I'd gotten to know Andrea pretty well as a fellow Fellow with the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies over the past 21 months. Andrea was hosting all of the Fellows on the Big Island of Hawaii for the last of our immersions together, and it turned out to be a special and amazing time. 

Andrea works tirelessly with others to help localize the food system in North Kohala and her efforts have resulted in some pretty cool projects and changes within their community. She is a catalyst of bringning people together to share and collaborate as they work towards their community goal of producing 50% of their food locally by 2018. On top of being a great community convener, Andrea is also a talented writer and performer and uses her art to help create a more beautiful and sustainable world. She also stewards a 5-acre property near the town of Hawi that is home to a taro farm cooperative, fruit trees, farm animals, a wide variety of plants and trees, and an off-grid bed and breakfast!  

I wanted to recognize Andrea for her generosity in terms of sharing her community and network in North Kohala. She introduced us to her community of friends, spiritual leaders, local families, elders, businesses, places and professors and in doing so, helped create a magical experience that taught us all about the spirit of aloha. I also wanted to recognize her sense of spirituality that infused the fellowship by inspiring people and reminding us of its importance and practice.

Andrea is the kind of person that improves a community by being in it and contributing to it whole heartedly. Good things happen when she is around and she brings that out in others as well, so I'm excited to see what she and the good people of North Kohala will do together in the years to come. Aloha and stay awesome Andrea!