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President/Treasurer - Negus Manna, a farmer on Lāna’i, is known simply as Manna (Mana). He has been continuously studying agriculture in the Hawaiian Islands and has several years of growing experience within Maui, Oahu, and Lāna’i.
Manna is a graduate of the 2021 Farming Apprentice Mentorship (FAM) program spearheaded by the Hawaii Farmers Union United (HFUU) with a focus on regenerative and organic farming. Before that, he earned a degree from the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus in Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies with a focus on environmental sciences and policy.
Manna is interested in being a catalyst for positive change in Hawaii’s food system by supporting our local farmers with unique and emancipated concepts that benefit our community's future developments.
Vice President - Michele (Kapua) Weinhouse's family has been on Lānaʻi for three generations. Her grandparents immigrated to Hawaiʻi finally landing on Lānaʻi to pick pineapples. She lived a short time with her grandparents on Lānaʻi but mostly grew up in California and the Philippines. Michele is formerly trained as a medicinal chemist and is new to farming, a recent graduate of the 2023 Farming Apprentice Mentorship (FAM) program. While teaching Natural Resources at Lānaʻi High School during COVID, she became aware and affected by Hawaiʻi's food insecurity problems on Lānaʻi. Determined to be a part of the solution, she established Kapua's Farm Lānaʻi to regeneratively grow food for her community.
Michele is determined to create a stronger, sustainable and more resilient agricultural community on Lānaʻi by bringing Lānaʻi grown produce to its most vulnerable community members.
Secretary - Karen de Brum