Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center Welcomes Two New Board Members

Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center has announced two new members of its board of directors — secretary Rebecca Choi and director Rev. Eric S. Anderson.

Choi worked in investment banking and private equity in New York and San Francisco after receiving a B.A. in Political Economy from Princeton University. She and her husband moved to Hilo in 2006 where she owned and operated a local restaurant while raising two young children. Choi also ran a graduate university in Silicon Valley and led a national nonprofit that provided entrepreneurship training to people with criminal histories. She currently contributes as a volunteer for The Success Factory – NexTech, Vibrant Hawai‘i, Hilo Missionary Church, and Princeton Alumni Schools Committee.

Rev. Eric S. Anderson has served as Pastor of the Church of the Holy Cross United Church of Christ (UCC) since 2016. He joined the Steering Committee of Interfaith Communities in Action (ICIA) in Hilo in time to help share information within the interfaith hui as it responded to the 2018 Puna eruption, and is now ICIA President. In addition, Rev. Anderson chairs the Committee on Ministry for the Hawai‘i Island Association UCC and serves on the Micronesian Ministry Committee of the Hawai‘i Conference. As a member of the Rotary Club of Hilo, he serves on the East Hawai‘i Rotary Peace Committee.

Also on the Ku‘ikahi board are president Cheryl Matsumura, vice president Sandy Tokuuke, treasurer Twylla Baptiste, immediate past president Jennifer Zelko-Schlueter, and directors Doug Adams, Jeri Gertz, Julie Hugo, Jimi Kunimura, Cathy Lowder, Shaunda Liu Makaimoku, and Jennifer Ng.

Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center empowers people to come together — to talk and to listen, to explore options, and to find their own best solutions. To achieve this mission, Ku’ikahi offers mediation, facilitation, and training to strengthen the ability of diverse individuals and groups to resolve interpersonal conflicts and community issues. For more information, call Ku‘ikahi at 808-935-7844 or visit www.hawaiimediation.org.