Directors and Advisors

Robert Becker, President

Robert Becker is a writer who lives in New York City and Honolulu. Friends with William and Paula Merwin for over twenty years, he was also William’s cousin. He has been on the editorial staff of The Paris Review and Andy Warhol’s Interview and is the author of Nancy Lancaster; Her Life, Her World, Her Art (Knopf). He has written about art, architecture, history and Hawaii for publications including Architectural Digest, Interview, Art and Auction, Flash Art, Town and Country, British Vogue, The Paris Review, The Hawaiian Journal of History, and most recently Hyperallergic, The New Criterion, ArtForum and the British literary magazine Granta where he published an essay about William Merwin and his palm garden in November 2020. He is a passionate art collector and surfer and has a been a board member since 2015.

Richard Andrews, Vice President

Richard Andrews lives in Seattle. He is an art advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and board member of the Skystone Foundation, the organization responsible for the realization of James Turrell’s Roden Crater Project near Flagstaff, AZ. Previously he served as director of the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, and director of the Visual Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts. Andrews has extensive experience in contemporary art, non profit leadership, and public art programming. Exhibitions curated by Andrews include Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes (2006), James Turrell: Knowing Light (2003), James Turrell: Works 1967 -1992 (1992), and Art into Life: Russian Constructivism 1914-1932 (1991). Publications include catalogues for those exhibitions as well as essays on contemporary art and artists. He joined the board in 2021.

Amber Strong Makaiau, Vice President

Born and raised in Hawai’i, Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau is an award winning educator and the Director of Curriculum and Research at the University of Hawai‘i Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education. She is also Director of the Hanahau’oli School Professional Development Center, and Associate Specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) College of Education Institute for Teacher Education Secondary Program. Her current projects include carrying out progressive social justice and democratic approaches to pre-service social studies teacher education. She enjoys spending time on Moloka‘i, engaging in philosophy with her two children, and being in the ocean. She has been a member of the board since 2018.

James Pickrel, Treasurer

A longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Jim has had a wide-ranging career spanning the worlds of business, nonprofits, and the arts. Following various management positions with Silicon Valley companies, he served as senior stock analyst for enterprise software with the JPMorgan Chase investment bank. Jim was co-founder and CFO for Sand County Ventures, a pioneer in venture investing for environmental sustainability. He has served on the boards of a progressive independent school in the East Bay, and an innovative fruit tree nursery in California’s Central Valley. For many years he worked as a freelance musician, and has published poetry and translations in several small press journals. Jim was a young teenager when he was drawn to the writing of W. S. Merwin, and has been an avid student of Merwin’s life and works since that time. He joined the board in 2020.

Mary Lock, Assistant Treasurer

Mary Lock served as President of the Hawai‘i Island Palm Society for four years and is still an active board member. After receiving a degree in Population Biology/Ecology, she pursued a career in software engineering for a biotech company in the Silicon Valley before moving permanently to Hawai‘i. She is a member of the International Palm Society and has attended biennial expeditions to study palms in habitat in Colombia, Cuba, Borneo, and Brazil. She and her husband became friends with Paula and William Merwin about 15 years ago when the Locks started building their garden across the road from the Merwins, sharing their fascination with palms and love of “garden philosophy.” She has served on the Conservancy’s board since 2015.

Michael Moore, Secretary

Michael Moore is a small business entrepreneur and president of Na Hoaloha Ekolu, a restaurant group that owns and operates Old Lahaina Lū‘au, Aloha Mixed Plate, Star Noodle, Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, and Hoaloha Farms. He has served as Maui Commissioner: Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and on the Board of Directors of Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Hui O Wa’a Kaulua, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, and Maui Visitors Bureau. His interests include dogs, cats, whales, most other animals, walking, reading, and traveling. He resides in Hāna, Maui and has been a board member since 2018.

Jeanne Herbert, Assistant Secretary

Jeanne was born and raised in Ko’olaupoko, Kaneohe Bay, Oʻahu. Today she resides in Honolulu, having returned to Hawai’i after thirty years in the Bay Area. Jeanne earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and an Associates degree in Fine Arts Photography. She spent her early career as a radio announcer and was the Founder of Blue World Travel in San Francisco. An avid traveler, Jeanne’s photographs are published in National Geographic book “Great Journeys of the World,” Outside Magazine, and Lonely Planet travel books, among others. Jeanne has served as Board Chair of CASA of Country Costa County, and as a Board Member of Chaksampa Tibetan Opera Company, More recently, Jeanne volunteered for the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Hōkūleʻa Worldwide Voyage. She joined the board in 2021.

Jocelyn Romero Demirbag

Jocelyn Romero Demirbag lives on Maui and is currently the Director of Development, Maui Nui at the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation. She was the administrative director for both the Honolulu Waldorf School and the Haleakala Waldorf School, where she was also Chair of School. She sits on the board of Hospice Maui and Spirit Matters.  Jocelyn received her BA in Sociology from Loyola Marymount, her MA in Sociology from UC Berkeley, and her EdD in Educational Professional Practice from the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. She joined the board in 2021.

Mark Hamilton

Mark Hamilton is a retired telecommunications executive residing  in Seattle and San Juan Island. He began his career in corporate law, and then transitioned into telecommunications. Mark serves as a Board member of the Copper Canyon Press, and is a member of the Visiting Committee of the Department of Economics at the University of Washington. Mark received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Washington and law degree from Harvard Law School. In addition to poetry and literature, his interests include hiking, cycling, cooking and travel. He joined the board in 2021.

Li Hay

Li Hay lives in the historic town of Makawao on Maui, where she grows 70+ varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and lei-making plants. She is a psychotherapist intern in private practice working towards her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy. Li has served on multiple service and Hawaiian cultural Boards of Directors, including Mana O Maui, Maui Mediation Services, Hui O Wa’a Kaulua, and the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society. When not working with clients or volunteering, Li can be found traveling around this beautiful world, reading novels and poetry, in or on the ocean, hiking upcountry Maui with her puppy Lulu, or playing her ukulele badly. She joined the board in 2024.

Vilsoni Hereniko

Vili is the first Rotuman to receive a Ph.D. as well as Rotuma’s first and only playwright, filmmaker, and full professor. He is a former Director of the Oceania Center for Arts and Culture (Fiji) as well as the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i. Currently he is a professor at the Academy for Creative Media at UH Mānoa where he teaches screenwriting, indigenous aesthetics, and film production. Having lived in Hawai‘i for 30 years, he has made the coconut palm (known widely in Oceania as “the tree of life”) a major focus of his scholarly and creative work. Passionate about trees and indigenous worldviews, he is best known perhaps for having made the narrative feature film Pear ta Ma ‘On Maf: The Land Has Eyes. Vili joined the board in 2020.

Gabby Ahuli‘i Ferreira Holt

Gabrielle Ahuli‘i Ferreira Holt was born and raised in Honolulu. She has a BFA in Theatre Design and Production from the University of British Columbia and an MLIS from the University of Hawai‘i. She has published a series of adaptations of Hawaiian legends with BeachHouse Press, titled Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones. Gabby is currently employed at Hanahauʻoli School, a progressive elementary school in Honolulu, as the school librarian and information literacy specialist. Her work as a librarian is focused on emphasizing a diverse library collection, the role of progressive education in upholding the health of democracy (particularly in the areas of educating children to be critical consumers of information and media), and how the development of multiple literacies can be the key to self-determination (both as an individual and a community). She became a board member in 2021.

Susan Conway Kean

Susan is a ceramic installation artist whose work is featured at many commercial and residential sites on Maui. She has served on the first advisory board for Book Trust, on the board of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust as Governance Chair, and as a volunteer at Hospice Maui. She has a deep passion for the natural world and conserving Hawai‘i’s special places and enjoys spending her free time painting the landscape. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast and is happiest when in the forest. Susan has been a Merwin Conservancy board member since 2016.

Catherine St. Germans

Catherine St. Germans was co-founder and director of the Port Eliot Festival, a multi-disciplinary festival held for 13 years on the grounds of the stately home in Cornwall, England where she lived for many years. She now organizes the Regenerative Agriculture Gathering in the UK, and founded Farms to Feed Us, a non-profit helping to support farmers and growers during the Covid-19 crisis. She studied fashion at St. Martins School of Art in London and has written for many publications including The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Face, Vogue, and i-D. She lives in Cornwall and Hawai‘i and has been a Merwin Conservancy board member since 2018.

Matthew Carlos Schwartz

As Paula Merwin’s son and W.S. Merwin’s stepson, Matt has been involved with the vision for the The Merwin Conservancy since its inception, and led the Conservancy board since the Merwins stopped participating directly in 2010. He has more than 30 years of experience leading mission driven public benefit organizations. A resident of San Francisco, Matt has served as CEO of the California Housing Partnership since 2002. In this capacity, he helps low-income renters gain access to affordable and sustainable homes by providing technical assistance and policy advice to California leaders. Matt has also served for many years on the board and loan committee of Equity Trust, pioneering the use of community land trusts and easements to help local communities gain access to land and other resources needed to increase long-term affordability and sustainability. He has served on the board since the Conservancy’s founding in 2010.

Molly Taylor

Molly Taylor specialises in arts and cultural communications and is currently the Director of Communications at contemporary art gallery Kasmin. Focused on brand development, marketing, digital projects, publications, events, and partnerships, she leads Kasmin’s creative direction across multiple channels both on- and off-line. Prior to this, Molly was the Communications Manager at London-based art magazine Elephant from 2014-2017 and the co-founder of literary magazine Hotdog. She holds an award-winning dissertation in MA Publishing from University of the Arts, London, and a BA in English Literature from the University of Sussex. Originally from Devon, England, Molly has lived in New York since 2017. She joined the board in 2024.

Severine von Tcharner Fleming

Severine von Tcharner Fleming is an organic fruit grower and seaweed harvester living in Pembroke, Maine. She serves as the publisher and founding director of Greenhorns, which produces events and educational materials for a new generation of farmers, including The New Farmer’s Almanac. Severine is a public speaker, organizer and advocate, and is especially passionate about the commons. In the past four years she has been building an educational campus for Greenhorns in a series of beautiful historic buildings – creating the condition for artists, scholars, families, summer campers, local food and a vital rural youth culture.  She serves on the board of Agrarian Trust, Schumacher Center for New Economics, Savanna Institute, and Farm Hack. Severine joined the board in 2021.

Michael Wiegers

Michael Wiegers is Editor in Chief of the not-for-profit Copper Canyon Press, one of the original two supporting organizations that helped establish The Merwin Conservancy as a nonprofit organization. He was W.S. Merwin’s publisher and editor for 26 years. Impassioned by William’s poetry, as well as a long friendship with the Merwins, he brings a literary background to the organization, alongside a historical perspective. As an outdoorsperson, he values solitude in wild places, as well as respectful community with critters. He has hiked nearly every watershed of the Olympic Mountains, walked the Paine Circuit in Chile’s Patagonia, climbed the Cascades, paddled the waters of the Salish Sea, and skied the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. When he is not traveling, he lives in a small house near the Salish Sea, in Port Townsend. He has been a Merwin Conservancy board member since 2018.

William and Paula Merwin, Founders*