Board of Directors
Founder & President
Rev. Dr. Wally Fukunaga
Vice President
Sr. Bitrina Kirway, M.M.
Secretary
Rev. Dr. Jayaprakash (JP) Sabbithi
Treasurer
Rev. Jody Kanemaru
Communications Chair
Donna Grace Wallace
Directors
Rev. Anke Flohr
David Laeha, CPA
Art Lum, PT
Ruey Ryburn, Dr PH
Caroline E. Sakai, Ph. D.
Ronald Yamauchi
Reiki Kahikina M. Young
Rev. Wally Fukunaga, D.Min.
Wally is founder and president of Sunrise Foundation Hawaiʻi. He was born and raised in the Sheridan district of Honolulu, and is a graduate of McKinley High School, Harvard University (B.A.), Princeton Theological School (M.Div.) and Pacific School of Religion (D.Min.) He served as University Minister at U.H. (7 years), president of Northshore Resources, Inc. (17 years) and Sr. Minister of Community Church of Honolulu (8 years). He also served on the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and as trustee and board member of various organizations, locally and nationally. In 2011, he founded the Sunrise Ministry Foundation that became the Sunrise Foundation in 2016.
Rev. Anke Flohr
Anke was born and raised in North Germany, holds a Master of Divinity from the University of Hamburg and is an ordained Lutheran minister. In 1993 she moved to Hawai`i to serve the Pacific Health Ministry as a Board Certified Chaplain at several hospitals and for 12 years at Pohai Nani Retirement Community. She has also taught as an Adjunct Faculty member at Toronto School of Theology. Currently she serves as the Executive Director of the Pacific Health Ministry, a position she has held since September, 2015. She is a leader in compassionate person-centered care honoring the relationship of body-mind-spirit and inspiring hope.
Sister Bitrina Kirway, M.M.
Sister Bitrina is a native of Tanzania and a Maryknoll Sister for 30 years. Since arriving in Hawaiʻi in 1991, she has immersed herself in the Hawaiian culture. She has served in the Family Court as an advocate for abused women and children. She is a certified HeartMath Trainer and holds a license for Transformative Medicine from Graduate Institute, Bethany, CT.
David Laeha, CPA
David is a director of Sunrise Foundation Hawaiʻi. He is founder and president of CFO Hawaiʻi, LLC, and has over 30 years of financial “healing” experience. He is a graduate Radford High School and earned his B.A.. with honors at UH-Manoa, his M.B.A. at USC and became a licensed CPA in 1997. After working as a CFO for various mainland and local firms, he began his private consulting firm, CFO Hawaiʻi, in 2002, as a “healer” of small businesses and non-profits. He and his wife, Deborah, are parents of two grown children, Kaylin and Adam.
Art Lum, PT
Physical Therapist Art Lum is the fourth of five children of Chew Mung and Pauline Lum and raised in the Nu`uanu Ahupua`a. He and wife, April, are parents of three young adults- Barron, Lauren and Landon. He writes, “I am filled with gratitude living in Hawai`i nei and blessed with lifelong relationships, God, and a loving ohana at the Community Church of Honolulu.” He is currently a founding partner of Fukui & Lum Physical Therapy. He also notes, “I pray that my action and/or inaction be a life source to others. I believe that diversity and community give meaning to life. Above all, to Love and Grow as Family is Life.”
Jody K. Kanemaru
is a full-time staff at TOHO NO HIKARI Hawaii, a non-profit religious organization that was established in 1954 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has been a member of this organization since 1979 and was hired as a full-time employee in July 2000. His duties include bookkeeping, accounting, as well as conducting all related religious ceremonies and services of the organization. Prior to working for TOHO NO HIKARI Hawaii, Jody spent six years in Japan under a training program sponsored by the TOHO NO HIKARI Japan headquarters where he attended a two-year college program, worked in the International Department of the organization, and traveled to countries like England, Portugal, France, and India. Being an American and fluent in Japanese, Jody also did a lot of work translating publications of the organization and assisted many foreign visitors to Japan who visited the church’s sacred sites and facilities. Jody graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
Ruey Ryburn, DrPH, APRN
Along with earning a doctorate in public health, Ruey Ryburn is a graduate of the four-year program at the Barbara Brenna School of Healing. She opened her own Sacred Path Healing School in 2001. It offers a three-year program of study leading to a diploma in spiritual energy healing. She also conducts a private practice in holistic healing.
Rev. Jayaprakash (JP) Sabbithi, D.Min.
JP is a native of India, born in a village in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
While still in India, JP found his vocation serving as chaplain at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. During his tenure there he assisted in developing a curriculum for Clinical Pastoral Counseling using the Clinical Pastoral Education model of learning used in the USA. In 2002, Rev. Sabbithi moved his family to Honolulu to pursue further work in chaplaincy with Pacific Health Ministry. At Kaiser in Honolulu, he became closely involved in the implementation and growth of the palliative care program. He continued there as their founding chaplain till 2013 when he accepted a new position at Hospice Hawaii as their Director of Counseling Services. In January, 2019, he began serving in his new calling as minister of Joy of Christ Lutheran Church in Pearl City, Hawai`i.
Caroline Sakai
Caroline E. Sakai was born and raised in Moiliili and is a graduate of McKinley High School and the University of Hawaiʻi, where she earned a BA and MSW, and Pacific Graduate School (now Palo Alto University) where she obtained an MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology. She worked for Child and Family Service including Developing Options to Violence programs, with her longest job being 31 years at Kaiser Behavioral Health where she was Chief Psychologist. She is now in private practice, and has completed numerous trauma relief deployments in Rwanda, and authored Overcoming Adversity: How Energy Tapping Transforms Your Life’s Worse Experiences—A Primer for Posttraumatic Growth.
Donna Grace Wallace
was born and raised in Honolulu, graduating from Farrington High School and attended the University of Hawaii. In addition to raising four sons, she worked for nearly 20 years in the local insurance industry. She continued her career in California for another 15 years, retiring in 2009. Since then, she has dedicated her time to more spiritual matters and is a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner of Religious Science and is currently affiliated with Portland Center for Spiritual Living in Oregon. She participates with Sunrise Foundation as a leading member of the Sunrise Foundation’s 3R Book Club as well as technically supporting Sunrise Foundation’s myriad virtual gatherings. She currently co-facilitates a monthly grief support group sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation. Her days are made joyful with the caring of her grandchildren as well as her lovely dog, Jiojio.
Ronald Yamauchi
Ronald is treasurer of Sunrise Foundation Hawaiʻi. He was born and raised in Kalihi and is a graduate of Maryknoll High School and Cal State University Los Angeles where he earned a B.S. in business finance. For 28 years he managed a family owned produce wholesaling business after which he continued working in business management in the food industry. Today, he is happily retired and spending much of his time traveling, gardening, raising orchids and doing some community volunteer service.
Reiki Kahikina M. Young
Reiki was born and raised on Oʻahu and attended Roosevelt High School. She then attended UH Mānoa and received her BA in 2016. In 2013 she undergone initiation through Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki which changed her life. She is a third-generation Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki practitioner and is currently a second degree practitioner and has been practicing ever since. She is also a student of Hālau Lua ʻo Kaihewalu and serves as a Limahana for Hale ʻIke Ola ʻo Maunalua. On her free time she likes to surf, spend time with her dog, and take care of her plants.
Nov. 13, 2021
Photo of the Sunrise Foundation Board at its Strategic Planning Retreat. The half-day retreat was held at the spacious Lanikai beachfront home of the Maryknoll Sisters of Hawaii.
Front row: Anke Flohr, Caroline Sakai, Ruey Ryburn, Sr. Bitrina Kirway, Reiki Kahikina Young
Back row: Ron Yamauchi, Norman Oshiro, Wally Fukunaga, David Laeha, JP Sabbithi, Clay Kimoto, Art Lum