Parker Ranch Foundation Trust names two new trustees for Waimea's future

Two new trustees now hold a role that reaches far beyond the boardroom in Waimea. Samuel E. Ainslie and James M.K. Takamine were appointed last month to the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust, a move that could shape how one of North Hawaii’s most influential philanthropic institutions directs support for education, health care and community needs.

The trust’s reach is built into its origin. After Richard Smart died in 1992, Parker Ranch and his art collection were left in trust for four Waimea beneficiaries: Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Parker School, Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital and the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Richard Smart Fund. The trust says its mission is to maintain and improve a unique quality of life in the Waimea area, and Parker Ranch says the organization also supports smaller educational and health care groups indirectly through its work.

Ainslie and Takamine were chosen after a yearlong selection process run by the beneficiary organizations. That process included candidate identification, informational meetings, formal applications, interviews and background reviews before the final unanimous selections were made. In a board structure where trustees can serve for years, the addition of two members is a meaningful governance change, not routine housekeeping. Timothy E. Johns was first selected as a trustee in June 2005 and was reappointed after trust restructuring in December 2007, while Toby B. Taniguchi was appointed effective January 1, 2023.

Ainslie brings deep local experience. He has lived in Waimea for 33 years and has more than three decades in residential and resort community real estate development, including work at Hualālai Resort, Kukio Golf and Beach Club and Nanea Golf Club. He has also served with local nonprofit boards and community groups, including the Waimea Community Weaving Hui. Public business records show Ainslie Services, LLC was filed in Hawaii in 2015 and is based in Kamuela.

Takamine comes from finance and credit union leadership. He is president and CEO of CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union, a job he took on September 1, 2018, after serving as executive vice president since March 2014. His background includes Kamehameha Schools, Macalester College, Harvard Kennedy School and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and he serves on the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, The Kohala Center and Community First Hawaii.

For Waimea, the question is not simply who sits on the trust. It is how those trustees will influence grantmaking, community investment and the unresolved needs that still define life in the Kamuela area.