Congratulations to our Cooperative Extension colleague Ty McDonald for earning a Kupuna Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Island Landscape Association (HILA). He was honored for his outstanding leadership and service to HILA and the Hawaii Island landscape industry.
Notably, he has advanced training and national certification programs for workforce development in collaboration with HILA, helping to make it a model for landscape associations across the U.S. Ty’s partnership with HILA is an excellent example of a public-private partnership that benefits the local businesses, community, and UH.
The prestigious award was presented during the O’o Digging Stick Ceremony held at the 10th Landscape Management Conference at the Hapuna Beach Hotel. This milestone event was originally co-created by McDonald in 2010 as an annual conference, eventually evolving to a biennial meeting after the sixth event. He is the lead coordinator of the conference and tradeshow, a prime example of one of the over 200 events in which he has collaborated with HILA over the past 20+ years.
Ty works to advance the concept of collaboration to create a more vibrant and sustainable landscape industry workforce sector. He stated that due to the similar missions of Cooperative Extension and industry associations such as HILA it simply made sense to align his extension program with the goals of HILA. This decision not only ensured the continuing relevance of his efforts to stakeholders; it also has made HILA one of the highest-performing industry associations in the state – especially considering its size. “HILA consistently punches above its weight,” he added. Ty concluded with: “It is very gratifying to be recognized by my stakeholders, and I truly cherish this award.”
Main Image: HILA Board of Directors Erin Lee (left) and Ty McDonald (center) presented with O’o Digging Sticks by HILA President, Ka’uhane Morton (right) during the awards ceremony at the 10th Landscape Management Conference.
Secondary Image: Conference attendees (foreground) with native plants gifted by HILA in remembrance of the 100+ human lives lost during the Lahaina fire.