West Sacramento, Calif. — Nalani Fujimori Kaina was elected president of Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s (RCAC) Board of Directors. She has served on the board since 2010 and previously was the vice president.
The board also elected the following new officers: Richard Elías, of New Mexico is now the vice-president; Joe Herring, of Idaho is acting board secretary; and Marty Miller, of Washington is treasurer.
Ms. Kaina is the executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Hawaii’s oldest and largest statewide nonprofit organization providing free civil legal services to the poor. Ms. Fujimori Kaina joined Legal Aid in 1999 as a staff attorney on the island of Moloka`i. She is a commissioner on the Access to Justice Commission, a past president and current director of Hawaii Women Lawyers, a member of the ACLU of Hawaii’s Litigation Committee, and the chair of the Hawaii State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Previously, she sat on the boards of the Maui County Bar Association, Molokai Occupational Center and Hale Ho´okipa, an outpatient substance abuse treatment center on Molokai.
RCAC board members serve three-year terms and may remain on the board for up to four consecutive terms. Ms. Kaina replaces outgoing board president David É Provost, who completed 12 years on the RCAC board in November 2018.
Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and western Pacific islands. Services are available to communities with populations of fewer than 50,000, other nonprofit groups, Tribal organizations, farmworkers, colonias and other specific populations. RCAC staff provides direct services in collaboration with local and community partnerships in three program areas: affordable housing, environmental services, and lending. To learn more about RCAC, visit http://www.rcac.org
Media contact:
Julia Helmreich, director
Communications, Development & Events
(916) 447-9832 ext.
jhelmreich@rcac.org
