NAVFAC Pacific Announces Employees of the Year

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM — Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific proudly announced the 2024 Employee, Supervisor, Team, Community Service and Mentor of the year winners.

The award recipients, who were also recognized at the 2024 Honolulu-Pacific Federal Executive Board, Excellence in Federal Government Awards, are Kristine Barker, employee of the year; Evan Mizue, supervisor of the year; Utilities Key Operational Infrastructure Assessment Team, federal team excellence of the year; Nicole Kimoto, exceptional community service; and Kaleo Pedrina, mentor of the year.

"These awards are a testament to the dedication and excellence of our NAVFAC Pacific Ohana,” said NAVFAC Pacific Acting Vice Commander Capt. Samuel Johnson. “Each recipient has demonstrated remarkable leadership, innovation, and a commitment to service that significantly enhances our mission and supports the broader goals of federal government operations."

The 2024 Honolulu-Pacific Federal Executive Board Excellence in Federal Government Awards program recognizes federal employees and teams who demonstrate exceptional performance, leadership, innovation, and service excellence. This program highlights the achievements of individuals and groups who exemplify the highest standards in their work, contributing significantly to the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations.

Professional Employee of the Year – Kristine Barker

Kristine Barker serves as the Environmental Conservation Program Manager in the Environmental Division. Kristine’s motivation, efficiency and willingness to take on challenges outside of her comfort zone exemplify excellence in federal service. She took on additional environmental roles within the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Shipyard Infrastructure and Optimization Program's P-209 Dry Dock 5 Environmental Impact Statement team, and attained mission critical permits for construction.

Leader, Supervisor, Manager of the Year – Evan Mizue

Evan Mizue is the Design and Engineering Director in the Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) Directorate. His outstanding leadership and technical expertise is directly responsible for $2B annually of design, engineering, and post construction award support across the Indo-Pacific Area of Operations. He is also instrumental in delivering shore facilities and enhancing readiness in the Pacific.

Federal Team Excellence – Utilities Key Operational Infrastructure Assessment Team

The Utilities Key Operational Infrastructure Assessment Team from the Public Works Directorate includes the following members: Stacey Yoshida, Lauren Doo, Cameron Foucht, Crystal Ikeda, Paul Koike, Matthew Morita, Gordon Li, Michael Ching, and Harvey Ku. The Chief of Naval Operations requested utility system assessments for water, waste water and electrical systems for Navy installations on Oahu and within 120 days, the team completed a report and leadership brief ahead of schedule to inform resource decisions. The team used the criticality and operational condition of the infrastructure to validate existing urgent and planned projects, identify system and staffing deficiencies, recommend repairs, improve operation and maintenance processes, and determine a recapitalization strategy to advocate for additional resources.

Exceptional Community Service – Nicole Kimoto

Nicole Kimoto serves as an Architect in the PDC Directorate. She is strongly dedicated to community outreach and has volunteered for opportunities in the community to encourage and inspire children to embrace service-centric culture and foster ideals such as teamwork, leadership, and integrity. Nicole is also a volunteer at NAVFAC Pacific for committees and events that promote collaboration and camaraderie amongst NAVFAC Pacific PDC employees both old and new.

Mentor of the Year – Kaleo Pedrina

Kaleo Pedrina serves as a Supervisory Electrical Engineer in the PDC Directorate. Kaleo is leading the Design Division to develop, mentor and hire electrical engineers. He is an expert at patiently probing mentees to think about the right things, then coaching engineers to execute their own solutions. Through his mentorship, our engineers are achieving their career goals.

"Our winners this year have set a high standard for performance and achievement and inspire their colleagues to strive for excellence,” said Johnson. “We are proud to have such outstanding individuals and teams as part of our organization."

NAVFAC is the technical expert and acquisition authority for naval shore facilities, base operating support, and expeditionary engineering systems. The mission of NAVFAC Pacific is to plan, build and maintain sustainable facilities, expertly delivering utilities, engineering, environmental and acquisition services to our supported commanders. NAVFAC Pacific serves as the engineering link between the shore and the Fleet within the Indo-Pacific Region.