Coast Coconut Farms Board of Directors
Louis Pope
Louis Pope is the founder of Yehu Microfinance and serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Yehu. Louis Pope was born and raised in Provo, Utah. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Brigham Young University. He formed US Synthetic in April 1978 and has served as the company’s president and CEO since 1992. US Synthetic is one of the world’s leading suppliers of polycrystalline diamond cutters to the oil industry, providing service for thirty-five international companies in over eighteen countries. US Synthetic has over 600 employees and $200 MM in revenues. Because of Louis’s success in business he was nominated as Ernst & Young’s Utah Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998. Louis is very active in civic and church affairs. He is a true social entrepreneur and his passion is creating organizations to provide income to the poor in developing countries. He contributes much of his time and effort to aid foundations involved in the elimination of extreme poverty. He sits on the boards of CHOICE Humanitarian, Yehu Microfinance in Kenya (which he founded in 1999), Coast Coconut Farms, and Deseret International. He and his wife Christine consider their five married children and twenty grandchildren as their greatest achievement.
Troy Holmberg
Troy Holmberg has served as the executive director of Yehu Microfinance Trust in Kenya since 2002. Since 1999 he has managed the Pope Foundation as Executive Director. The Pope Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor around the world. Troy graduated with distinction from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University with a Masters of Business Administration focused on international entrepreneurship. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Utah with undergraduate degrees in both Finance and Spanish. He has lived abroad in both Southern Mexico and Switzerland.
His corporate experience includes finance and marketing in industries as diverse as financial services, diamond drill-bit manufacturing for the oil industry, and the health and wellness industry. He has worked for multi-million dollar companies such as Fidelity Investments and US Synthetic and for entrepreneurial companies such as Gifts of Nature, a nutraceutical company. He has also co-authored curriculum to teach entrepreneurship and business skills to microentrepreneurs. He also co-founded and directs Coast Coconut Farms, a social enterprise in Kenya producing organic, virgin coconut oil to provide sustainable livelihoods for rural families. He and his wife Lisa Pope Holmberg reside in Provo, Utah with their four children.
Craig Eatough
Dr. Craig Eatough was a research assistant at Brigham Young University from 1984 to 1991. Dr. Eatough received his Ph.D from Brigham Young University in 1991 and worked as research associate from 1991 to 1995. He was responsible for the design, installation, and operation of experimental combustion test facilities at BYU and was manager of the Combustion and Reactions Laboratory for the Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center (ACERC). He has significant experience in the design and application of combustion and energy conversion systems. He has participated in studies involving fuel analysis, atomization and combustion, furnace and burner design, combustion related process measurements, fossil fuel characteristics, conversion of industrial and municipal waste to energy, and coke making and iron reduction technologies.
Dr. Eatough served as the Senior Manager at Combustion Resources, LLC from 1995-2002 at which time he became president of the company which became Combustion Resources, Inc. He has performed engineering research and consulting services in the areas of combustion, gasification, fires and explosion risk assessment, materials analysis and testing, fuels characterization and utilization, fossil fuel and waste materials utilization, atomization characteristics, iron and coke making technologies, and product design to over 30 companies, government agencies, and legal firms. Dr. Eatough is a member of the Coal Preparation Society of America, National Fire Protection Association, Who’s Who In Science and Technology, and Who’s Who of Professionals and Executives. He has been awarded 3 patents in his field of expertise and currently has other patents pending for coke making technologies.
Jonathan Heaton
Jon is a successful entrepreneur and an astute businessman. Jon is involved with various businesses including a helicopter training company and is a successful land developer in Utah and Nevada. He also works with Combustion Resources developing coke making technologies for the government.
Todd Holmberg
Todd graduated with a Business Management Degree (emphasis in entrepreneurship) from the University of Utah in 1998. After graduation he worked for 4 years as Property Manager then CFO for T & H Development, a General Contractor and Commercial Property leasing company. After returning to school to pursue a Web Design and Development certificate, he and a partner founded Echo Commerce, LLC, a niche E-commerce business. He has helped Echo Commerce grow to over 4 million in annual sales in the 5 years since its inception. Todd has over six years of entrepreneurial experience. He has experience in finance, accounting, management, and web design.
Currently, Mr. Holmberg is acting as the founder and CEO of Echo Commerce, and is a founder and CFO of Qgia, LC, which is a web-based software development and video production company founded in 2007. Qgia’s unique video commerce platform is a turnkey solution that allows clients to add cross-sell and shopping cart functionality to existing video content, providing online businesses powerful tools to increase sales, conversion rates, site experience, and branding through interactive video. Todd enjoys starting and growing new ventures, and helping ensure they succeed both in the short and long run.
David Simeon Okello
David has been working for Coast Coconut Farms since 2006. He is a native Kenyan and holds a degree in Business Management from Moi University in Kenya. He has training in accounting, marketing and finance and has worked for Ernst & Young in Kenya. He has also undergone an intensive mini MBA course for social entrepreneurs at Santa Clara University, California.
Kenneth Malahilu
Kenneth is also a native Kenyan and has been with Coast Coconut Farms from inception. He has a wide experience in the construction industry and is an astute entrepreneur. Previously he has worked with different development organizations and Total (K) Ltd. an oil and gas company in Kenya. He was certificates in business management and mechanical engineering as well as experience in crop and animal husbandry.