Rafael is passionate about the opportunities ahead of us to recreate a more sustainable world. He grew up with a family deeply connected to a sense of responsibility for protecting the natural world. Some of his earliest inspirations were weekends with his parents wandering the banks of the American River in Sacramento, CA where he would have the opportunity to interact with wildlife, ecological systems, and rattle snakes. Rafael is a graduate of University of Hawai‘i's Natural Resources and Environmental Management Masters of Science Program and served as the O‘ahu Chapter Coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation for 5 years before becoming the Executive Director of Sustainable Coastlines Hawai‘i in 2019. Rafael completed his BA in Communications with minors in Political Science and History at the University of California San Diego. He has also served as a Team Leader for the Hawaiian Youth Conservation Corps, founded the civic engagement workshop "Civics is Sexy", and has served on multiple plastic waste reduction committees at the State and County level. These collective experiences inspire his love for Hawai‘i, its people, its natural beauty.

Rafael is also an avid photographer, aspiring writer, and former professional baseball player (a pitcher in the Atlantic League and Israel Baseball League). His favorite things are a morning bodysurf at Makapu‘u, a wander on a jungle stream with his fiancé, or finding the time to read an inspiring book on a beach anywhere. Rafael continues to be inspired by the concepts of pilina, reciprocity, and knowing that we are perfectly imperfect.

Monica McLenigan started off with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi back in 2017 as an intern and moved into a core volunteer role. Now, she is the Communications Manager and oversees media relationships, social channels, content creation, and marketing materials. After graduating from the North Carolina State College of Natural Resources with a degree in Ecosystem Assessment and concentration in marine and coastal resources, Monica relocated to Oʻahu to pursue work in the sustainability industry. In her free time, Monica enjoys any activity that will get her outdoors, time with friends and family, yoga, and dancing. In fact, she may even bust a move at an SCH cleanup if you play one of her favorite songs.

Paul’s love story with Hawaii began in 2018, when the silhouette of O’ahu appeared on the horizon after a 6-month expedition in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paul and a crew of adventurers departed from Japan 165 days earlier to escort his uncle, long-distance swimmer Ben Lecomte, while completing the first trans-pacific dataset on plastic pollution. As they witnessed first-hand the destructive impact of our throwaway culture on the ocean and its wildlife, they engaged over 8 million people through the web-series and feature film, The Swim. After a second adventure through the North Pacific plastic vortex and an education tour around the world, he has arrived back to the island and the SCH’Ohana he fell in love with, determined to activate our collective power and reconnect our community with our lands and oceans.

Hideki Kimukai has been a core volunteer for Sustainable Coastlines Hawai'i since he joined in 2013. He has coordinated and completed dozens of international collaborative beach cleanups on O’ahu. He joined Sustainable Coastlines Hawai'i Education and Outreach team in 2018. Not only has he successfully educated local audiences, he has also excelled in outreach and education to international students, including Japan, Australia, and European countries. Hideki was born in Japan and lived in Japan until he began high school studies abroad in the US continent. He holds a B.S. degree in Secondary Education and holds a M.S. degree in Computer Information System from Florida Institute of Technology.

Shaina Duran is the Action Coordinator at Sustainable Coastlines Hawai’i. This coordinator position relates to the Cleanups and Restoration Events Program, which includes Event Planning, Volunteer Coordination, and Office Operations. Shaina was born and raised on the West Side of O'ahu, in Mākaha. She attended Northern Arizona University where she got her B.S. in Environmental Science with an Emphasis in Management. In her free time, she enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee, reading, spending time with her friends and family, and freediving for shells.

Jasmine Buerano, known to many as Jazzy, is an internationally grown storyteller. She grew up for most of her life in Hawai’i, splitting her time between Nu’uanu, O’ahu, and Waimea on Hawai’i Island, and lived in other places like Guam, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines. She began her journey with non-profit work at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California through a student-run Surfrider Club Chapter where she served as the Director of Media. After graduating with a BA in Communication Studies and a concentration in Environmental Studies in 2021, Jazzy moved home to Hawai’i, working in Hilo as a photographer and social media manager for a global lab that seeks to create innovative solutions for communities who need them most. Now, as the Inspiration Coordinator at SCH, she manages SCH social media platforms and is a community outreach specialist. When she isn’t taking photos or writing, Jazzy enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and friends, singing, and cooking for others.

Caitlyn McCall is a coffee-lover and senior at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa pursuing a B.A. in Sustainability. Her time with SCH started in March 2020 as an education intern. In November of 2021, she joined SCHtaff as an administrative assistant and education specialist. She coordinates and leads education events. Caitlyn specializes in upcycling micro-plastic workshops with keiki to teach them about plastic pollution and creative solutions. On her days off, she enjoys thrifting, skating around town, making fruity drinks, freediving, and hiking on the east side. Before her time with SCH, Caitlyn had six years of volunteer experience with the non-profit organization, National Charity League Inc. She served as the Vice President of Programs, Vice President of Philanthropies, and Board Member of the philanthropy Main Street Attraction. Main Street Attraction is a second-hand retail store that inspired Caitlyn to pursue an interest in sustainable fashion. Her environmental sciences background began at the Program of Environmental Science and Sustainability National Student Leadership Conference hosted at the University of Washington in 2017. She continued her education at the University of Oregon, where she was an Eco-Representative for freshman dorms, resided in the Environmental Leaders Living Community, and a sustainability center volunteer. Caitlyn presented collaborative research at the University of Oregon's 2018 Undergraduate Research Symposium on the Externalities of Fast Fashion.