Hawaii is full of fallow areas that were once pristine, unique ecosystems. Those areas are waiting to be restored now. While working with the State of Hawaii’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, I helped initiate the Kahikinui and Nākūla Forest Carbon projects—among the first large-scale native forest restoration efforts designed with carbon finance in mind. Operating within real-world regulatory, ecological, and political constraints gave me rare insight into what it actually takes to move a public-sector forest carbon project from concept toward market credibility.

While working for the State of Hawaiʻi, I helped originate a private-sector investment opportunity aligned with public conservation priorities. Knowing that Coca-Cola North America would be speaking at a mainland conference, I proactively prepared tailored materials and a clear value proposition linking watershed protection to business risk management and water security. Following an initial conversation and several follow-up discussions, this led to Coca-Cola partnering with Hawaiʻi DLNR to fund watershed conservation projects upstream of its Honolulu bottling facility. The collaboration ultimately resulted in a multi-year, six-figure investment to protect and restore critical forest watersheds, demonstrating how well-structured nature-based opportunities can align corporate sustainability goals with measurable ecological outcomes.

Having worked across local forestry operations and legislative processes in Hawaii, European policy and innovation programs, and emerging nature finance markets, we bring a rare “full-stack” perspective. Our insights are shaped not by theory, but by hands-on experience with forests, auditors, ministries, and investors—making our voice credible to both practitioners and capital allocators.