Since its launch in 1970, the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Board of Directors, Event Chairs and community volunteers have worked to preserve, perpetuate and promote Kona’s unique nearly 200-year old coffee heritage and culture behind Kona’s world-famous cup of brew.

Norman Sakata 

Chairman of the Board 

46 Years of Service

This third-generation Kona coffee farmer has worked diligently for forty-six years building the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival into the successful event it is today.

Valerie Corcoran 

Festival President 

33 Years of Service

Valerie’s involvement with the Festival started thirty-three years ago when she served on the Farm Fair committee.

Rick Robinson

First Vice President 

36 Years of Service

Rick serves as Chairman of the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District and has been a Festival Board of Director for thirty-six years.

Tsukasa Kobayashi

Second Vice President 

2 Years of Service

Tsukasa is General Manager of Ueshima Coffee (UCC Hawaii) farm, and received his BE and ME Degree from Hokkaido University in 2012 and 2014.

Linda Nagai

Third Vice President 

15 Years of Service

Linda grew up in Kona and has been working in the travel industry for over 30 years. She has been an active Festival board member for fifteen years.

Ally Brown

Fourth Vice President 

3 Years of Service

Newly appointment Fourth Vice President and Festival Event Director, Ally is also Executive Director of the Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Competition and owns & operates an accounting consulting & wedding & event planning business. This is her third year of service and fourth year with Miss Kona Coffee.

Jean Kadooka 

Secretary 

43 Years of Service

Born and raised on a coffee farm in South Kona, Jean has volunteered as Festival secretary for forty-three years.

John W. Rocha

Treasurer 

7 Years of Service

Born and raised in Hilo, John graduated from Hilo High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting Degree. This is his seventh year of service.

Malia Bolton Hind 

17 Years of Service

Malia is the Director of Operations of Kona Coffee & Tea Company. She has served as a Festival Board of Director for seventeen years.

Matt Carter 

2 Years of Service

Matt is a retired teacher (1989-2018), part-time musician, farmer, and currently manages Greenwell Farms Tour and Retail Store Operations. This is his second year of service after a few years’ pause.

Claudia Chang 

7 Years of Service

Claudia works with the State of Hawaii and has served on the Festival Board of Directors for seven years. She is also an active member of the Kona Hiroshima Kenjin Kai.

Ceri Copeland 

4 Years of Service

Born and raised in Hilo, Ceri is currently a realtor and used to be a substitute teacher for fifteen years here in Kona. She is also an active member of the Kona Lions Club. This is her fourth year of service.

Janne Fujimoto 

4 Years of Service

The daughter of late Fred and Midori Fujimoto, Janne has served as past director of the pageant and assisted the Festival’s Button Committee. This is her fourth year of serving on the board.

Kuni Goto 

11 Years of Service

Kuni, producer of the Festival’s Aloha Makahiki Concert, draws noted Hawaiian musicians to the event along with his esteemed wife and kumu hula Mika Keale-Goto. He has served on the Festival board for eleven years.

Nathan Kurashige 

14 Years of Service

A multi-generational Kona coffee farmer, Nathan is active with the Kona Young Farmers. He has been serving on the Festival for fourteen years.

Yukio Muramatsu 

9 Years of Service

Yukio moved from Japan to Kona in 2010 and put every effort into learning about farming. He and his wife own and operate a Kona coffee farm in Holualoa. He has served on the Festival Board of Directors for 9 years.

Hideki Miki 

8 Years of Service

Hideki heads the UCC Ueshima Coffee Company retail at the UCC farm in Holualoa. He studied at Kobe Gakuin University and now makes Kailua-Kona his home. He has served on the Festival board for eight years.

Helen Nagata 

6 Years of Service

Helen was born and grew up in Kona, attended Konawaena Elementary, Intermediate and High School and East Los Angeles Community College. She recently retired from a successful career with First Hawaiian Bank. This is her sixth year of service.

Michelle Sakata-Johnson

4 Years of Service

Michelle is a 4th generation Japanese coffee farmer, crowned as the 1977 Kona Coffee Festival Queen. Michelle is currently restoring her family coffee-land-house that has been in her family for over 100 years. This is her fourth year of service