Joy Kono, State Executive Director

Joy Kono was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Hawaii and the Pacific Basin in June 2022.

Kono joins FSA with over 30 years of managerial and administrative experience in support programs along with a first-hand understanding of the challenging and diverse agricultural industry of Hawaii. She comes from a rural community on the island of Kauai and was born into a family that farmed a variety of vegetables and raised livestock.

Kono’s family, the Oyama’s, were awarded the Hawaii Farm Bureau’s Farm Family of the Year in the early 1990s and the Kauai Farm Bureau Family of the Year in 2015. She spent 18 years working for BEI Hawaii, the leading distributor of agricultural and industrial products. For the last 20 years, Kono worked for Kamehameha Schools as Senior Director supporting and processing programs benefitting Native Hawaiian children, especially those in disadvantaged circumstances. Kono is involved in the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (HFBF) and Agriculture Leadership Foundation of Hawaii program where she formerly held board positions. During the height of the pandemic, she volunteered with HFBF to connect producers to consumers through the Farm-to-Car program.

Kono was the board chair of the Hawaii Commission for National and Community Service which administers the AmeriCorps State programs.

Kono earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a master’s degree in agribusiness from Santa Clara University.

Kono is originally from Kalaheo on the island of Kauai. She currently resides on the island of Oahu with her husband of over 30 years and two adult children who live and work on Oahu.