John Leong

Director
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Kupu
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Pono Pacific Land Management, LLC

John Leong is CEO of Kupu, a non-profit organization he co-founded in 2007. Kupu provides service-learning programs in conservation and sustainability to empower youth, restore communities and build a more sustainable future for Hawaii. Kupu’s efforts have led to the creation of hundreds of internships and service-learning opportunities annually which blend vocational training and green leadership development to support more than 100 partner organizations across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.

Leong also is CEO and co-founder of Pono Pacific, LLC, a natural resource management company that aids conservation agencies and landowners in their efforts to preserve, protect, and restore Hawai’iʻs precious ecosystems. Pono Pacific also provides ecosystem services that are leading Hawaii into a more resilient future such as through sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration through reforestation. The work Leong's organizations have done has produced hundreds of millions of dollars in socio-environmental impact for Hawaii and beyond.

He serves on the boards of the Honolulu YMCA, UH SeaGrant and Island Insurance Company. Leong is a recognized community leader and was selected to be an Obama Foundation Fellow in 2019 and an Omidyar Fellow in 2015.

Leong earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental management & policy and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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  Member
  Audit Committee