Board of Directors

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Lynch

Rev. Dr. Cynthia E. Lynch

President

Reverend, Dr. Cynthia E. Lynch is an associate professor and Chair of the Master of Public Administration program at Hawaii Pacific University. She received her Ph.D. from Southern University and A & M College, Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs in 2003, specializing in ethics on nonprofit organization. She is a graduate … Read More

Rev. David Jackson, TIAH

Rev. David Jackson

1st Vice President

The Rev. David Jackson, or known as “Kahu Kawika,” was the Rector & Head of School of All Saints’ Episcopal Church & Preschool in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, since February 2020. He has just relocated to Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island into semi-retirement to work part-time and to take care of his in-home father-in-law. Kahu Kawika is … Read More

Paul Gracie, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii

Paul Gracie, PhD

Past President

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and after high school, I moved to Minnesota for college. I did a bachelor’s degree in classical Japanese at the University of Minnesota, which included one year living in Kyoto. I then moved to Honolulu in the spring of 1978 for work and later that year I … Read More

Thomas Lynch, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii

Rev. Dr. Thomas Lynch

Board Member

Dr. Lynch is Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University (LSU), and presenting teaching for Hawaii Pacific University in its Masters in Public Administration program. He began his teaching career at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University and has also taught full time at Mississippi State University, Florida International University, and Florida Atlantic University. He received his MPA … Read More

Keola Akana

Board Member

Keola was born and raised on Oahu & summers on Kauai with his extended ohana. He did his BA at Washington State University and furthered his education at UH Manoa. He spent the summer after his sophomore year in Latin America. This was the highlight of his college learning experience. He worked as a college … Read More

Rev. Masunari Yamagishi, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii

Rev. Masunari Yamagishi

Board Member

ALOHA! Nice to meet you. I am Reverend Masanari Yamagishi, a minister of Jodo Shinshu, Shin Buddhism in Big Island, Hawaii. I am from Japan and moved to the U.S. for my job in 2018. I was born and raised in the Shin Buddhism temple in the prefecture Toyama. At the age of 18, I received a … Read More