Mayor Kim & Ikaika Marzo Receive PRiMO Awards

The Pacific Risk Management ʻOhana (PRiMO), a group of more than 100 organizations protecting Pacific Island communities from natural hazards, has selected four recipients for their outstanding efforts in disaster resilience. The awards were presented Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, at the 2018 PRiMO Conference, Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction, held at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center.

Mayor Harry Kim at the PRiMO awards presentation. Courtesy photo.

“We applaud our 2018 award recipients who are have made impactful contributions and helped ensure that we are better prepared in facing natural and man-made challenges in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific,” said PRiMO Chair Karl Kim, who is executive director of the University of Hawaiʻi’s Natural Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC).

The 2018 recipients:

The PRiMO Leadership Award recognized Charles Fletcher, professor and associate dean for academic affairs in UH Mānoa’s School of Ocean, Earth Sciences and Technology, and Hawaiʻi Island Mayor Harry Kim, for their tireless efforts and longstanding leadership in helping the people of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific to become more prepared and resilient to natural disasters.

Sen. Mazie Hirono talks to Puna resident Ikaika Marzo on Sunday, May 20, 2018. PC: BIN

The PRiMO Partnership Award went to Ikaika Marzo, a Puna resident and community leader on Hawai‘i Island, for his exemplary on-the-ground efforts monitoring and sharing information on the 2018 Kīlauea eruption, and his initiative to organize donations for the communities affected.

The NDPTC Community Resilience Award was given posthumously to Margaret Davidson, founding director of NOAA’s Coastal Services Center, for her significant career-long work in coastal management and her efforts in working with NDPTC to make coastal communities more resilient to natural disasters.

PRiMO is led by its Navigator Council, which includes Kim; Vice Chair Kristina Kekuewa (NOAA Office for Coastal Management – Pacific Region); Secretary Jeff Payne (NOAA Office for Coastal Management), Michael Bruno (UH Mānoa); Chris Chiesa (Pacific Disaster Center); John Marra (NOAA National Climatic Data Center); Colby Stanton (FEMA Pacific Area Office); Raymond Tanabe (NOAA National Weather Service); Bill Thomas (NOAA Office for Coastal Management); and Sally Ziolkowski (FEMA).

More about PRiMO

PRiMO was founded in 2003 as an effort to explore opportunities to enhance communication and collaboration among the ‘ohana of local, national and regional organizations involved in risk management.

PRiMO has since transformed into a collaborative effort governed by a coordinating council of navigators. These key representatives from the region provide leadership, resources, and policy guidance to PRiMO as well as seek institutional support for PRiMO from within their respective organizations.