Editor’s Note: I recently sat down with Rob Kinslow, our newly appointed environmental editor. Rob will be writing about science of sustainability, systems, energy, efficiency and how they intersect with social improvement and human potential. He has been researching and participating in the fabric of the islands via NGO, business and faith networks for a number of years.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background? What kinds of writing have you done?
A: My first major publication was as a green engineer at Northrop Grumman (NG). The structures design-build-test research ramp-up to the systems development for the F-22 had begun. My first assignment? To write the final report of the Composite Wing-Fuselage program, testing innovative composite designs for a wing-root of the advanced tactical fighter. It ended up being 4-volumes and almost 600-pages. Concurrently, I was asked to write the script and then directed the development of a 35-mm film accompanying the report, as deliverables to the US Air Force. In short, my competency consists of proposal writing, management and budget authority of complex multi-year, multi-million dollar technology development projects, characterized by innovation, integration, structural efficiency and novel signature designs.
I’ve edited books, videos, written several final reports, and published academic papers, since then. Recently, I went back to school for a masters in Sustainable Development at Hawaii Pacific University. I wrote 18 separate papers on diverse subjects as agriculture, mining, and organizational development. I’ve written advocacy video scripts, meditation education, op-ed, but never blogged. I’m looking forward to the challenge of writing for the Hawaii Reporter.
Q: How did you get to Hawaii?
A: After I left Northrop Grumman I traveled around the world and ended in Hawaii. I was looking for a “right brain” activity on which to build a small business. I had helped start a healing circle in LA, had been almost crippled by mountain bicycle stunt fails, and appreciated the benefits of bodywork to the injured body. I was in Maui walking neighborhoods and met a friendly kanaka. I don’t remember his name. He asked me, “What are you looking for in Hawaii?” I replied, “Looking for a Lomilomi master with whom to apprentice.”
He invited me to his family home and showed me a book featuring Aunty Margaret Machado of Napo`opo`o, Kealakekua with whom I was later invited as her haumana. There was much synchronicity in my invitation to the islands, but those stories will have to come later.
Q: What have you been doing since you came here? What’s your business?
A: Prior to my masters at HPU, I’ve been consulting on wellness, bodywork and film-making. Until the crash of 2008, whence financial foundations were swept away in the fraudulence of that time, I’ve self-funded literally more than 100 social campaigns, lifting up thought leaders, creating events, advocacy and education campaigns. Conservatively, more than 25-thousand hours in NGO management and well-over $100K of my own funds to advance conscious behaviors in my community. My business is social philanthropy.
In 2007, I was one of 16,000 applicants to be trained by Al Gore in public speaking. An association with his leadership corps, was the motivation for the more than 70 public talks on climate change and sustainability; I’ve given in the intervening years. I love inspiring the next generations of leaders. I’m a Forte Hawaii speaker.
Q: What do you do for fun?
A: I love connecting with Nature, animals and being immersed in the flows of Life. Something as simple as playing a high speed catch-throw game with the dog, hiking a local ridge trail, meditation or swimming in the ocean, are my go to stress relievers. I’m a connector and enjoy meeting new people and facilitating deep conversations about solutions and whole-brained thinking. I look forward to writing for the Hawaii Reporter and hearing from new friends and readers.
You can connect with Rob Kinslow on LinkedIn or on his website