Team

Susumu Watanabe - Head Carpenter Shojiko Village
Watanabe Kensetsu have been the carpenter family for the village since Susumu’s grandfather started the company 60 years ago. Along with his brother and father, Susumu continues the tradition of fine wood work and carpentry by working closely with our team to develop designs and restoration processes to bring the beauty of the antique houses up to modern living standards.

The teams ability and willingness to source local lumber, recycle original materials and work cost effectively are key skills allowing us to bring a superior product to market on time and within an affordable budget.

Dawn Nakagawa – Director of Development McGill BA’93, Chicago MBA‘00
Dawn Nakagawa is a non-profit executive with a passion for strategy development and execution. She currently works as the Executive Vice President of the Pacific Council on International Policy, a global leadership network dedicated to enhancing awareness of and developing solutions to the global challenges. In her position she oversees all aspects of the organization and drives several special initiatives including the Energy, Environment and Security Committee, the Equitable Globalization Committee and the Emerging Leaders Program.

She holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the McGill University in Canada. Dawn is a contributing member for the Hope Street Group think tank, an evaluator for the Yale Goldman Partnership for Non Profit Ventures and an active member of the California Peace Action Network and California league of Conservation Voters.

Jacob Reiner – Chief Architect & Project Management Cornell ALS‘93
Jake is the overall project architect responsible for initial design, structural assessment and valuation of homes, coordinating construction and budgeting to minimize costs, and ensuring use of the highest quality sustainable materials. He also coordinates the PR and sales program for the Shojiko Traditional Village and regularly appears in Japan TV, magazines and newspapers to promote the projects.

He has 20 years of experience in sustainable design, construction management, eco-technology and agriculture in Hawaii, New York, Canada and Japan. While at Cornell University, he published The Importance of Community Involvement, outlining the benefits of creating sustainable villages to address environmental concerns. In 2000 he founded the Earth Embassy to develop and promote green businesses, and in 2006 incorporated Eden Homes, an architecture, design & build company, to construct eco-friendly homes and villages.

Paul D. Hirsch Ph.D. – Community Development Cornell ALS‘93, University of Georgia MS’98, PhD’07
Paul D. Hirsch is a professor and environmental policy research scientist at University of Syracuse. His specialty is developing conceptual tools for facilitating interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborative problem-solving. He is an experienced group facilitator and founding board member of the Georgia Community Loan Fund, an organization set up to provide low interest loans for community projects that link economic development and environmental conservation. Paul’s current research is part of an international effort sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation called “Advancing Conservation in a Social Context,” and centers on developing new tools and procedures for working through decisions about conservation and development that may involve difficult trade-offs. In 2009 he is traveling to Vietnam, Peru, and Tanzania to work with partners from academic institutions and NGOs.

Paul has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Society from Cornell University, a Master of Science degree in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development from the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Murray Gilbert - Senior Analyst, Asset Management Team

Murray Gilbert is responsible for developing financial models and comparing property investment scenarios. Previously, Mr. Gilbert has served in various financial and service firms in Tokyo including Capital Servicing – a real estate advisory and investment firm as well as Value Commerce, and General Electric where he was responsible for building and supporting financial models and IT systems.

A.J. Kabat, Construction & Project Management

A.J. Kabat is an independent builder and real estate investor with 15 years of experience of project management. His company Kabat Builders & Remodelers LLC has been building high quality residential homes for over 10 years in New York State. KB&R is also the Northeast certified installation and maintenance specialist for Loewen high-end wooden windows and doors for luxury homes. Prior to establishing his own company, A.J. was the assistant to the controller at Malone & Tate Builders and responsible for accounts payable, payable check generation, sub-contractor paperwork tracking, LAN network design, creation, installation and maintenance, and initiation of the company’s first marketing plan.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sienna College in 1996 with a B.S. in Marketing and Management, and also holds a Summa Cum Laude associate degree in Applied Science in Building Construction. His extensive work with new construction and reform projects, combined with his real estate development and management experience bring to the team a highly critical eye for engineering, cost management and high quality construction standards.

Martin Paradine – Renewable Energy

Martin Paradine is an experienced mechanical engineer and project manager who joins our team as an expert in the renewable energy field. His experience includes working with ESI Energy Services Inc. as a project coordinator for oil field related technology in Alberta, Canada. Subsequently he worked as the branch manager of the ESI subsidiary office in Adelaide, Australia. He previously worked for General Electric , Transportation Systems and Locomotive Division as a manager and supervisor of operations in Manitoba. In 2008 Marty spent 3 months working with sustainable agriculture team at the Earth Embassy in Japan.
Currently Marty is enrolled in the Masters of Science in Renewable Energy program at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. The University of Oldenburg is one of the world leaders in renewable energy studies and Marty’s position there brings to the team an invaluable insight to the cutting-edge renewable energy technologies currently coming to market.

Akaike Komuten – Japanese Detail & Restoration
Akaike-san has personally built over 30 fines homes in the Yamanashi area. In our Shojiko homes he is responsible for many of the innovative re-uses of traditional features and techniques preserved in the buildings.

His custom staircases are legendary, his classic style front doors with added security and insulation sought after, and his hand-built cedar bath tubs sell internationally.

Brad Hall – Project Coordinator Duke ENG‘82, Cornell MBA ‘89
Brad is an experienced professional in managing projects in international and multicultural environments. Initially trained in engineering, he started in programming and support of mission critical systems in the financial industry, and moved into project and programme management in America, Japan and England. In addition to currently owning and running his own 13 acre organic farm business on Maui, Hawaii, he has worked as Chief of Staff for Merrill Lynch, project manager for J.P. Morgan-Chase, Senior Analyst at Goldman Sachs and a software engineer at IBM, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP 2003).

He brings to them team a demonstrated ability to oversee planning and financial development and a high level of professionalism in applying proven methodologies, such as Project Management Body of Knowledge.