Staff

KAHEA is supported by a small and dedicated staff, most of whom work out of offices in the heart of Honoluluʻs Chinatown, just a few blocks from `Iolani Palace and the Hawai`i State Capitol.

Renee May, Bookkeeper
renee [at] kahea.org

(bio coming soon!)

Lauren Muneoka, Program Assistant (aka Tech Department)
lauren [at] kahea.org

Born and raised on the Windward side of O`ahu, Lauren is a musician, web/graphic designer, and trades expertly in vinyl records. She is also a master at making sure things at KAHEA look good and run smoothly!

Shelley Muneoka, Community Outreach
shelley [at] kahea.org

Shelley is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools ('03). She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Evansville and a M.S.W. in Social Work from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa.

Prior to joining KAHEA, Shelley worked with Queen Lili`uokalani Children's Center (QLCC), Hā Kūpuna, and the Quentin Burdick Rural Health Program.

Marti Townsend, Program Director/Staff Attorney
marti [@] kahea.org

Raised on the red dirt of Leeward O`ahu, Marti is a long-time champion of causes for the `āina. Marti has served as KAHEA's primary advocate since 2005.

Captain of the debate team in high school - Go "Mighty Menes"! - everybody always said she'd be a lawyer someday. Despite her every effort to prove them wrong, including a year backpacking through Europe, Marti graduated from the award-winning UH Environmental Law Program in 2005. Marti represented Hawai'i at the world-renown Pace University Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, where she was thrice recognized as "Best Oralist."

While clerking at the Honolulu Office of Earthjustice, Marti helped research and draft the original pleadings against the U.S. Army for failing to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act to assess the impacts of the greatest military expansion in Hawai'i since World War II. This case was successfully appealed to the 9th Circuit, requiring the Army to re-draft its environmental impact statement. She also helped draft the original submittal to the Water Commission on the wasting of water in the Na Wai 'Eha watershed on Maui. The taro farmers were ultimately victorious in this case.

Marti served two sessions as staff to the State House Finance Committee, and is oddly nostalgic for inhumanly long hours spent in a windowless office crunching budget data.

Marti is mother to two remarkable kids, wife to an espresso connoisseur, and haumana to Kumu Hula Malia Bird-Helela. To keep life exciting, she purchased a 1984 biodiesel stationwagon that agrees to function only 65% of the time. Marti also enjoys taking the bus.