About
Rooted in the convictions of renowned American poet W.S. Merwin, The Merwin Conservancy imagines ways of engaging with place, poetry, and practice.
We care for the thriving, internationally recognized palm garden on Maui that William Merwin and his wife Paula planted on land depleted by extractive agricultural practices; offer a residency program in the Merwins’ home to writers and artists who make new possibilities for language and land; and foster attention to nature and the imagination through programming and storytelling.
Our Commitments
Place
We sustain a lineage of care—for the land we steward here in the ahupuaʻa (traditional land division) of Peʻahi, the communities we are part of, and the planet itself. We offer the unfolding story of the Merwins’ garden as an example of resilience and renewal, and of what can happen when we cultivate and sustain relationships to the places we love.
Poetry
We promote the enduring relevance and necessity of W.S. Merwin’s work and of poetry broadly, in its many expressions. We uplift the potential of poetry to convey complex truths, spark wonder, and nurture curiosity.
Practice
W.S Merwin’s poetry and the Merwins’ palm garden are testaments to the transformative possibilities of daily practice. A lifelong student of philosophies that emphasize presence, attention and contemplation, Merwin remained devoted to the daily rituals of writing, studying, meditating, and tending the garden. Our work honors these practices and their role in broadening what each of us can do to renew the world around and within us.
In Prose & Palms
Featuring Executive Director Sonnet Coggins, this short video offers a glimpse of the garden we tend, and the legacy we carry forward.
History
April 2010 — To ensure that their house and garden would be tended after their deaths, and in perpetuity, W.S. Merwin and Paula Merwin founded The Merwin Conservancy with partners Copper Canyon Press, National Tropical Botanical Garden, and Maui Coastal Land Trust.
August 2013 — The Green Room debuted as a public program weaving together language, nature, and the imagination.
May 2014 — With partners Dr. John Dransfield of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, National Tropical Botanical Gardens, and The Nature Conservancy, The Merwin Conservancy cataloged the entire Merwin palm collection, comprising over 3,000 palms and nearly 400 species.
October 2014 — William and Paula donated a perpetual conservation easement to the Hawai‘i Land Trust (formerly Maui Coastal Land Trust), protecting the land from future development.
March 2017 — Paula Merwin died, two days short of her 81st birthday.
March 2019 — William Merwin died at the age of 91.
January 2020 — The home and garden passed from the Merwin family to The Merwin Conservancy.
2020 — Restoration of and repairs began on the house. The garden dojo was restored.
October 2021 — An ethnohistorical study of the ahupuaʻa of Peʻahi was completed.
December 2021 — The Merwin Conservancy launched its residency program with poet Natalie Diaz.
2022 — The Merwin Conservancy welcomed poets Arthur Sze, Carol Moldaw, Ada Limón, Carrie Fountain, and artist Sean Connelly as residents throughout the year.
2023 — During his residency at The Merwin Conservancy, biologist and palm expert Dr. Bill Baker helped to identify and catalog several new palm species in the garden.
2024 — The Merwin Conservancy welcomed composer and sound artist Leilehua Lanzilotti, writer Elisa Gonzalez, and Michael Swaine and Archie Wessells of the artist collective Future Farmers as residents.
“In gardening, as my wife and I go about it here, what are called concerns–for ecology and the environment, for example–merge inevitably with work done every day, within sight of the house, with our own hands, and the concerns remain intimate and familiar rather than far away. They do not have to be thought about, they are at home in the mind. I have never lived anywhere that was more true.”
— W.S. Merwin
Founders William and Paula Merwin
The Merwin Conservancy was founded by W.S. Merwin and Paula Merwin, with the help of many friends and supporters including Copper Canyon Press, National Tropical Botanical Garden, and Maui Coastal Land Trust.
For over forty years, William and Paula lived together in a house William designed and helped build, surrounded by acres of land once devastated and depleted from years of erosion, logging, and toxic agricultural practices.
Together, they painstakingly restored the land into one of the most comprehensive palm gardens in the world.
In 2010, William and Paula Merwin established The Merwin Conservancy to safeguard the house and surrounding land in perpetuity, and in 2014 the land became permanently protected by a Deed of Conservation Easement held by the Hawai‘i Land Trust.
They lived together until Paula’s death in 2017. William continued to live, write and garden in Hawaiʻi until he died at home on Friday, March 15th, 2019.
Paula Merwin
Paula Dunaway Merwin was a children’s book editor. She was engaged in politics, literature, art, cooking, and fashion.
William and Paula met for the first time in 1970 and again twelve years later at a dinner party in New York.
W.S. Merwin described the latter meeting in the poem “Late Spring.”
“After looking and mistakes and forgetting
turning there thinking to find
no one except those I knew
finally I saw you
sitting in white”
They were married in 1983.
Paula shared and contributed to William’s dream of revitalizing the formerly barren land they lived on in Pe‘ahi, furthering their collective vision for The Merwin Conservancy at every step.
Among her many contributions, Paula developed and maintained the gardens around the house.
Her vivacious and loving character helped her and William forge social connections across Maui and the broader world, building a wide-reaching network integral to The Conservancy’s growth.
Throughout their thirty-three years together, Paula was often a sounding board and first editor for Williams’ work, helping produce some of the greatest poetry of the last half-century.
The Merwins’ life together in Peʻahi, which they chose as their home after living for many years in New York City, represents an unwavering commitment not only to a place, but to a way of being.
The Merwins founded The Merwin Conservancy not just to preserve their home, “but also to inspire the rest of us to plant our own forests, turn our own dreams into reality, wherever we live.”
To Paula in Late Spring
Let me imagine that we will come again
when we want to and it will be spring
we will be no older than we ever were
the worn griefs will have eased like the early cloud
through which the morning slowly comes to itself
and the ancient defenses against the dead
will be done with and left to the dead at last
the light will be as it is now in the garden
that we have made here these years together
of our long evenings and astonishment
—from The Shadow of Sirius (2009)
Team
Sonnet Kekilia Coggins
Executive Director
After completing a Masters degree in Education at the University of Virginia, Sonnet moved to France, then later completed a Master of Arts in French Language and Literatures, with a focus on cultural history and interpretation of historic sites. She worked with the Denver Art Museum, then the Williams College Museum of Art, where she co-curated The Field is the World: Williams, Hawai‘i, and Material Histories in the Making. Sonnet has been with the Conservancy since 2018.
Naki Kanekoa
Caretaker
Naki came to Maui from Reno, NV, in 2007 to pursue a degree from UH Maui. In 2020 he pivoted to conservation and ecotourism after 20 years in the service industry. A student of multiple cultural practices, father of two, and aspiring farmer, Naki joined The Merwin Conservancy in 2024.
Nina Peláez
Associate Director for Story and Experience
Nina is a poet, educator, artist, and cultural producer. Before joining The Conservancy in early 2024, she worked at several arts institutions developing collaborative programs, exhibitions, and interpretive projects that foster creativity, connection, and curiosity. Nina holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Williams College and a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Bennington College. She is working on the manuscript for her first poetry collection.
Walter Schmid
Gardener
Originally from Germany, Walter has worked in William and Paula’s garden since 2002. A friend introduced Walter to the Merwins while living in the neighborhood, and he immediately felt a strong affinity. What started as a casual job eventually became a longstanding dedication to William and Paula’s—and now The Conservancy’s—vision. Walter is also a guitarist and composer. He and his partner Sanae, a Japanese singer, put ancient Japanese Waka poetry to contemporary music and perform in Japan and Maui.
Chuck Virtue
Development Manager & Administrative Coordinator
Chuck is from Palos Verdes, CA and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in International Business and Finance. After 8 years in Japan, he landed in Hawai‘i and worked in hospitality for over 20 years on the Big Island and Maui. He has been with the Conservancy in a part-time position since 2021.
Directors & Advisors
Robert Becker
President
Robert Becker is a writer who lives in New York City and Northwest Connecticut. 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 a Specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) College of Education School of Teacher Education. She is also the Director of Curriculum and Research at the University of Hawai‘i Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education and the Director of the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center. 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 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, O‘ahu. 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 Hōkūle‘a 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 Hawai‘i 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, Mānoa. 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 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 Hawa‘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 specializes 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
Advisory Board
Cyrus Cassells
Makawao, HI
Jennifer Chirico
Makawao, HI
Dr. John Dransfield
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, United Kingdom
Brynn Foster
Waialua, HI
Aaron Kandell
Honolulu, HI
Jordan Kandell
Honolulu, HI
Ara Laylo
Honolulu, HI
Dr. M. Puakea Nogelmeier
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
Naomi Shihab Nye
San Antonio, TX
Walter Parsons
Port Townsend, WA
Scott Schweighauser
Chicago, IL
William True
Seattle, WA
Supporters
We extend our gratitude for the generosity of our contributors. Through their care, the Conservancy has taken root, and now thrives.
Below, we acknowledge all those who have provided foundational support across the years, as well as those who have given to the Conservancy in 2023 and 2024.
Last updated September 2024.
2024 Donors
$100,000+
The Jonathan and Kathleen Altman Foundation
$50,000 – $99,999
Anonymous
True Family Fund
$10,000 – $24,999
Colleen Chartier and Richard Andrews
Sarah and Tim Cavanaugh
Cooke Foundation
Robert Becker
Jeanne Herbert
Michael Moore
Matt C. Schwartz and Karen A. Levesque
Diana Tomseth
Marsha Trimble
$5,000 – $9,999
Atherton Family Foundation
Lillian Ball
Garden Club of Honolulu
Nancy and Larry Mohr
Ruth Moser
Carolyn Woolley and James Pickrel
$2,500 – $4,999
Severine Fleming
Mary and Michael Lock
$1,000 – $2,499
Tanya and Paul Alston
Suellen Barton
Fairview Capital Investment Mgmt, LLC
Florence Foundation
Vilsoni Hereniko
Rosanne Ogles
Janice and Jim Rohlf
Jocelyn Romero Demirbag
Elizabeth Ellrodt and Scott Schweighauser
Barbara Sweet
$500 – $999
Anonymous
Virginia Beck
Dale and William Bordner
Sara Brewster
Cheyney Family Fund
Tim Garcia
Li Hay
Galyn Sussman and Daniel Levin
James Madura
Dr. M. Puakea Nogelmeier
Howard Norman
Annette and Gary Ostrem
Alyson Shore Adler
Crystal Smythe
Sandra Stoner
Taketa ʻOhana Fund
Libby Tomar
Miraim Trahan
$250 – $499
Alfred Abiva Jr.
Dana Anderson
Nancy Belur
Leah and Mark Bernstein
Rena and Michael Bever
Liz Boykin
Dennis Clemmens
Clemency Coggins
Susan Tracy Flanagan
Sandra Florence
Katherine Florence Parrish
Mary Anna Grimes
Kitty Harmon
Mary Hattori
Katherine and Peter Hayes
Donna Howard
Susan Kean
Moranne and Jon Klassen
Paul Mancini
Janice Marsters
Alice and Joe McDermott
Mary McGowan
Judith and Daniel Nystrom
Merrill Ranken
Frances Rehwald
Leslie Resnick
Jean and Larry Shaw
Barry Sultanoff
Laura Williams
Kanara and Rick Woodford
Nancy Young
$100 – $249
David Aggerholm
Alaska Airlines
Michael Andrews-Schwind
Joanne Bachmann
Terry Barnes-Pirko
Marilyn and Glenn Bauer
Julia Benello
Sue Bremner
Barry Buchy
Puanani Burgess
Love Chance
Lee Cooper
Kelly Cressio-Moeller
Cece Derringer
Natasha Drucker
Daniel Fiege
Jim Finegan
Deborah Floyd
Claudia Gerbaulet Papazian
Dr. Darcel Gilbert
Janet and Jack Gillmar
Ellen Gozion
Peter Griffin
Mary E Tucker and John Grim
Sigrid Hackenberg
Kimberley Haines
Catharine Summerfield Hana and Chelsey H. Prince
Joy Harjo and Owen Sepulpa
Harris Hatcher
Paul Janes-Brown
Frederick Jones
Jordan Kandell
Francis Kim
Jeannie Kong Evarts
Valerie and Michael Lewis
Give Lively
Nancy Loving
Patricia Lynch and Kent Stephens
Leslie and Jon Maksik
Victoria Millard
Judy Mohr Peterson
Waltraut and Arthr Mori
Amy Muramatsu
Anatole Nagy
Judith and Skip Nielsen
Nathaniel Parr
Lovel and Boyd Pratt
Joyce Recker
Brooke Richert
Alex Sax
Ernest Saxton
Sheri Sherman Cohen
Sabine Smead and Ed Taylor
Cristina Solorio
Joan Stevens
Sarah Stratton
Lisa and Randall Underwood
Patricia Warner
Karen Winslow
Susan Yap
Elizabeth Yee
Melissa Zeiger
Up to $99
Leon Alirangues
Rachael Altman
Anne Andersen
Carol Barber
Carmen Barrett
Judith Bishop
Betsy Bowen
D. Joan Breiding
Karen and Rodney Bresciani
Linda Kay Buck
Caroline Casey
Barbara Catlin
Roxana and Jim Childers
Sean-Joseph Choo
Carol Fern Culhane
Lynn Curtis
Eva and Brian Daniells
Candace Davis
Tamara Descoryphees
Susan Dias
Jill Downing
Kimberly Dubsky
Eleanor Dudley
Marybeth Fentriss
Meredithe Gera
Timothy Goddard
Susan Griffin Barlow
Dustin Hackfeld
Beverly Hayashi
Kathryn Holt
Claudia Imperato
Janice Isaac
Lisa Julian Keniry
Mitchell Krasnopoler
Barbara Kreader Skalinder
Sachi Lane
Lenley Lewis
Sandy Linabury
Marie Lloyd
David Longacre
Jeanne Malmgren Melvin
Amey Miller
Sabine Miller
Pam and Bill Mueller
Jason Myers
Carla Nakata
Andrea Nandoskar
Cindy Putzier
Michael Redmond
Kay Reid
Patricia Rouse
Wisick and Saccoccio Family Fund
Diana Saltoon-Briggs
Deborah Sanborn
Signe and Chris Schaefer
David Schaff
Amy Schliftman
Carol Schwarz
Sheryl and Kirk Scott
Alessandra Shea
Dan Shepherd
Randi Simons
Bernice Sousa-Carden
Donald Spanel
Pete Spaulding
McKay Stangler
Jane Stout
Athena Red Summers
Cheryl Tomchin
Mark Turley
Leslie Turnbull
Jenny Twelvetrees
Melinda Walker
Lisa Walsh
Brad Wells
Helena and Rob Weltman
Emma White and Johan Smith
Rachel White
Gena Whitten
Terry Wiley
Cindy Williams
Helen Williams
Lynn Young
Larry Zimmerman
Stuart Zinnern
2024 Green Room Patrons
Tanya Alston, Dana Anderson, Richard Andrews, Suellen Barton, Robert Becker, Leah Bernstein, Dale & William Bordner, Elizabeth Boykin, Sandra Florence, Tim Garcia, Mary Anna Grimes, Mary Hattori, Li Hay, Jeanne Herbert, Vilsoni Hereniko, Gabby Holt, Donna Howard, Susan Kean, Susan Kowen, Paul Mancini, Janice Marsters, Mary McGowan, Michael Moore, Puakea Nogelmeier, Annette & Gary Ostrem, Judy Peterson, Merrill Ranken, Jean Shaw, Crystal Smythe, Sandra & Earl Stoner, Galyn Sussman & Dan Levin, Laura Williams, Nancy Young
2024 Stewards
These sustaining donors are part of our monthly giving program.
Gertrude Allen
Michael Andrews-Schwind
Joanne Bachmann
Suellen Barton
Marilyn and Glenn Bauer
Michael Bever
Sarah Brewster
Linda Buck
Puanani Burgess
Carolyn Casey
Barbara Catlin
Sean-Joseph Choo
Kelly Cressio-Moeller
Eva and Brian Daniells
Jill Downing
John Elmensdorp
Daniel Fiege
Deborah Floyd
Claudia Gerbaulet Papazian
Timothy Goddard
Ellen Gozion
Harris Hatcher
Vilsoni Hereniko
Frederick Jones
Jordan Kandell
Susan and Jac Kean
Francis Kim
Moranne and Jonathan Klassen
Mitchell Krasnopoler
Sachi Lane
Patricia Lynch and Kent Stephens
Jeanne Malmgren Melvin
Alice and Joe McDermott
Andrea Nandoskar
Judith and Skip Nielsen
Howard Norman
Nathaniel Parr
Judy Peterson
Michael Redmond
Daniel Shepherd
Sheri Sherman Cohen
McKay Stangler
Sarah Stratton
Barry Sultanoff
Libby Tomar
Cheryl Tomchin
Jennifer Twelvetrees
Lisa Walsh
Brad Wells
Rachel White
Karen Winslow
Kanara and Rick Woodford
Stuart Zinner
2023 Donors
$50,000+
Anonymous
The John and Kathleen Altman Foundation
True Family Fund
$25,000 – $49,999
Colleen Chartier and Richard Andrews
Michael Moore
Jana and Howard Wolff
$10,000 – $24,999
Robert Becker
Sarah and Tim Cavanaugh
Severine Fleming
Jeanne Herbert
Ruth Moser
Matthew C. Schwartz and Karen A. Levesque
Anne Swayne
$5,000 – $9,999
Carol Bauer
Suzanne and Don Carlos Dunaway
Susan E Rapp and Mark R Hamilton
Mary and Michael Lock
Nancy and Larry Mohr
Timothy Moore
Allison Sarofim
Patricia O. Smith
$2,500 – $4,999
Joan Meitl
Carolyn Woolley and James Pickrel
Sowing Sovereignity
$1,000 – $2,499
Tanya and Paul Alston
Suellen Barton
Robert Becker
Florence Foundation
Amelia Fusaro and Bill Everitt
Fairview Capital Investment Mgmt., LLC
Joan and David Grubin
Chris Hecht
Vilsoni Hereniko
Susan and Jac Kean
Dorian King
Liz and Doug Kinney
Mary Maxwell and David Keller
The Allen and Barbara Levesque Family
Janice Marsters
Andrew F. and Ann B. Mathieson Fund
Vicki and Peter Merriman
Patricia and Richard Missler
Howard Norman
Patricia Pickrel
Eva and William Price
Jocelyn Romero Demirbag
Meg and Sam Steere
Marsha Trimble
Whitsitt Family Fund at Seattle Foundation
$500 – $999
Pam Bello
Rena and Michael Bever
Sara Brewster
Daryl Fischer and Daniel Gleason
Cheyney Family Fund
Tricia and Christopher Higgins
Claudia Janiszewski
Charles Johnstone
Linda Lancione
Jaeok Lee
Arlynna and Michael Livingston
Amber Strong Makaiau
Mancini, Welch, and Geiger
Joan McBride
Judy McCorkle and Tom Reed
Alice and Joe McDermott
Vicki and Peter Merriman
Waltraut and Arthur Mori
Emily Naunheim
The Padosi Foundation
Walter Parsons
Steven Pickrel
Merrill Ranken
Frances Rehwald
John Romain at Bamboo Inn on Hana Bay
Emily Sernaker
Darlene and Bob Shadel
Robin and David Shambach
Sandra Stoner
Taketa ʻOhana Fund
Libby Tomar
$250 – $499
Vanessa Ah-Chuen
Linda Allen
Michael Andrews-Schwind
Marilyn and Glenn Bauer
Bendon Family Foundation
Genevieve Biggs
Keith Boi
Partridge Boswell
Brewster Sneeringer Family Giving Fund
Puanani Burgess
Victoria Caputo
Melinda Caroll
Cyrus Cassells
Margaret Chang
Dennis Clemmens
Glorianna Davenport
Deborah Floyd
Claudia Gerbaulet Papazian
Katie Gordon
Ellen Gozion
Fleur Green
Mary Anna Grimes
Ruth Gyuse
Harris Hatcher
Li Hay
Donna Howard
Jordan Kandell
Kelly Advisors
Teresa Vast and Michael Kieran
James Killett
Elaine and Robert Lang Foundation
Takako Lento
Daniel Levin
Patricia Lynch and Kent Stephens
Leslie and Jon Maksik
Kamala Masters and Steve Armstrong
Jeanette McKinley
Carol Moldaw
William Neil
Judith and Daniel Nystrom
Susan O’Brien
Geoff Plant
Hazel and Stephen Roos
Mary and Steve Ruley
Bob Scales
Jean and Larry Shaw
John Siamis
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Smith
Crystal Smythe
Jill Spalding
Lady Cathy St. Germans
Molly Taylor
Maureen Van Denburgh
Kathryn and Tom Whittaker
Karen Winslow
Elizabeth Yea
$100 – $249
David Aggerholm
Gini Alhadeff
Janet and George Allan
Gertrude Allen
Lisa Anderson
Thomas Anderson
Christine Andrews
Joanne Bachmann
Diane Bell
Sara Bews
John Blotzer
Susan Bradford
Susan Bradley
Jillian Bremner
Sue Bremner
Pamela Brennan
Bennett Brooks
Suzette Bross
Barry Buchy
Linda Kay Buck
Chuck Carletta
Robert Carrere
Sean-Joseph Choo
Alex Clapp
Clemency Coggins
Margaret and William Coggins
Kelly Cressio-Moeller
Justin Den Herder
Martin Diamond
Carolyn Dille
Jill Downing
Natasha Drucker
John Elmensdorp
Ms. Jaune Evans
Cynthia and Adam Fasano
Sophia Faskianos
Anne Fenton
Daniel Fiege
Susan Tracy Flanagan
Carolyn and Robert Florek
Daniel Flores
Suzanne Frayser
Pamela Frierson
Forrest Gander
J. Ruth Gendler
Janet and Jack Gilmar
Timothy Goddard
Ashley Gray
Mary E Tucker and John Grim
Richard Gross
Kate Growney
Kimberley Haines
Haleakala Waldorf School
Kitty Harmon
Janet Harvey-Clark
Ira Heilveil
Carol Hiniker
Jane Hirshfield
Beverly Hogue
Barbara Holmes and Tony Freedley
Gabby Holt
James Houlahan
Grant Howe
Donna James
Trebbe Johnson
Frederick Jones
Peter Kafka
Christoph Keller
Julie and Peter Kelly-Detwiler
Mickie Kennedy
Stephen Kessler
Francis Kim
Moranne and Jonathan Klassen
Mary Jane Knecht
Peter Koehler
Benjamin Kuipers
Sachi Lane
Valeria and Michael Lewis
Marie Lloyd
Christa and George Lordi
Janet Lowry
Marion Lyman-Mersereau
Jean Mabry
Jeanne Malmgren Melvin
Rita Marlowe
Sarah Martins
Anne and Ray Matasci
Darca Lee Nicholson and Jonathan Middlebrook
Michael Miller
J. Glenn Mills
Ceseli Milstein
Mark Musto
Jason Myers
Gail Nagasako
Beth and Dick Nesbitt
Judith and Skip Nielsen
Iris Park
Nathaniel Parr
Virginia Pflueger
Marcus Pollock
Meredith Pond
Lovel and Boyd Pratt
Dorothy and Jarold Ramsey
Michael Redmond
Leslie Resnick
Heidi Rian
Gordon Roberts
Miranda Romano
Rosalime Productions
Ernest Saxton
Chenta Laury and Stefan Schaefer
Peter Shaindlin
Patricia Sheen Revocable Living Trust
Sherrill Sheehan
Sheri Sherman Cohen
Douglas Smith
Rob Smith
Laurie Sperling
McKay Stangler
Barry Stevens
Sarah Stratton
Margaret Stumpp
Richard Thompson
J. Kevin Tighe and Rebecca Fletcher
Cheryl Tomchin
Wyatt and Roderick Townley
Lili Townsend
Patricia Tummons
Nina Ungerleider
Heidi Van Horn
Raquel Velasquez
Augusta Vesecky
Ms. Robin Wallin
Lisa Walsh
Amy Weber
Barret Swatek and Adam Weiss
Brad Wells
Rachel White
Sylvia Wolf and Duane Schuler
Kanara and Rick Woodford
Susan Wurtzburg
Melissa Zeiger
Foundational Support
These donors made a seed gift of $10,000 or more at the founding of the Conservancy.
Anonymous (2)
Margaret & Robert Ayres
Helen Bing
Lloyd & Margit Cotsen
Peter Hagedorn & Miriam Trahan
Charles Engelhard Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Dan Gerber
Doug & Liz Kinney
William and Eileen Kay Kistler
William Merwin
Paula Merwin
Stanley Moss
Susan and Roy O’Connor
Patricia O. Smith
Diana & Steven Strandberg
Merwin Legacy Circle
Planned Giving, Estate Gifts and Bequests
Anonymous (2)
Ellen Gozion
Paula and William Merwin
Ruth Merwin Moser
Eric Paddock
Grace Schulman
Barry Sultanoff
J. Kevin Tighe and Rebecca Fletcher
Grove Giving Circle
Through a gift of $15,000 or more, these donors together planted a memorial grove of palms to remember William and Paula Merwin.
Anonymous
Colleen Chartier and Richard Andrews
Robert Becker
Carolee Campbell and Hector Elizondo
Sarah and Tim Cavanaugh
Susan Cooper Cronyn
Sacharuna Foundation
Donovan Family Fund
Suzanne and Don Carlos Dunaway
Jan Elliott
Elizabeth Ellrodt and Scott Schweighauser
Florence Foundation
Karin Frost
Jeanne Herbert
The Janie and Mark Davis Charitable Fund
Randall K C Kau and Elizabeth M. Olmsted
Susan and Jac Kean
Arlynna and Michael Livingston
Mary and Michael Lock
Michael Moore
Ruth Moser
Charles Engelhard Foundation
James Pickrel and Carolyn Woolley
Matthew C. Schwartz and Karen A. Levesque
Pauline and Bill Sheldon
Joanne Holmes Shigekane Fund
Lydia Shigekane
Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse and David Shook
Patricia O. Smith
Keith and Judy Swayne Fund
William True
Jonathan and Jane Wells
Jana and Howard Wolff
