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Her roots growing up in rural Maine and a generous, sweet temperament made her a perfect fit when she made Hawaiʻi her home in the 1970s. A social worker by training, Kathy's primary work has been in educational assessment, indigenous assessment, program evaluation and research. But she is also deeply committed to advancing good in the community by serving on non-profit boards, teaching evaluation, and serving as a mentor for many of her colleagues. She spent 30 years at Kamehameha Schools holding an array of titles and garnering numerous awards for her work in educational psychology, research, evaluation. She also led the research and writing for the widely used publication, Ka Huakaʻi: 2014 Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment.  After 40+ years of evaluation and social work, one would think Kathy would be ready to slow down, but true to her nature, she comes to Liliʻuokalani Trust as the director of research evaluation, ready to take on a new set of goals and challenges.

Outside her work life, Kathy is married to the most patient and supportive husband imaginable. (He would have to be to have stayed with her for over 30 years!) She has two children, two grandchildren, and one granddog. Unfortunately, they are all currently living on the west coast of the continental U.S. Fortunately, they’re not as far away as the East Coast or Japan! When she has spare time or is procrastinating, Kathy enjoys going to movies with her husband, knitting, embroidery and reading. She recently acquired a yarn swift so her husband doesn’t have to hold up his arms for 20 minutes at a time while she winds balls of yarn for knitting. He is most grateful for this purchase!