Leadership
Hawai’i Community Lending is guided by a dedicated board of directors and executive leadership team who are knowledgeable, compassionate and invested in our community. With a depth of experience and resources that extend beyond business into a well of cultural strength, HCL’s people are prepared to bring real solutions to Hawai‘i’s housing crisis.
Executive Team
Meet Our Team
Our leadership team is supported by a dedicated staff working across Hawai‘i.
Jeff Gilbreath, CEO, has served as HCL’s executive director for the past 12 years, with more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He joined HCL’s parent corporation, Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA), in 2008, and six years later, he established HCL as a nonprofit native community development financial institution (CDFI).
Since its founding, HCL has originated 6,559 grants and loans, with more than $203.7 million disbursed, resulting in more than 6,500 ‘ohana in homes.
Since its founding, HCL has originated 6,559 grants and loans, with more than $203.7 million disbursed, resulting in more than 6,500 ‘ohana in homes. During Gilbreath’s tenure, HCL has grown from a team of nine to 49 staff members statewide. Gilbreath’s advocacy includes serving as a board member for the Hawai‘i Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Hui Malāma O Ke Kai, and the Waimānalo Health Center.
In 2021, he was honored with a Ho‘okele Award from HCF, recognizing his work as a nonprofit leader helping to improve the quality of life for Hawai‘i’s people, and in 2024 received the Social Impact Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Hawaiʻi Venture Capital Association.
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Chanel Josiah, COO, was born and raised on Oʻahu and currently resides on Kauaʻi with her husband and seven children. As COO, she directs the organization’s lending, technical assistance, administration, human resources, information technology, external partnerships, and marketing and outreach. Working collaboratively with the CEO and CFO, Josiah develops annual and long-term operations and lending strategies to achieve HCL’s objectives and growth targets.
Formerly Community Development Director for HCL, and prior to that as program manager for HCA, Josiah has spent years connecting with communities to understand the issues and challenges families face when building, buying and saving homes. Under her leadership, HCL’s fundraising, marketing, outreach and policy advocacy all saw tremendous growth as she worked to build relationships and coordinate resources to get Hawaiians on the land.
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Aikū’ē Kalima, former Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund Manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, joins Hawaiʻi Community Lending as its lending director.
Kalima comes to HCL with more than 25 years of experience in community development and mortgage lending. In his new position, Kalima will direct HCL’s consumer, construction, mortgage and small business lending.
“As a native Hawaiian and Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiary, I understand the financial needs for economic development and quality housing for kānaka is great,” said Kalima, who led OHA’s deployment of $9.8 million in loans to 286 native Hawaiians statewide over the last five years. “For over 25 years, I have worked tirelessly at the grassroots level, educating kānaka on the skills necessary to achieve the dream of homeownership and providing resources to achieve financial sustainability. I plan to continue serving the lāhui empowering ‘ohana and communities as the lending director for Hawai‘i Community Lending.”
Kalima takes the reins of HCL’s $16-million revolving loan fund and will oversee a team of seven staff members statewide. “HCL is honored to have Aikū’ē join us in our mission to help tackle our housing crisis by funding native Hawaiian and local families to build, buy and save homes from foreclosure,” said HCL Executive Director Jeff Gilbreath. “He has proven leadership in both the public and private sectors and has the passion to get families on the land through homeownership.”
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Billy Pieper, president, is born and raised on the island of O‘ahu. He is senior vice president and director of commercial banking with American Savings Bank and has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. Pieper is a former trustee for the Bishop Museum and has served on the boards of Friends of ‘Iolani Palace, Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communication and the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Foundation, as well as on the advancement committee for the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Pieper believes stable housing is the foundation for everything else in the community, driving the needs of the community.
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Jaclyn Kaina, board member, is executive director of Kaua‘i Economic Development Board (KEDB), a position she has held since 2022.
A proponent of “transformational and servant leadership,” Kaina is an experienced leader who knows what it takes to help communities thrive. Since she began working for KEDB in 2015, she has focused on areas that include development and construction of the Kaua‘i Creative Technology Center, update and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategic Plan, as well as initiatives in food and agriculture, science and technology, renewable energy, and education.
For Kaina, working with the community and having the ability to “give back” is the most rewarding part of her job.
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Kawena Beaupré, secretary, is senior vice president and general counsel of Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), where she oversees HCF’s legal, compliance, governance, risk, charitable fund administration, and complex charitable giving functions.
She began working at HCF as associate general counsel in 2014, combining her accounting background with her knowledge of law, and has continued to build a network of trusted relationships in the community. She also carries a meaningful family connection to renowned Native Hawaiian scholar and cultural leader Mary Kawena Pukui, whose lifelong dedication to preserving Hawaiian language, ʻike kupuna, and cultural traditions continues to influence Kawena’s commitment to Hawaii’s people and place.
Through both her professional work and personal values, Kawena strives to support initiatives that uplift Hawaiʻi’s keiki, ʻohana, and ka lāhui Hawai‘i. As part of her service to the community, Beaupré serves on the boards of the Mary Kawena Pukui Cultural Preservation Society, Partners in Development Foundation, and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.
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Sean Perez, finance director, manages HCL’s finances, accounting, compliance, and information technology matters. In his previous job as director of operations and finance for the Hawai‘i State Bar Association, Perez gained extensive background in nonprofit financial management, accounting, grants management, IT and human resources.
Currently living in Honolulu, Perez is originally from Guam, where he returned after three and a half years of military service in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
While in Guam, he obtained a degree in finance and economics, and then pursued an MBA. In his work at HCL, Perez enjoys hearing the stories of families who achieve homeownership through HCL’s programs, and he feels honored to be part of that success.
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Nikki Hollern is a mother of five, born and raised in Upcountry Maui, but she spent the last 15 years in the beautiful town of Lahaina. Lahaina stole her heart, with the people and the town being unlike any other. After the fire, her family had to relocate to Kahului.
Her heart remains in Lahaina, and her goal is to help this amazing community get back to where they belong. She feels blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the HCL ‘ohana, helping navigate this incredibly hard time and hopefully serving as a guiding light to assist the community in returning home and coming back even stronger.
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Jona Ahuna is a devoted wife, mother of 12, and grandmother of six whose strong faith and commitment to family guide both her life and her work. She serves as Operations Director at Hawaiʻi Community Lending (HCL), where she previously worked as Technical Assistance Manager for the Hookele Home Program, supporting Native Hawaiian families in accessing affordable housing capital.
A homesteader in Anahola, Kauaʻi, she brings both professional knowledge and personal experience to her role, having navigated HCL’s programs with her own ‘ohana.
The Ahuna family was recognized at the Hui Waiwai 2026 for their perseverance in achieving homeownership while working with financial counselors to strengthen their credit, income, and savings. Through both her professional work and personal journey, Ahuna continues to demonstrate how commitment to community, culture, and faith can help build a lasting legacy for future generations.
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Alapaki Nahale-a, vice president, believes in a future “where every family is part of a thriving community and where individual and collective well-being manifests a better world for all.” Principal at Islander Institute, Nahale-a leads initiatives around locally rooted community leadership development, sustainable local food system innovation, and community empowered education initiatives. Inspired by indigenous ways of living in reciprocity with the earth, Nahale-a was responsible for launching and leading ‘Iole Global Resilience Hub in 2022.
Alapaki spent 10 years working for Kamehameha Schools culminating in senior director roles managing the school’s Hawai‘i Island land portfolio and overseeing community strategies statewide. He also previously served as the director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
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Joyce Nobriga, deputy CFO, was born and raised in Hawai‘i. Growing up in Kalihi Valley with her single grandmother, she saw firsthand the barriers to homeownership and the challenges of making ends meet.
Her grandmother valued education as being central to financial security, so Nobriga worked to obtained a B.S. in Accountancy at University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and became a CPA. She went on to deepen her expertise in finances through high-level positions, including as controller for Outrigger Canoe Club and most recently as CFO/controller/assistant treasurer at Waialae Country Club.
As deputy CFO of HCL, she works closely with the CFO to improve and increase revenue growth, operational efficiency and profitability within the organization. She is proud to devote the rest of her career to advancing a mission that is aligned with improving the well-being of Hawai‘i and its people.
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David Doyon, CFO is an accomplished financial executive with more than 30 years of experience in both private and public organizations.
Doyon previously served as the first CFO of ROC USA, LLC, a national CDFI that provides loans to limited equity cooperatives in the affordable housing space. With revenues of $14 million and assets of $180 million, ROC has a portfolio of close to $400 million in loans.
Doyon earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern Maine, and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University, where he previously served as full-time faculty in the accountancy and taxation department.
At HCL, he is using his leadership and analytical skills to improve and increase revenue growth, operational efficiency and profitability within the organization.
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