OIA Staff & Divisions

• Eileen Sobeck
  Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas
  
  

• Nikolao Pula
  Director, Office of Insular Affairs
  
  

• Tom Bussanich
  Director of Budget
  
  

• Charlene Leizear
  Director of Technical Assistance
  
  

• Wendy Fink
  Director of Policy and Counsel to the Assistant Secretary
  
  

Office of Insular Affairs Main Telephone Line: (202) 208-4736

Policy & Liaison Division

• Serves as OIA's liaison to the Congress, the four territorial and three freely associated state governments, other Federal agencies, the media and the public.
  
  
• Oversees (a) the Compact of Free Association trust funds for the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia and (b) annual budgets for two Marshall Islands atoll governments (Bikini and Rongelap).
  
  
• Advances the rehabilitation of four Marshall Islands atolls (Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utrik) and the resettlement of the peoples of the four atolls.
  
  
• Carries out the Secretary's responsibilities as the civil administrator of the Palmyra Atoll Excluded Areas and, as appropriate, the residual civil administrator of Wake Atoll.
  
  
• Maintains a field office in American Samoa and two field offices in the Northern Mariana Islands.
  
  
• Staff
  
  
• • Joseph McDermott, Deputy Director – Marshall Islands, Trust Funds
  • James Arnold – Administrative Affairs
  • Krystina Borja - American Samoa
  • Jennifer Feng - U.S. Virgin Islands
    
  • Tanya Harris Joshua - FAS & IGIA
  • Karen Koltes - Coral Reef
  • Joseph McDermott - Marshall Islands, Trust Funds
  • Wali Osman - Economist
  • Stephen Sander - Legislative Affairs
  • Francisco Taitano - Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
  • Angela Williams - Guam, Energy, Economic Development
  • Rebecca Zepeda – Media and Communications
    
    

Budget Division

• Keith Augenbaugh - CIP and Compact Impact for Guam and the CNMI
  
• Mark Brown – Compact Impact, CIP, Water and Wastewater grants in American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands
• Yvonne Carswell - Administrative Officer
• Jonathan Dunn – Budget Issues
• Annette Stewart – Grant Obligations and Payments, Budget
• Marina Tinitali – Audits and Accountability
• Field Offices in Hawaii, FSM, and Palau report to Budget Division Director
  
  

Technical Assistance Division

• Mary Baltimore - Program Analyst/Grants Manager
• Cheryl Jodoin - MAP Grants Manager
• Faride Kraft - Deputy Director
• Hailey McCoy - Program Assistant
• Merriam Porter - Program Analyst/Grants Manager
  
  

OIA's Honolulu Field Office

This office manages Compact II requirements for finance, performance standards and sector grants for the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of the Marshall Islands.

• Stephen Savage Field Office Manager - Infrastructure, Compact Grants
• Ryan Edgar - Education Sector Grants Manager/SEG
• Gerald Shea - Public Sector Capacity Building Grants Manager
• Kristen Oleyte - Detailed to USPACOM
  
  

Office of Insular Affairs – Honolulu Office
733 Bishop Street, Suite 2530
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
Phone (808) 525-5088
Fax (808) 525-5399

OIA Field Representatives

• American Samoa - Lydia Faleafine-Nomura - (684) 633-2800
  
• Marshall Islands - Al Fowler - (692) 247-4011
  
• U.S. Virgin Islands - Basil C. Ottley, Jr. - (202) 320-5021
  

Federal Ombudsman's Office

The Federal Ombudsman's Office provides assistance to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' 30,000 plus nonresident workers with labor and immigration complaints. The Federal Ombudsman's Office has a staff of professional caseworker/interpreters who speak Mandarin, Taiwanese, Tagalog, Bengali, Hindu, Urdu and Sinhalese.

• Pam Brown - Federal Ombudsman, Northern Mariana Islands
• Hsiao-Fen "Sophie" Chin - Case Worker/Interpreter
• Shao Yu "Mei" Liu - Administrative Assistant/Case Worker/Interpreter
• Mohammed "Ripon" Ahmed - Case Worker/Interpreter
• Glen A. Buultjens - Case Worker/Interpreter
• Cripulo B. Hilario - Case Worker/Interpreter

Federal Ombudsman's Office
U.S. Department of Interior
Office of Insular Affairs
Suite 203
Marina Heights II
P.O. Box 502452
Saipan  MP 96950
Telephone: (670) 322-8030
Fax: (670) 322-8040
Email: ombudsman@federalombudsman.com