Board Member Arakaki Arakaki received his Bachelors of Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1979. Board Member Arakaki's term runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024.
Lynn Fallin | Member, At Large
Lynn Fallin was appointed as Deputy Director for Behavioral Health of the Department of Health by Governor Neil Abercrombie in 2011, where she served in her role from 2011 to 2018. Prior to this role, she served as the Executive Director of the Hookakoo Corporation from 2003 to 2010; as the Special Assistant on Children and Families for the State of Hawaii from 1999 to 2002; and as the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission on Children and Families from 1995 to 1998. Board Member Fallin has senior-level policy and administrative leadership and has served on a number of local and national boards and commissions. Board Member Fallin received her Bachelors of Science from the University of Oregon and a Senior Management Certificate from Duke University. Board Member Fallin's term runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.
Christine "Kili" Namauʻu | Member, County of Maui
Christine "Kili" Namauʻu has been the director of Pūnana Leo o Maui for the past 24 years. She has extensive experience fostering community partnerships with a wide variety of organizations such as Nā Pua Noʻeau, Maui Fair, Nā Leo Kākoʻo o Maui, University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, XTERRA World Championships, and National Geographic. Board Member Namauʻu is also a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children ("NAEYC"), the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce, and the Hawaiian Agencies and Organizations of Maui ("HAO"). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and her Masters of Education, with an emphasis on early education, from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Board Member Namauʻu's term runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.​
​Lyla Berg | Member, City and County of Honolulu
Dr. Lyla Berg is an author, professional speaker, resiliency facilitator, and career educator. She has served as a classroom teacher, vice-principal, and principal on Molokai and O`ahu with the Department of Education and as an instructor in the College of Education at the University of Hawai`i-Mānoa and at Kapi`olani Community College. Board Member Berg was also a legislator, serving several terms as a member of the Hawai`i State House of Representatives from East Honolulu. Board Member Berg is the founder and former CEO of Kids Voting Hawai`i, a statewide, hands-on civic engagement program for youth in kindergarten through grade 12. She is also active, locally and nationally, on various boards of non-profit organizations. Board Member Berg is the owner and principal consultant of an international company focusing on training for organizational efficacy and leadership quality. She currently hosts "Island Focus," a bi-weekly television series on `Olelo Community Media, which features interviews with leaders in Hawaii's government, business, education, non-profit, and community sectors.
Board Member Berg received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and earned Master's Degrees in Educational Administration and Curriculum and Instruction from The American University and the University of Hawai`i-Mānoa, respectively. Her Ph.D. in Education is from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Board Member Berg began her term on September 13, 2021.
Bruce Voss | Member, At Large
Bruce Voss is a partner with the law firm of Bays Lung Rose & Holma, specializing in business, real estate, and employment law and litigation. He previously worked as a news reporter for Pacific Business News and KHON2 News. He is a graduate of Kalaheo High School and the Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii. Board Member Voss's current term runs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022.
Kyla Musso | Student Representative (2021-2022) Member
Kyla Musso is a senior at Radford High School, and has been involved in student government since the 4th grade. She previously served as class Vice President, and was recognized as a Questbridge College Prep Scholar. In her free time she loves to dance hula and help serve her school in any way she can. Student Representative Musso believes in striving for your best in anything you do, and especially loves working with students to help them reach their full potential.
Colonel Angenene L. Robertson, Air Force | Military Liaison
Colonel Angenene L. Robertson is the Director for Manpower and Personnel, Headquarters U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. She is the principle advisor to the Commander, United States Indo-Pacific Command in all matters pertaining to military and civilian resource and talent management, manpower requirements, dependent education, quality of life programs, reserve affairs, and military personnel operations and readiness. She leads a team of forty-six military and civilian personnel supporting over 360,000 personnel assigned to the four service components (U.S. Army Pacific Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Pacific Air Force, and Marine Forces Pacific), four direct reporting units and two sub-unified commands (U.S. Forces Japan and U.S. Forces Korea) assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. These units provide security for a free and open Pacific from the California coast to India - an area of responsibility encompassing fifty-two percent of the globe's surface. Prior to assuming this position, she was the Air Mobility Command's Director for Manpower, Personnel, and Services, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
Colonel Robertson held various assignments in the personnel career field at the base, headquarters and joint levels. She also deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia for Operation SOUTHERN WATCH as the 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing Section Commander in 1999 and Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan as the 376th Air Exepeditionary Wing Commander's Action Group/Director of Staff in 2008.
Colonel Robertson achieved the following educational milestones: Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminal Justice, Charleston Southern University, Charleston, South Carolina (1995); Master of Public Administration, Troy State University, Shaw AFB, South Carolina (2000); Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama (2002); Air Command and Staff College (Correspondence); Master of Science in Leadership Counseling, University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2009); and, Master of Strategic Studies, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama (2016).
© Hawaii State Board of Education | P.O. Box 2360 Honolulu HI 96804 | Phone: (808) 586-3334 | Fax: (808) 586-3433 | E-mail: BOE.Hawaii@boe.hawaii.gov
Hawaii Board of Education