Staff

Executive Director – Roxanne Bolden

Roxanne is the Executive Director and one of the original founders of AILH. She is a sibling to two brothers who were born with an intellectual disability and two other brothers who became disabled as a result of serving in the military.  Along with her administrative duties, she carries a caseload and provides direct services to consumers on Oahu.  View Full Bio

Executive Assistant – Zee Cruz-Stanley

Zinnan has worked for AILH periodically as a volunteer since 2009 and briefly as one of their office clerks in 2013.  She obtained her license in phlebotomy and also holds a state license as a Certified Nursing Assistant. View Full Bio

Social Media Coordinator – Leelynn Brady

Leelynn is very excited to join the staff of Aloha Independent Living Hawaii (AILH) as the Social Media Coordinator.  Her first experience working with people with disabilities was during her childhood when she volunteered at Hawaii Centers for Independent Living (HCIL).  She regularly assisted with charity golf tournaments, office events, and other efforts throughout HCIL.  View Full Bio

Deputy Director –  Sam Nagasawa

Sam Nagasawa originally from Germany came to live in Hawaii in 1983 when she married a “local boy” from the Big Island. Her family settled in Pahoa in the Puna District. When her husband became disabled in a 1985 car accident she learned firsthand about the challenges of living with a disability. She became a skills trainer and worked with children with autism, along with behavioral challenged youth.  View Full Bio

Advocacy Coordinator and TeleConnect Program Manager – Brian Hauser

Brian Hauser designed the TeleConnect Program and has been managing it since its inception in 2020. He has been the Systems Change Advocacy Coordinator at Aloha Independent Living Hawaii (AILH) since 2014 and previously served on the AILH Board of Directors. View Full Bio

Oahu Technical Trainer – Nicole Flowers

East Hawaii Clerical Assistant – Pomai Nosaka

As a resident of Hilo for over 40 years, Pomai enjoys the opportunity to assist her fellow community members in sharing the programs and services available at AILH. In 2012, she initially came to AILH Hilo as a consumer looking for assistance with housing and social recreational needs.  She began attending support group meetings and soon after, became one of AILH’s most valuable volunteers.  View Full Bio

East Hawaii IL Specialist – Karin Riedel

Karin Riedel grew up in Germany where she graduated from the University of Heidelberg at the Faculty for Sociological and Behavioral Sciences with a Master’s degree in Pedagogics, Criminology, and Germanistics.  Raised in a family deeply rooted in social work and advocacy, Karin has worked in the social services field in the U.S. for the past 14 years.  View Full Bio

East Hawaii IL Specialist –  Beatrice Sextimo “Bea”

Beatrice “Bea”  has for the 27 years worked as a driver first and then as the Transportation Coordinator for a local nonprofit agency here on the Big Island.

Due to COVID 19, I found myself recently unemployed and feel very fortunate to have been hired by Aloha Independent Living Hawaii.View Full Bio

Van Driver – Tanya Toyomura

Tanya Toyomura was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii in Hilo. Serving people has always been my passion. As a little girl, I have always helped the less fortunate in any way that I could. For example, I would assist other children with getting their lunches in elementary school and help them put their books away. I was always taught to respect the disabled and elderly in every way possible. View Full Bio

Oahu IL Specialist – Thomas Lum

Tom has worked for over eight years at Lanakila Rehabilitation Center Inc. During his time there, he was responsible for training and monitoring peoples with disabilities, along with coordinating with different social workers, parents and guardians in making plans to prepare and train them to gain work experience and social skills.  View Full Bio

Maui IL Specialist – Kathleen Kenney

Kathleen is delighted to join the AILH ohana in supporting independent living on the island of Maui. Kathleen and her husband recently relocated from Massachusetts to the islands. She holds a masters degree in Special Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston with certification in the field of vision rehabilitation.  View Full Bio

Molokai IL Specialist – Luana Agliam

Luana was born and raised on Molokai. Growing up on a small island, Luana has learned about the challenges of people with disabilities. Back in 2015, Luana spoke on the Maui Economic Opportunity Panel advocating for the people with disabilities on Molokai. View Full bio

Kauai IL Specialist – Holly Pickens

Holly is originally from California. She attended the University of Phoenix and Rancho Santiago Community College.  In the 90’s she obtained her Paralegal Certificate and in 2019 received a Medical Billing & Coding Certificate.    View Full bio