ABOUT US

James Spencer, Director, Globalization Research Center and Professor of Urban & Regional Planning and Political Science, at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and Diem Van Groth developed the idea of the Green Village Challenge as a way to involve students in a real-life project that merged coursework with actual development experience.

Funding for this practicum will come from grants, private donations, corporate sponsorship, in-kind donations of services and material resources, and from non-profit funding sources. All proceeds are tax-deductible and support the University of Hawaii Foundation- Green Village Challenge.

The University of Hawaii Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaii System. Its mission is to unite our donors' passions with the University of Hawaii's aspirations to benefit the people of Hawaii and beyond. We do this by raising private philanthropic support, managing private investments and nurturing donor and alumni relationships.

The UH Foundation was established in 1955 to encourage private support for the University of Hawaii. Today, it is the central fundraising organization for the UH System providing a host of fundraising services to all 10 UH campuses along with managing more than 3,400 gift accounts for the benefit of the university.

The UH Foundation is a private, institutionally related corporation designated as a 501(c) (3) organization by the Internal Revenue Service. It is a legally separate entity from the University of Hawaii, the UH Alumni Association, and all other UH affiliates.

Management

Dr. James Spencer

Dr. James Spencer—3RockD LLC Founder and President is the Director of the Globalization Research Center and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Political Science at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Dr. Spencer's research focus is on community level development initiatives in the US and in Southeast Asia. His publications on urban policy, informal community-level institutions providing urban services, and urbanization in Southeast Asia have appeared in some of the major planning journals such as the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Urban Affairs Review, and International Development Planning Review. His professional experience includes work as a Project Co-ordinator for the US NGO Forum on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos (1992-1993); The Nautilus Institute (1995-96); and the Ford Foundation (1996-2000). Currently he manages a $1 million, multi-year training and curriculum development program for the Ha Noi Architecture University (HAU). His research and training work in Viet Nam has been supported by the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. As specialists in the Viet Nam market, 3RockD has the necessary local expertise and contacts to source and create 3RockD Sites that are lucrative environmental investments.

Diem Van Groth

Mr. Diem Van Groth—3RockD LLC Co-Founder & Director of Operations is an urban entrepreneur with extensive experience in a wide range of industries. At age 18, Diem began as an intern in the corporate finance department at Minneapolis based Dain Bosworth, Inc., (now RBC Dain Rauscher Inc.) While in college, Diem founded a service for traveling pro-athletes and pro sports teams; rose to the level of Executive Director for a $200M leading International marketing company, INC Magazine's Fastest Growing US Company; managed a national team of VAR channel sales companies and service providers for InternetConnect, a $193M nationwide ISP provider of VPN/Added Value Services and Broad Band/Connectivity Solutions; and founded an urban business development and socio-economic consulting firm which specializes in creating business plans, managing financing campaigns, and directing strategy. Diem is a board member of the Pan African Leadership Development Institute and Foundation (PALDIF), a Non Governmental Organization developed by the late Dr. Mosé Tjitendero, the former Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia; and is the former Co-Developer and Board Member of a charter school in Los Angeles (LAUSD). Diem is the founder of Tisza Wine Co., a distribution company that works directly with Hungary's elite wine producers as their exclusive North American distribution partner.

Project Co-Chairs Bios

Dao Nguyen Spencer

Dao Nguyen Spencer (Co-Chair, Green Village Challenge 2010), is a prominent member of the Vietnamese American community with extensive experience both in Viet Nam and in working with the Vietnamese in the US. Her career has ranged across a wide variety of civic organizations with networks across government and private sector spectrum. Born in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam, Dao received a French Baccalaureate from the Marie Curie School in Sai Gon, Viet Nam in 1952, and went on to study at the University of Minnesota, where she earned a B.A. in 1956. From 1956 to 1958 she served as Director of the English Section for Viet Nam Press, a major newspaper in South Viet Nam. In 1956 Dao returned to the U.S. to earn an M.A. in International Law and Diplomacy at the University of Chicago. From 1961 to 1977, she served as the Assistant Executive Director for Refugee Resettlement and Development Assistance for the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service (subsequently Interaction), settling refugees and supporting international development programs around the world. During this period Dao also was active in building important civic organizations, starting with her founding of Viet Nam House in 1975. This mutual assistance association served a critical role in helping Vietnamese refugees adapt to New York. She also was Co-Founder and Board Member of the Refugee Women's Council in New York, Founder of the Coalition of Asian American Professional Women of New York, and a member of the President's Circle of the Asia Society. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Dao helped normalize relations between the US and Viet Nam, facilitating reconciliation and confidence building. In this role, she led the first delegation of US NGOs to Viet Nam to negotiate and shepherd the first group of Amerasian Children to the US in 1985. From 1990-2000, Dao was the Senior Associate for Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos at Private Agencies Collaborating Together (PACT), providing education and literacy training and microfinance training for street children and women throughout Viet Nam. During this period Dao also developed the Vietnamese merican Volunteer Youth Project, an innovative program that connected young Vietnamese American professionals with ministries and government agencies in Viet Nam needing technical expertise. For all of her efforts, Dao was nominated for Woman of the Year, Humanitarian and Civic Services, by the Ladies Home Journal in1975, and received the Woman of the Year Award from the YMCA Counseling and Testing Services in 1979. Over her career, she has been a consultant to the Club de Rome, American Friends Service Committee, Church World Service, Save the Children, Orbis International, and the YWCA. She currently lives in New York with her husband Jim, and has three children.

Dr. Thomas Cunningham

Dr. Thomas Cunningham (Co-Chair, Green Village Challenge 2010), is a senior finance professional. Currently, as Special Advisor to the Vice Chancellor at UC Berkeley, he is building a multi-year sustainable funding model for the campus in response to dramatic reductions in state funding for the Berkeley. He is working closely with external consultants to help Berkeley overhaul its administrative infrastructure in an attempt to reduce operating expenses by US $80M annually. Previous to his current role, he spent three and a half years as the CFO of the Berkeley Law School, where he restructured the finance operations to support Boalt's rapid growth as it reclaimed its position among the nation's top law schools. Dr. Cunningham holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University in Slavic Languages and Literatures, and understands higher education from both the administrative and academic sides. Dr Cunningham is deeply involved in his community, having served on the Board of Directors of San Francisco Opera's Bravo! Club and volunteered with Students Run Oakland, a grass roots organization that trains Oakland high school kids to run the LA marathon.

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (Co-Chair, Green Village Challenge 2010), is a California Democratic politician of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian heritage. In 1960, Mr. Dymally worked as Field Coordinator for the Kennedy Campaign, then successfully ran for the Assembly in 1962. In 1966, he became the first African American to serve in the State Senate. In 1974 he again made history when he was elected as Lieutenant Governor. In 1980 he ran for Congress representing South Los Angeles County becoming the first foreign-born black to serve in the United States Congress. Since his retirement from Congress in 1992, Mr. Dymally has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. He is a Distinguished professor at Central State University, Ohio and a member of the Faculty at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. Dr. Dymally holds a Master's degree in Government from California State University, Sacramento, and a Ph.D. in Human Behavior from United States International University, San Diego. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the National Honor Scholastic Society. The former Congressman was Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and of the Subcommittee on Africa within the Committee of Foreign Affairs. He is married to the former teacher, Alice Gueno of New Orleans. He is the father of two children, Mark and Lynn, and the grandfather of Miya Dymally, Christian Dymally and Cameron Dymally. Dymally has served as Honorary Consul, Republic of Benin, West Africa. He is Vice-President, Pacific Century Institute (China, Korea, Japan, US) and President of the Surplus Book Foundation, Inc. in Sacramento.