Kona Attorney Named Director of Friends of NELHA

Sarah Crawford, a Kona attorney and coffee farmer, has been selected as the new executive director of the Friends of NELHA.

The group is a non-profit organization offering presentations and tours on the Big Island with a focus on alternative and renewable energy. Its presentations and tours are based at the Hawaii Gateway Energy Center at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority at Keahole Point in Kona.

Crawford’s selection was announced by David Kaapu, chairman of the board of directors for Friends of NELHA.

Crawford is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of San Francisco School of Law. Her law practice has involved mediating disputes and counseling clients in the areas of technology and intellectual property licensing.

Prior to moving to Kona she served as general counsel for various companies in Silicon Valley and was an attorney with the US Department of Energy.

Crawford brings extensive non-profit experience as a founder, chair, organizer, fundraiser, director and volunteer for various community organizations including West Hawaii Mediation Center, Hualalai Academy, Aloha Performing Arts Company, and the Chamber Orchestra of Kona, the group said in a statement issued today.

Crawford replaces the late Guy Toyama.

NELHA is a state agency that operates an ocean science and technology park. Its facilities include large pipelines that bring up cold water from 2,000 feet below the ocean’s surface and others drawing warmer water from 45 feet down for use in various forms of aquaculture.

NELHA is also the site of several projects involving the use of ocean thermal energy conversion for the generation of electricity.