Candidates and Incumbents

JACKIE MILD LAU
RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT (One-year term)

After first being elected in 2014 and serving three consecutive years in office, Jackie returned after a break and is continuing for one more year of service as Temple President.  She is a familiar face at Temple Emanu-El's School of Jewish Studies, where she has taught art enrichment and "visual culture" to students since her own children Alena and Leah were in attendance. Jackie is a practicing artist, specializing in sculpture. She is an active member and past president of Hawaii Craftsmen, helped found the new, Glass Fusion Collective and continues to teach bronze casting and sculpture at her small foundry and workshop in Kaneohe. Examples of her collaborations with students can be seen on the walls of the Weinberg Learning Center, Prince David Kawananakoa Middle School Cafeteria and Roosevelt High School. Samples of her sculptures can be seen at www.sculptureoutofhand.com.
 

JUSTIN LEVINSON 
RUNNING FOR 1^st VICE PRESIDENT (One-year term)

Justin D. Levinson, who has served on the board for the last four years, is a Professor of Law and Director of the Culture and Jury Project at the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law.  His primary areas of expertise are legal decision-making, juries, and corporate law.  His most recent work has focused on the role of automatic (unconscious) biases in law and society.  He is lead editor of Implicit Racial Bias Across the Law, a book published by Cambridge University Press in 2012, and has authored or co-authored over a dozen law review articles.  He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, UCLA, and Harvard University. 

Justin’s family has always been active in the Temple Emanu-El community.  His grandfather, Bernard Levinson, was President of the Temple throughout the 1950’s, and his grandmother, Carlyn Levinson, served as President and was active in the Temple Sisterhood. 

His father, Peter Levinson, became a Bar Mitzvah at the Temple, later served as a member of the Board, and has been a continuous member of the Temple since the day in which he was first eligible to join as an adult (over 50 years ago!).  Justin’s wife, Galit, has been a teacher in the School of Jewish Studies (SJS) and Justin and Galit have two daughters.  Justin is serving on the Board because he believes that the Temple serves as a pillar of Hawaii’s Jewish Community, and he is committed to expanding Temple membership through new programs and outreach. 

JOSH LEVINSON
RUNNING FOR 2^nd VICE PRESIDENT (One-year term)

Josh Levinson first joined the Temple Emanu-El board in 2019. Josh grew up in Kāneʻohe and Mānoa and spent a significant portion of his childhood at Temple Emanu-El where he became a bar mitzvah and was confirmed.  Josh's two kids are 4th generation members of Temple Emanu-El, following in the footsteps of their parents (Josh's wife, Elila, also grew up at Temple Emanu-El), grandparents, and Great-Great Aunt and Uncle, Carlyn and Bernard Levinson.

Josh has extensive professional experience working with boards as part of his consulting practice, providing partnership and support for communities, organizations and institutions addressing the collective health and wellbeing of the people and islands of Hawai‘i. As a principal of Islander Institute, and its predecessor 3Point Consulting, Josh has been a planner and advisor to many community-based organizations in Hawaiʻi.

Josh is a graduate of Duke University and holds a Master's degree in Folklore from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He lives in Kailua with his wife, son, daughter, and persnickety cat.
 

DAN TABORI 
RUNNING FOR TREASURER  (One-year term)

SCOTT PAUL 
RUNNING FOR SECRETARY (One-year term)
RUNNING FOR NOMINATING COMMITTEE (Two-year term)

Scott Paul is the President & CEO of Kleenco Group and its subsidiary companies: Kleenco Corporation, Kleenco Maintenance Company, and Tile & Grout Solutions, LLC.  He joined Kleenco Group in December 2012 after leading the acquisition of the then 42-year-old kama`aina company.  Scott’s goal is to raise the level of professionalism, accountability and service to set a new standard for Hawaii’s building maintenance industry.

Prior to acquiring Kleenco, Scott was President & CEO of Hoku Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed solar company based in Hawaii and majority-owned by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.  Scott first joined Hoku in 2003 as its VP Business Development & General Counsel.  In 2008, Scott was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and in April 2010 became Chief Executive Officer and joined Hoku’s Board of Directors.  Scott resigned as Hoku’s CEO in June 2012, but continued to serve on its board of directors as Chairman of the restructuring committee until Hoku filed for bankruptcy in July 2013.

Before joining Hoku, Scott was a corporate attorney and business development professional in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1998 until July 2003.  Immediately prior to joining Hoku, Scott worked as Director of Business Development and Associate General Counsel at Read-Rite Corporation, a publicly-traded multi-national company that was acquired by Western Digital Corporation in 2003. Previously, Scott worked as an attorney at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, and Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May (now Reed Smith), law firms, where he represented high tech emerging growth and large-cap public companies, and their investors and underwriters, on financing and acquisition transactions.Scott earned his JD cum laude from Santa Clara Law School in 1998 and his BA in psychology from University of California, Los Angeles, in 1995.  He served as director on the board of the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu for 3 years, and is currently director on the board of the Hawaii Chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization.  Scott is married to Malia Oshima Paul, who is deputy chief of staff for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz.  Scott & Malia’s two children, Kainoa (16) and Mehana (15), attended Gan Yerushalayim and have graduated from SJS as b'nai  mitzvah.
 

KATHY KRAMMER 
RUNNING FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE (Two-year term)

Kathy Krammer is a retired medical speech-language-swallowing pathologist, registered nurse and college public speaking instructor. She was raised in a humanistic movement reform Jewish congregation where families were active in community volunteering. Her family was involved in literacy tutoring and assisting victims during the explosive civil rights riots. She has continued to be involved in her community through volunteer training literacy tutors, developing communication programs for Muscular Dystrophy Association, docent education at the Honolulu Zoo, president of townhouse and condominium associations and past president of the Hawaii Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She is presently active as co- liaison docent at the Honolulu Museum of Art and is working with its wounded warriors program.

Kathy worked as an intensive care, emergency and neuroscience nurse while attending University of Hawaii for B.S. and M.S degrees in speech pathology and audiology. She did post graduate study in small business administration, teaching ESL and teaching literacy. She created the first hospital based, home care and outpatient and continuum of care models for speech-language-swallowing pathology in Hawaii at most hospitals on Oahu. She developed and managed these programs and rehabilitation staffs. In addition, she created and taught a neuroscience course at the University of Hawaii Communication Disorders Department. She also oversaw graduate students for clinical practicum experience. In addition to program and staff development, her clinical expertise is in the areas of swallowing disorders, geriatrics and dementia management, head and neck cancer and progressive neurological diseases. She has been recognized both locally and through her national association for her work. She also recently retired from teaching public and interpersonal communication through Honolulu Community College, Hickam campus, where she developed accelerated educational programs for that course.

Kathy is presently Chair of the Jewish Film Festival. As part of the Sisterhood Council, she is responsible for Meal of Consolation, and new member mentoring.  She is also assisting members with medical advocacy, advice and support, an evolving health education and future hospital visitation program. She has documented the procedures and policies for Meals of Consolation, special event greeters and the film committee and will continue that work for other Sisterhood functions.  Kathy has been active on the temple executive board and board of directors as recording secretary since 2017.  She is also working with the Temple Caring and Re-Opening Committee since the onset of Covid.

Kathy and her husband, Randy Jensen, a retired U.S. Army colonel and retired from Tripler Medical Center Department of Psychiatry, have enjoyed and embraced being part of the Temple.

CRIS BORDEN 
RUNNING FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE (Two-year term)

Cris Borden is the Chief Investment Officer of SFG Retirement Plan Consulting, LLC (“SFGRPC”) and founder and director of Kobo Wealth Conservancy, LLC (“Kobo”), which he started in May 2007.  Kobo is a Registered Investment Advisory firm with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to starting Kobo, Cris was the lead tax-exempt bond portfolio manager at Bishop Street Capital Management, a subsidiary of First Hawaiian Bank (“Bishop Street”), from November 2000 to May 2007.  At Bishop Street, Cris was responsible for portfolio management and trading of approximately $450 million in tax-exempt assets.  Under Cris's management, the Bishop Street Hawaii Municipal Bond Fund received the Lipper award for highest total return in its class for 2001, 2002, and 2004 and maintained a four and five star Morningstar rating during his tenure. Cris spent much of his time advising private banking clientele on cash management, constructing bond portfolios to minimize tax liabilities, and other investment matters. He previously worked as an analyst with The Rendon Group in Washington D.C. from 1997 to 2000 and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua from 1995 to 1996.  Cris was selected as one of the top forty professionals under 40 in Hawaii for 2010. He is on the Board of Directors’ Investment Subcommittee for the Kāhala Nui Senior Living Community, and Treasurer and board member for Hoʻokuaʻāina.

Cris holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from American University in Washington, D.C. which he received in 2000, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder, which he received in 1995.

JOSHUA WISCH  
RUNNING FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE (Two-year term)

Joshua Wisch is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i. Josh has almost two decades of s-sector professional experience in Hawai‘i. He served as a private sector litigator, District Director for a member of Congress, Deputy Director for a Hawai‘i state agency, manager of multiple political campaigns in Hawai‘i, and as a member of the leadership team for the State Attorney General when Hawai‘i sued the federal government to overturn the discriminatory Muslim ban.  Josh serves on the advisory board for the Sex Abuse Treatment Center of Hawai‘i, is a member of the Omidyar Fellows Program, and is a frequent public speaker. Josh earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from Carnegie Mellon University, his master’s degrees with honors from the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, and graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, during which time he had the privilege of working for Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink, one of the main authors of Title IX. Josh lives on Oahu with his wife, Malia.
 

TODD DEVERE  
RUNNING FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE (Two-year term)

Todd is chief of neurology at Kaiser Permanente, where he has worked since moving to Honolulu in 2010. Along with clinical responsibilities, he also maintains leadership roles including director of the Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center stroke program, director of the Kaiser Permanente ALS clinic, and vice chair of the Hawaii Stroke Coalition.  He is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Medicine at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine and is involved in teaching medical students and internal medicine residents.  He also serves on the board of directors for the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group.

Todd grew up in Houston, Texas,  received his Bachelor's degree from Duke University , then attended Baylor College of Medicine, where he met and married his wife Theresa.  Todd then completed his neurology training at Washington University in St. Louis then worked in Portland, OR as a neurologist in a private practice before moving to Honolulu in 2010.  

Todd, Theresa and their 3 children Chloe, Jaden, and Tyler have been members of Temple Emanu-El for the past 10 years where all 3 children had their b’nai mitzvah.  Todd previously served as Co-chair of the SJS Education Committee and has been a Member-At-Large on the board since 2017.