Engraved environmental awards, a gold medal on a white-ginger lei, and framed commendations on a koa-wood table in a Honolulu office — decades of honored U.S. Government and Pacific environmental service.

Accolades & Honors

A career of national recognition and Pacific impact

Environmental Assistants is led by Helene Y. Takemoto — recognized with national environmental awards, entrusted with U.S. delegations and gubernatorial appointments, and proven in high-stakes disaster response and dispute resolution across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Signature accomplishments

Decades of high-stakes federal & Pacific impact

Led by President Helene Y. Takemoto — national environmental innovation awards, FEMA emergency-power and tsunami-relief operations, and program leadership measured in billions.

$1.3B: Program managed
$55M: Executed in one FY
$11M+: Saved via innovation
$190M: Dispute mediated
2: National awards
40+: Years senior leadership

An environmental professional in a plumeria lei receives an engraved award from a U.S. Army officer at a formal federal ceremony — national recognition for Pacific environmental innovation.

National recognition

National Awards & Formal Recognition

Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award (1998)

Received for the Passive Oxygen Demand System, an in-situ innovative bioremediation technology for fuel-contaminated soil in Aua, American Samoa, which saved the U.S. Government over $4 million.

Chief of Engineers Design & Environmental Award (1998)

Merit Award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Ex-Situ Thermal Desorption project in Saipan.

Environmental Assistants LLC field professionals in branded hi-vis vests review a program binder beside an active Pacific remediation staging yard — large-scale environmental program execution in motion.

Program & financial impact

Major Program & Financial Achievements

Scaled regional environmental programs

Built and grew a military environmental program from an initial budget of $35,000 to over $1.3 billion.

Massive annual budget execution

Programmed, budgeted, and executed a $55 million environmental and military munitions cleanup program within a single fiscal year across Hawaiʻi, Alaska, American Samoa, Guam, and the CNMI.

Cost-saving innovation

Saved the U.S. Government over $11 million by serving on the national Corps of Engineers committee to advocate for and execute innovative environmental technologies.

Contracting leadership

Served as committee chair for contract awards totaling over $100 million, covering complex military munitions and environmental remediation.

Corporate leadership success

As President of the Med-Assist School of Hawaii, maintained a graduate job-placement rate over 85% and supervised a multi-disciplinary staff of 22 professionals.

A Pacific-regional environmental delegation works through briefing folders and maps around a koa table in Honolulu — appointments and U.S. delegations shaping Pacific environmental policy.

Appointments & delegations

Key Strategic Appointments & Delegations

U.S. international delegate

Served as a member of the United States delegation to the South Pacific Region Environment Program for 8 years, shaping environmental policies affecting U.S. interests in the Pacific.

Governor's environmental advisor

Appointed Chief of the Environmental Impact Section for the State of Hawaii Office of Environmental Quality Control, serving as the Governor's direct advisor on statewide environmental matters.

Regulatory author

Developed the original Hawaii State Environmental Impact Statement (HEPA) regulations, pioneering local environmental policy.

International rulemaking

Served on an international committee tasked with promulgating environmental regulations for U.S. activities in former Pacific trust territories.

An Environmental Assistants LLC emergency-response crew in branded hi-vis vests coordinates temporary generator power after a Pacific storm — high-stakes disaster-response field operations.

Resolution & field impact

High-Impact Conflict Resolution & Field Accomplishments

Elite dispute resolution

Over 20 years of conflict-management experience, including successfully mediating a $190 million land-development dispute.

FEMA disaster-response operations

Volunteered and deployed as an Action Officer for the Emergency Power Team, coordinating critical temporary generator power during Typhoon Soudelor, Hurricane Madeline, Hurricane Lester, and multiple tropical storms.

Tsunami disaster relief

Served as Emergency Management Action Officer after the 2009 American Samoa tsunami — negotiating contracts and implementing rapid construction of temporary classrooms across the island.