Our Board

The 11-member Board of Directors of the Agribusiness Development Corporation consists of one representative from each of the counties of Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai and Maui; four at-large members; the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture (or chair’s designee); Chairperson of the Department of Land & Natural Resources (or chair’s designee); and the Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (or chair’s designee).

Lyle Tabata, Chairperson
ADC Board Position: County of Kauai Member
Mr. Lyle Tabata is currently employed by the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation Highways KWY-K as a maintenance engineer. He has worked at QRSE, LLC and is an RME with B&T Contractors. He was assigned to Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART) East Construction Engineering and Inspection (CE&I), City Center Utility Relocation (CCUR) as Deputy Resident Engineer CE&I CCUR, on Oʻahu for little over a year.

Tabata is a seasoned manager and field engineer with 10 years as the appointed Deputy and Acting County Engineer of Public Works for the County of Kauaʻi. For 23 years, he worked in the Hawaiʻi sugar industry to become Vice President of Amfac Sugar Kauaʻi, manager of Lihue Plantation Company, Ltd., Kekaha Sugar Co., and Kauaʻi Sugar Storage Company, Ltd., in charge of operations, maintenance, engineering, safety, environmental compliance, and personnel. 

Tabata is a graduate of Waipahu High School and received his BS in mechanical engineering technology from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, and MBA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He has served on the Hawaiʻi Pacific Health board, the Kauaʻi Department of Water board, King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School Community Council, the Kauaʻi Economic Development Board, the Mayor’s Solid Waste Task Force, and presently serves on the Agribusiness Development Corporation board, the Wilcox Hospital board, Get Fit Kauaʻi Built Environment & Safe Routes to School Task Force, and the Aloha Council Boy Scouts of America board and as a scoutmaster of Troop 148 on Kauaʻi.

Jason Okuhama, Vice Chairperson
ADC Board Position: At-Large Member
Mr. Okuhama is the Managing Partner of Commercial and Business Lending, a commercial loan broker company established in 2000. The company specializes in USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Rural Development, and U.S. Small Business Administration loan programs, and commercial real estate financing. The regions that Mr. Okuhama covers include Hawaii, South and Western Pacific, and the continental US, and he possesses 43 years of banking and commercial lending experience. Prior to establishing his company, he was Vice President with Bank of America and was responsible for the Bank’s government assisted business lending programs in Hawaii and Pacific Territories.

Before joining Bank of America, Mr. Okuhama served as Business Loan Officer with DBEDT’s Business Service’s Division and worked for First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii National Bank and International Savings. Over the years, Mr. Okuhama has volunteered his time and is currently the Board President of the non-profit Hawaii Alliance for Community-Based, Economic Development. And he was previously a Board of Director on the Hawaii Community Development Authority; Board of Director on the Aloha Tower Development Corporation; Board President of his Residential Condo Association, and Treasurer of his Commercial Condo Association.

Jesse Cooke
ADC Board Position: City & County of Honolulu Member
Jesse Cooke, a St. Louis School graduate with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory University and an MBA from Georgia State University, brings a wealth of financial and strategic expertise to ADC. His career includes roles at Hawaiian Airlines, The Walt Disney Company, Harren Equity Partners, and the Wachovia Leveraged Finance Group. As a CFA® charter holder, Jesse combines his analytical skills with a deep commitment to community and agricultural partnerships. His work at Ulupono Initiative involves cultivating relationships with farmers and ranchers, ensuring that support provided is impactful and sustainable. Appointed as the Honolulu representative on May 1, Jesse offers crucial guidance on agricultural strategy and local food production sustainability.

Nathan Trump
ADC Board Position: County of Hawaii Member
Nathan Trump is the General Manager of Island Harvest, a family-operated organic farm in Kohala on Hawai‘i Island and graduated from Kohala High School.  He oversees the cultivation of 500 acres of organic certified macadamia nuts and the production of a retail line of packaged macadamia nut products. In addition to macadamia nuts, the farm has recently established small orchards of limes and breadfruit. Prior to returning to Hawai‘i to operate the family farm, Nathan began his career in agriculture as a Management Associate with Cargill Animal Nutrition in Kansas City, KS after graduating from Wheaton College (Il.) in 2014 with a degree in International Relations. Nathan is a dedicated leader in Hawaii’s agricultural community, serving as President of the Hawai‘i Macadamia Nut Association and on the board of the Synergistic Hawai‘i Agriculture Council. He also serves the Kohala community as President of the North Kohala Community Resource Center.

Dean Okimoto
ADC Board Position: ADC At-Large Board Member
Dean Okimoto graduated from ‘Iolani High School in Honolulu, HI in 1972 then continued his education at University of Redlands, in Redlands, CA earning a B.A. in Political Science.

He came back to the family farm and in 1983 became Chairman and President of ‘Nalo Greens In 1986 after growing green onions, daikon, and American parsley as his father did, and started a hydroponic system to grow lettuces, the opportunity was seized to grow herbs such as basil, tarragon, thyme, and rosemary for the mainland winter market. In 1990, Dean met Roy Yamaguchi and started to grow a mix of baby greens and lettuces called ‘Nalo Greens, which with the help of chefs like Roy, made it on to many restaurant menus. At it’s peak they serviced over 100 restaurants on Oahu. In 2018 they experienced 4 devastating storms during the year, and had no choice but to shut down ‘Nalo Farms. In 2024, Dean formed a partnership with Jason Brand of Kunia Country Farms, to rename the farm ‘Nalo Farms, LLC.  Currently he is building this business to replace much of the imported lettuces into Hawaii. His intent is to grow, at least 2.5 million pounds of lettuce and 2.5 million pounds of fish. All is aimed at reducing imports. The fish will be processed into fish sticks for the DOE schools and also compete with imported fish sticks in the supermarket venues.

Jayson Watts
ADC Board Position: County of Maui Member
Mr. Watts currently sits on boards of the Maui County Farm Bureau and the Hawaii Food Industry Association and serves as Director of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives at Mahi Pono, LLC. Before joining Mahi Pono, Watts served many years in various government and agricultural policy roles as special assistant to the Director of the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, senior advisor to two Hawaii Lieutenant Governors, and the Assistant Sergeant at Arms of the Hawaii State Senate. His term runs until June 30, 2025.

Glenn Hong
ADC Board Position: At-Large Member

Karen Seddon
ADC Board Position: At-Large Member
Ms. Seddon currently sits as the Regional Vice President of Hawaii at EAH Housing (Ecumenical Association for Housing).  She has decades of real estate and affordable housing experience and has previously served as the Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing and Finance Development Corporation (HHFDC). Her term on the board will run until June 30, 2027.

Sharon Hurd
ADC Board Position: Chair of the Department of Agriculture
Ms. Hurd started with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture in 2007 in the Market Development Branch where she worked with commodity groups and agriculture associations to provide the resources deemed important to their growth and profitability. That communication has been key to her understanding of Hawaii agriculture. Prior to her appointment to Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, she served as the Business Development Program Manager and administered federal and state grant programs that helped farmers, ranchers, producers and organizations that represent Hawaii agriculture. Ms. Hurd is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a BA in zoology and has 27 years of sales and marketing experience in the airline industry. Sharon has been married to George for 45+ years and they have two adult children.

Dane Wicker, Chair’s Designee
ADC Board Position: Chair of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
Mr. Wicker is currently the Deputy Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Most recently, Dane served as the Principal Executive Assistant at the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting, coordinating and communicating administrative decisions, work programs, budgets, and objectives to all stakeholders. He has also served as Chief of Staff to Senator Donovan Dela Cruz and Assistant to the Director of the Pacific Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii East-West Center. In these roles, he prepared, reviewed, and provided recommendations on legislative and grant proposals. His private sector experience includes owning and operating small businesses in retail and farming.

Ryan K.P. Kanakaʻole, Chair’s Designee
ADC Board Position: Chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources
Mr. Kanaka‘ole is the First Deputy for the Department of Land and Natural Resources. He previously served as a Deputy Attorney General with the Department of the Attorney General (AG); most recently, as an attorney for the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation and the Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight Authority. From 2017-2023, he served as counsel for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. He served as an arbitrator for the State Court Annexed Arbitration Program and was appointed to the Public Land Trust Working Group due to his expertise on issues related to the public land trust. Prior to his tenure with the AG, Mr. Kanakaʻole was an associate general counsel and analyst for the State Office of the Auditor. He also served as a Deputy Corporation Counsel for the County of Hawaiʻi and was a Law Clerk for the Honorable Judge Steven S. Alm of the Hawaiʻi First Circuit Court. 

Mr. Kanaka‘ole was raised in the moku of Kaʻū on Hawaiʻi Island. Throughout his career, he has been involved in economic development and community stewardship efforts there. Mr. Kanakaʻole is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools. He received a BA in Political Science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and a JD with a Certificate in Native Hawaiian Law from the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law. He now resides in Pālolo, Oʻahu with his wife and two children.