Founders

Travis Brown

Travis Brown and Max Robinson created this scholarship to help students follow a similar path to the one they have. After graduating from Konawaena in 1999, Travis studied marketing at San Diego State University. Through his classes and role as a resident advisor, fraternity member, and student athlete, Travis made a diverse yet tight knit group of friends and business partners. A few years out of college, Travis has already worked in the sports marketing industry and as a financial advisor on the US East Coast. Travis is currently working as the outside sales manager in Southern California for Borrmann Metal Center headquartered in Burbank, California. Travis is responsible for daily operations and sales for customers that compete globally in manufacturing, machining, and fabricating.

Max Robinson

Growing up in culturally diverse yet isolated Kona helped to spark Max’s interest in exploring the world.  After graduating from Konawaena in 2000, he went on to study international relations at the University of California, San Diego.  During his undergraduate years, he studied abroad in Spain, did an internship in France, and spent a semester in Washington , DC.  Max went on to teach Social Studies and History at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, California where he drew inspiration from the extraordinary teachers that he had at HPA, Kealakehe and Konawaena.  In 2008, Max moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as a Princeton in Asia fellow working for a trade and investment consulting firm, and ended up falling in love with life in Asia.  He is currently working in finance in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Travis and Max cherish their upbringing in Kona, and feel that their island spirit gives them a unique perspective on their educational and professional opportunities. They also feel that the choice to move to San Diego has been invaluable to their personal growth. Their college and career experiences have given both Travis and Max a more diverse group of friends, exciting career paths, and a broader perspective on the world. They would like to support students with a similar desire to pursue opportunities in California.