AHA Board of Directors

President

Cynthia Engle, President, 2022-2023

Cynthia Engle is a Certified Archivist and the Executive Director of the Hawaiian Historical Society.  Her passion is connecting collections to the community and is dedicated to preserving historical materials and collaborating to develop engaging programming and outreach services. Originally from the Big Island, Cynthia obtained her dual degrees in Anthropology and Art History from Ithaca College and a MLISc from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where she became a member of Beta Phi Mu. With over 12 years of professional experience, Cynthia has held numerous positions in academic and special libraries, archives, and records management in state, federal, and private institutions.

Vice-President/President-Elect

Toni Lei Han Palermo, Vice-President/President-Elect, 2022-2023/President, 2023-2024

Aloha, my extensive career spans a variety of work experiences in cultural resource research and management. During my 27 years at Bishop Museum, I was a volunteer, field archaeologist, collections manager of the anthropology department and a cultural resource specialist in education. I left the museum to work as an Interpretive Program Specialist in the Division of State Parks at the Department of Land and Natural Resources. I retired after fifteen years as a Program Specialist at the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center located in Ali’iolani Hale, the Hawai’i State Supreme Court. Since retiring in 2016, I have been working with a small group of collaborators in creating a Hawaiian English Legal Dictionary using Hawaiian Kingdom archival records.

Directors

Mary Campany, Director, 2021-2023

Mary Campany is the collections librarian at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi. She manages the organization’s Resource Center and preserves its collection of books, archival material, historic photographs, and oral history interviews. She earned a MLISc from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2017, and is a member of Beta Phi Mu. She also holds a BA in English with a minor in Japanese.

Kelsey Karsin, Director, 2021-2023

Carol Kellett is an Archivist at the Hawai‘i State Archives. Her responsibilities include providing reference assistance to researchers, processing archival materials, processing certification requests, and learning about the vast collection of government and manuscript collections housed within the Hawai‘i State Archives. Prior to her current position at the Archives, Carol worked as a systems librarian at UHM Hamilton Library and a reference librarian at the William S. Richardson School of Law Library. In her many years of professional service, she has served on the board of the Hawaiʻi Library Association as its Secretary, President and Elections Committee Chair, and currently serves in the UHM College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association and UHM LIS Alumni Association boards. Carol holds a B.A. in Mathematics and a MLIS from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is a member of Beta Phi Mu.

Tonia Sutherland, Director, 2021-2023

Tonia Sutherland is an assistant professor in the Library and Information Science Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where she leads the Archives Pathway. ​Sutherland is the Director of the Initiative for the Study of Underrepresented Cultures and Ethnicities (SOURCE) ​Hawaiʻi, and is​ particularly invested in the critical and liberatory work undertaken by archives and archivists. At UH, she teaches and conducts research in archival studies; ​cultural heritage preservation and management (intangible, material, and digital); community engagement; and the unique archival challenges that face island communities worldwide.

Eric E. Page, Director, 2022-2024

Eric E. Page serves as Archivist for the Lyman Museum and Mission House in Hilo. He manages the diverse collections, supervises volunteers and interns, provides research support, and assists with exhibits. He leads the ongoing community identification project for the 1960s John Howard Pierce photographs. Previously, Eric worked as an administrator, educator, and archivist with organizations including the Kansas Historical Society. He earned a Master of Arts in historical administration and museum studies from the University of Kansas – Lawrence and a Master of Divinity from Unity Institute and Seminary in Missouri.

Sharnelle “Moki” Renti Cruz, Director – Secretary, 2022-2024

Moki is the Archives Specialist at Hula Preservation Society (HPS) and works together with her fellow coworkers to share and preserve the resources of community elders and their stories. She grew up on the island of Kauaʻi and following high school, attended Kauaʻi Community College where she graduated with an Associate degree in Hawaiian Studies. She later went on to pursue an undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in History with a focus in Hawaiian history and minored in Hawaiian Studies. While an undergraduate, she gained archival experience interning at the Kauaʻi Historical Society, where she found the joy and value of working in the archive and volunteering in her community; being able to preserve and perpetuate the richly diverse history and culture of Hawaiʻi for all. This led her in 2020 to pursue her MLISc degree through the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Library and Information Science Program, where she focused on Archives.