Hawaiʻi State Senate Confirms Three HHC Commissioners

Posted on May 21, 2020 in Hawaiian Homes Commission, Media Releases

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 21, 2020

Hawaiʻi State Senate Confirms Three HHC Commissioners

(Kapolei, Oʻahu) – The Hawaiʻi State Senate confirmed Randy Awo, Zachary Helm, and Russell Kaupu to the Hawaiian Homes Commission on Thursday, May 21, 2020 in a 24-0 vote.

Maui Commissioner Awo most recently served as the Administrator for the Department of Land and Natural Resources for the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.

A longtime beneficiary of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Awo brings over 32 years of experience in government and community relations to the Commission. He has an extensive background in conservation, being one of the creators of the Ahupuaʻa management model, which is aimed at protecting, managing, and conserving Hawaiʻi’s natural resources.

Awo is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. His term runs through June 2023.

Molokaʻi Commissioner Helm has 30 years of experience working with the Department of Parks and Recreation for the County of Maui, with most of his tenure spent as the District Supervisor for the Molokaʻi District.

Helm is active in his community, serving on various boards, including the Kalamaʻula Hawaiian Homestead Association, Friendly Isle United Way, Molokaʻi Catholic Community Council, and Molokaʻi Little League Association. Helm’s term runs through June 2024.

Oʻahu Commissioner Kaupu currently acts as Corporate Counsel for the MacNaughton Group in Honolulu, providing in-house legal services for TMG and its projects and principals. He is also a small business owner and was a former practicing attorney for Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel in Honolulu.

He is a member of the Hawaiʻi State and American Bar Associations and is a past Chair, Board Member, and current committee member of the Hawaiʻi Conference Foundation’s Real Property, Finance & Investments and Audit committee.

Kaupu is a graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and Kamehameha Schools. His term runs through June 2023.

To learn more about HHC, visit dhhl.hawaii.gov/hhc.

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About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921, with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of over 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:

Cedric Duarte
Information and Community Relations Officer
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
(808) 620-9591
[email protected]