National Awards
2013 Asian American Journalists Association Award
Soundtracking ‘The Descendants’ With ‘Real’ Hawaiian Music, NPR
2000 Asian American Journalists Association Award
Nona Beamer: Hawaiian Elder, NPR
1998 Communicator Award
Hawaii film “Picture Bride,” NPR
Regional Award (California and Hawaii)
2014 Award of Excellence in Freelance Journalism 1st Place – Audio
Guild Freelancers, a unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild
‘If It Swings:’ An Asian-American Jazzman’s Pioneering Career, NPR
Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter Excellence In Journalism Awards
Radio
2018 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Remembering A Legendary Hawaiian Musician, NPR
2018 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
Postal Service Marks Lunar New Year with Stamp by Kam Mak, VOA
2017 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Chinese American Broke Barriers, Reached Back Centuries to Create Bambi, VOA
2016 Feature Reporting 1st Place
‘Moana’ Making Waves Around Globe, VOA
2016 General News/Enterprise Finalist
Ancient Hawaiian Farmers Offer Lessons in Sustainability, VOA
2015 General News/Enterprise Finalist
These Nightclub Entertainers Paved The Way For Asian-Americans In Showbiz, NPR
2014 Feature Reporting/Finalist
A (Very) Young Jazz Pianist Takes Giant Steps Towards Musical Mastery, NPR
2014 General News/Enterprise Finalist
Hawaiian Voyaging Canoe to Navigate World Without Instruments, VOA
2014 Feature Reporting/Finalist
“Rock Star” Botanist Rappels Down Cliffs to Save Hawaii’s Rarest Plants, VOA
2013 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
“Linsanity” Details Rise Of Asian-American Basketball Star, VOA
2013 Feature Reporting Finalist
“If It Swings:” An Asian-American Jazzman’s Pioneering Career, NPR
2012 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Soundtracking ‘The Descendants’ With ‘Real’ Hawaiian Music, NPR
2012 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
‘Mother of Outcasts’ To Be A Saint For Leprosy Work, NPR
2010 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Ukulele Festival, PRI’s “The World”
2010 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
Hawaii’s First Saint, AARP
2008 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
Barack Obama’s Hawaii Roots series, “Weekend America” and VOA
Obama’s Hawaiian Getaway
Hawaii Helped Shape Barack Obama
Madelyn Dunham, Cornerstone of Barack Obama’s Life
2008 Feature Reporting Finalist
Kealii Reichel, PRI’s “The World”
2006 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
Korean Wave Washes Over USA, VOA
2005 General News/Enterprise Finalist
First Hawaiian Grammy, PRI’s “The World”
2004 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Jazz Ukulele, VOA
2004 General News/Enterprise Finalist
Hawaii Film Festival Offers Moviegoers Unique View of Asia, VOA
2003 Feature Reporting Finalist
Controversy Over Kava, KQED’s “Pacific Time”
2002 General News/Enterprise 1st Place
Humpback Whale Song, “Living on Earth”
2002 Public Service Reporting 1st Place
Duke Kahanamoku, PRI’s “The World”
2001 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Hawaiian Awa, “Living on Earth”
2001 News Reporting Finalist
Ehime Maru, NPR
1999 Investigative Reporting 1st Place
Bishop Estate two-part series, HPR
1999 Series Reporting 1st Place
Hawaiian Language Movement, HPR
1999 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Wayfinders: Polynesian Navigation, NPR
1999 Public Service Reporting 1st Place
USS Missouri Museum, NPR
1998 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Kalaupapa: Father Damien Film, HPR
1998 Public Service Reporting 1st Place
USS Missouri: Final Voyage, HPR
1997 Feature Reporting 1st Place
Bla Pahinui, NPR
Daily Newspaper
2018 General News/Enterprise 3rd Place
A Hawaiian island got about 50 inches of rain in 24 hours. Scientists warn it’s a sign of the future, the Los Angeles Times
Magazine
2005 Feature Writing/Short Form 1st Place
In Tune with the Aloha, Keola Beamer’s Aloha Music Camp
Honolulu Magazine
2005 Industry or Trade Reporting 1st Place
Hawaii Music issue, Honolulu Magazine
Television
2006 Public Service Reporting Finalist
Chinatown Summit: Revitalizing Honolulu’s Chinatown, Honolulu Municipal Television
FELLOWSHIPS, MEDIA TRAINING AND GRANTS
2018 Association of Independents in Radio Legends Mentor, (AIR)
2015 AIR Entrepreneurial Coaching Fellow
2001 – 2013 University of Hawaii, Pacific New Media, Continuing Education
2010 Hawaii Council for the Humanities, Research grant to record oral histories at Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai
2009 Web 2.0 Training Fellow, Knight Digital Media Center, UC Berkeley
2009 Environmental Fellow, National Tropical Botanical Garden on the island of Kauai
2008 Producer Training, The Environment Report, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2005 Multimedia Reporting, Knight Digital Media Center, UC Berkeley
2003 East-West Center China Study Tour, East-West Center, Honolulu
2002 Cross-Media Reporting Fellow, Maynard Institute, Oakland
1999 NPR Mid-Career Fellow, National Public Radio Diversity Initiative
1995 Multicultural Producers Forum, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
