Blue Planet Team

Our team works out of our office located in downtown Honolulu.  

Jeffrey Mikulina, Executive Director

Prior to working with the Foundation, Jeffrey served for ten years as the director of Hawaii’s largest environmental advocacy organization, the Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter. His accomplishments in environmental advocacy include passing legislation that sets a binding cap on Hawaii’s greenhouse gas emissions, requires that all new homes use solar water heaters, requires returnable deposits on all beverage containers, provides incentives for renewable energy use, and increases the funding of natural resources through tourism taxes. He also served as Vice Chair of both the Honolulu Planning Commission and the Honolulu Charter Commission where he authored successful Charter amendments that require islandwide curbside recycling and creating a bike- and pedestrian-friendly Honolulu.
In addition to his role with Blue Planet, Jeffrey is currently a district manager for Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Project. He has been awarded an EPA Environmental Hero Award and in 2005 the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ranked him among "10 Who Made a Difference." Jeffrey has been quoted as a source thousands of times in Hawai‘i, national, and international news outlets. Jeffrey earned a Master’s of Science degree in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying decision theory.

 

Becky Dunning, Director of Operations and Advancement

Becky Dunning has over 20 years experience in non-profit management and administration in Hawaii. She served as the Administrative Director for Manoa Valley Theatre for 10 years, was Executive Director for the Hawaii Youth Symphony and most recently was Vice President of Development at PBS Hawaii, from 2000 until 2007. 

Becky was born in Northern California, moved to Hawaii as a child, attended Punahou School and graduated from the University of Hawaii- Manoa.



 

Gary Gill, Program Director

Mr. Gill was born in Honolulu and began his career in public service as a labor activist. He was elected as union shop steward, international convention delegate and head of the Housekeeping Unit of the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees, Local 5. At the age of 26, Gary was elected to the Honolulu City Council. He served two terms representing District 6 (Makiki to Kalihi) including two years as Council Chair. After an unsuccessful run for Mayor in 1994, Gary served the people of the state as the Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control and as Deputy Director of Health for the Environment during the administration of Governor Ben Cayetano. Since leaving government, Gary Gill has worked in the non-profit community as Development Director for the Sierra Club, Program Manager for Kokua Kalihi Valley and Executive Director of Hi`ipaka LLC, at Waimea Valley on the North Shore of Oahu.

Francois Rogers, Special Projects Director

Francois spent sixteen years with one of the largest Japanese wholesale travel agency, where he was directly involved in event management, educational programming and  sales & marketiing of group packages to Hawaii.  He also was the director of the highly successful Honolulu Festival for nearly a decade, where he managed everything from branding, logistics, marketing, budgeting to organizational structuring of the non-profit entity.  Francois was born in New York and raised in Japan & Philippines and currently lives in Kaneohe.  He joined Blue Planet Foundation in 2006.

Eric Batalon, Volunteer Manager

Eric holds a Certification in Volunteer Administration (CVA) from the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration. Through various positions in state and federal government and most recently Lanakila Meals on Wheels, Eric brings a wealth of knowledge and experience working with volunteers, donors, customers, and other stakeholders. He has a long-standing history of coordinating special events and projects of all sizes ranging from community recycling drives to working on the Honolulu Marathon. A volunteer himself, Eric is an active Board Member and President of the Kiwanis Club of Honolulu, President of the Network of Volunteer Leaders (NOVL), and currently and devotes his time to several other charities and organizations