The Presenters

Biography

Pua Aquino is a mother of two boys and was born and has spent most of her life on the west side of Oʻahu. Her current position is Curriculum Manager for the FCIL (Family Child Interaction Learning) programs within Partners in Development Foundation which are Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool, Ka Paʻalana Homeless Family Education Program, and Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana. She has been working in the early childhood education field for over 20 years and enjoys teaching others strategies for incorporating culture into preschool curriculum. 

Dr. Evan Reppun Beachy works in the Kilo strategic learning division at Kamehameha Schools and has thirty years of experience in education as a teacher, school leader, founder, board member, consultant, and pot-stirrer.  Evan grew up in Kahaluʻu, Oʻahu and has worked at home, on the continent, and abroad in educational institutions across the entire P20 spectrum.

Dr. Jared Bukarau is an educator in the Hālau Hekili program at Kailua High School, his alma mater. He went on to earn both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics education from Brigham Young University in Provo, followed by an Ed.D. in Professional Education Practice from UH Mānoa. 

Puakea Busby is a kumu and education researcher. A kupa of Kamaile, Waiʻanae, Oʻahu, she currently resides in Honolulu, beneath the shade of Puʻu ʻUalakaʻa. She has over 15 years of experience as an educator, having previously taught in public schools, an educational non-profit, a Hawaiian-Focused Charter School, and at the university level. She currently serves as an instructional coach at Kamehameha Schools. Her passions in education include Indigenous and decolonial pedagogies,  aloha ʻāina-based learning, teacher retention, and the history of education in Hawaiʻi. 

Hi'ilani Chang is a Resource Specialist at Bishop Museum Library & Archives. She spends her days dedicated to archival preservation and community access. She also recently earned her Master of Library and Information Science (mLIS) from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Kimo Chun works with Kamehameha Schools in the Kealaʻiwikuamoʻo Department, supporting Hawaiian culture-based education and leadership. Through the Kamaehu cohort, he engages educators in exploring Indigenous knowledge systems—such as Kōnane and papamū.  His work cultivates ʻike, pilina, and collective agency to strengthen leaders and communities.

Kanoelani Davis, of MolokainuiaHina, is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, educator, entrepreneur, and community leader dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of ʻike Hawaiʻi.

Raised by her grandparents, she carries the teachings of her grandfather, Sifu, ʻŌlohe, Kahupono Francis C. Wong, who entrusted her with the kuleana to perpetuate the ʻike passed through their ʻohana.

Kanoelani is the founder of PōMahina Designs, a wearable arts business sharing Hawaiian culture through ancestral moʻolelo, names, geometry, and line art, and co-founder and Executive Director of Hoʻakā Mana, a Native Hawaiian Organization strengthening Indigenous identity through cultural practice, education, healing, and self-empowerment.

Her work is grounded in disciplines including hula, Lua, and Hoʻā Mana, and extends into cultural curriculum, behavioral health, crisis response, education, and community well-being. Her ʻike and curriculum have been recognized and utilized by state, federal, university, and community partners.

Kaheleonolani “Kahele” Dukelow is the Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges. She began her career teaching in Kula Kaiapuni before joining UH Maui College as a faculty member in Hawaiian language and Hawaiian Studies, later serving in campus and system leadership roles. Throughout her career, she has worked to strengthen and expand Hawaiian education across Hawaiʻi's public schools, communities and the higher education system through leadership in teacher preparation, Hawaiian language revitalization, and educational policy. She has chaired ʻAha Kauleo, was named Hawaiian Educator of the Year (2019) by the Native Hawaiian Education Council, and currently serves on the Hawaiʻi Teacher Standards Board and the Hawaiʻi State Board of Education. She has also played an active role in community advocacy surrounding Haleakalā, Mauna Kea, and Honuaʻula, integrating political, historical, and cultural education with community organizing to advance Native Hawaiian self-determination.

Gabrielle Ahuliʻi Ferreira Holt is a teacher at Hanahauʻoli School in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. She is a third-generation Kanaka ʻŌiwi graduate of Hanahauʻoli School. She has a MLIS from the University of Hawaiʻi and a BFA from the University of British Columbia (situated on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm [Musqueam], Skwxwú7mesh [Squamish], Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh [Tsleil- Waututh] nations.) She has published adaptations of Hawaiian legends for BeachHouse (Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones series) a graphic novel for Capstone (Hiʻiaka and Panaʻewa), and has recently completed a nonfiction text for Capstone. 

Kekaianiani Irwin is a Hawaiian Language Curriculum Specialist no ka Mokuna Ho‘omohala a Pa‘i Ha‘awina o Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani ma ke Kulanui o Hawai‘i ma Hilo. He serves as a lead ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi educational resource developer and collaborator.

Krystal Kakimoto is the Library Collections Manager and Reference Librarian at Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, where she supports the care, stewardship, and accessibility of the museum's library and research collections.

Kahoʻokahi Kanuha is a Hawaiian educator, translator, researcher, and active community member from Kona Kai ʻŌpua. He worked with ʻAha Pūnana Leo for 18 years, where he taught hundreds of keiki and ʻohana, and created resources the strengthen the learning, use, and normalization of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. He was the host of the Mai Ka Pūnana Mai Hawaiian language podcast, the creator of the Kīpaepae Hawaiian language app, as well as a writer and producer for multiple Hawaiian language commercials and film, including the award-winning documentary E Ola Ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: I Ola Ka Lāhui. Kahoʻokahi has worked with Awaiaulu since 2017, where he has trained as a Hawaiian language translator and researcher and contributed to major translation and research projects involving some of the most important writings and historical figures of the Hawaiian Kingdom. His work includes John Papa ʻĪʻī’s Nā Hunahuna ʻIke Hawaiʻi, Samuel Kamakau’s Ke Kumu Aupuni, and Kīpapa collections focused on James Kaulia, Joseph Nāwahi, and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. He also served as Jason Momoa’s personal Hawaiian language coach for the Apple TV+ series Chief of War. He is the father of three children whom he raises exclusively through ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and is actively involved in creating spaces where Hawaiian language, history, culture, and community can thrive. Through different roles in the community, he works to make these things a natural part of everyday life—from the classroom and home to the waʻa and soccer field, and everywhere in between.

Kimeona Kane was taught uhau humu pōhaku from Kumu Kinohi Fukumitsu.  He dedicates his life to building more uhau humu practitioners and giving everyone opportunities to get involved with and make a connection to ʻāina.  There is no shortage of people across the pae ʻāina (and beyond) that the work of Kimeona has touched.  

I am a cultural practitioner of Uhau Humu Pōhaku from Kahaluʻu, taught by Kumu Kimeona Kane.  My journey in this practice has taken me to places as far as Canada and Alaska to help perpetuate our relationship with pōhaku.  Our pilina to pōhaku is far removed since westernization and I enjoy reintroducing folks to these amazing kūpuna and building that pilina back.

Dr. Keala is from Manaʻe, Molokaʻi but currently resides in Kapālama, Oʻahu with her two daughters and husband. She is currently a Hawaiian Language Assistant Professor at the Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language in the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the University of Hawaiߵi at Mānoa. Pili also serves as the Vice Chair on the ʻAha Hoʻokō (Governing Board) of the ʻAha Kauleo (Hawaiian Language Immersion Statewide Consortium). Prior to her current position she was an assistant professor in the College of Education and has been a secondary kumu for over 15 years in Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, Kamehameha Schools, as well as community education. Dr. Kealaʻs dissertation work focused on discovering the educational needs of nā moʻo ʻike kuʻuna ʻōiwi Hawaiʻi, Native Hawaiian children raised exclusively in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi through hoʻomana Hawaiʻi with traditional Hawaiian loina and cultural practices. Her research focuses include Kuanaʻike ʻŌiwi Hawaiʻi (Indigenous Hawaiian Worldview), Kaiapuni education, programming and pedagogies, Hawaiian language medium and culture-based education, and traditional Hawaiian pedagogies of learning and teaching.

We are the lālā of our kumu, educators and mākua grounded in a shared commitment to uplifting our lāhui through meaningful connection, collaboration, and culturally rooted learning. Our work is inspired by the people, places, and communities we serve and by the belief that keiki should see themselves reflected in the stories, ʻike, and learning experiences they encounter. Together, we create resources and pathways that nurture curiosity, strengthen pilina, and make Hawaiian history and culture accessible and meaningful for keiki, ʻohana, and educators. Through these small beginnings, we hope to plant seeds of ʻike, kuleana, and ea that can be nurtured and carried forward for generations.

We are the lālā of our kumu, educators and mākua grounded in a shared commitment to uplifting our lāhui through meaningful connection, collaboration, and culturally rooted learning. Our work is inspired by the people, places, and communities we serve and by the belief that keiki should see themselves reflected in the stories, ʻike, and learning experiences they encounter. Together, we create resources and pathways that nurture curiosity, strengthen pilina, and make Hawaiian history and culture accessible and meaningful for keiki, ʻohana, and educators. Through these small beginnings, we hope to plant seeds of ʻike, kuleana, and ea that can be nurtured and carried forward for generations.

Emiko Kurosawa-Arakaki has been an early childhood educator in Hawaiʻi for over 20 years. Originally from Japan, she holds an MEd in Early Childhood Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her work explores how puppetry, storytelling, and ʻāina-based learning can foster young children's social-emotional development, empathy, and peer relationships. She is passionate about creating joyful learning experiences that help children build meaningful connections with one another, with nature, and with the diverse cultures of Hawaiʻi.

Pūlama Long is a cultural practitioner and community educator of ulana lauhala. She provides education and curriculum, focusing on bringing cultural knowledge into classrooms and educational spaces. Pūlama is passionate about giving the next generation the opportunity to strengthen academic success through traditional weaving and ‘āina-based education. 

Ian Nāhulu Maioho, MA is from the island of Molokaʻi and graduated with his MA in Indigenous Language and Culture Education with an Emphasis on Hawaiian Language and Culture Based Education from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikolani at UH Hilo. He is the director for Culture and ʻĀina Based Education at the Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center on the island of Molokaʻi. He is also the site manager at Kaupapaloʻi o Kaʻamola on the East side of Molokaʻi where he teaches keiki to makua how to steward loʻi pūnāwai on Molokaʻiʻs south shoreline through understanding our kuleana to Hāloa and to our ʻāina.

Dr. Makekau-Whittaker is on a mission to improve language teaching and learning across Hawaiʻi by grounding classroom practice in the reality of language acquisition science. A veteran educator with over 30 years of experience teaching the Hawaiian language, his perspective shifted profoundly over the last decade. His research into language acquisition theory revealed that widespread classroom pedagogies often fall short of their potential, largely because traditional instructional methods can overlook the underlying research on how the human brain actually processes and internalizes language.

Currently teaching at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi in Keaʻau, he instructs multiple levels of Hawaiian language and facilitates an innovative World Language Acquisition course where he empowers students to self-learn any language of their choice. Dr. Makekau-Whittaker’s commitment to transforming the field is exemplified in his most recent article, "He Haʻawina Aloha: On the need for a new pedagogy in Hawaiian language." By demonstrating how a deep understanding of cognitive research can inspire profound educational shifts, his work has sparked critical dialogue, challenging and shifting pedagogical paradigms across Hawaiʻi's language communities.

Dr. Leinani Makekau-Whittaker is a Senior Project Manager at Kamehameha Schools with over 30 years of experience in Hawaiian language and education, including roles as a teacher, principal, and system leader. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where her research centers on the resilience and persistence of kumu kaiapuni and the advancement of Hawaiian language education. Her work is rooted in ʻike Hawaiʻi and focuses on strengthening educational systems, and advancing ea through culturally grounded practices. 

Dr. Summer Maunakea is an Associate Professor of Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Education and Leadership in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education. Her work focuses on ʻāina-based education, Indigenous land-based pedagogies, practitioner inquiry, and culturally grounded evaluation. Summer partners with community organizations, including Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation and Pilina ʻĀina, to support educators in designing meaningful ʻāina-based learning experiences that strengthen relationships among people, place, and community. Through her teaching, research, and professional learning, she is passionate about cultivating educator wellbeing as an essential foundation for sustaining ʻāina-based education.

Chris McAdoo is a Senior Design Specialist for Kamehameha Publishing at Kamehameha Schools. He serves as a lead educational resource developer and collaborator.

Isaac "ʻIkaʻaka" Nāhuewai is a dedicated educator, cultural practitioner, and multimedia creator whose work bridges ancestral knowledge with modern platforms to shape Hawaiian futures. At the Hale Kuamoʻo, he serves as a curriculum developer, internship coordinator, and content creator, where he has developed extensive multimedia resources, videos, and curriculum sets. He is also the co-author of the Puke ʻAha Makahiki and He Lei Mokupuni. Deeply rooted in ʻāina and community, ʻIkaʻaka also serves as a MoʻoLono, KUA, and Access Guide for the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana. Merging his cultural foundation with technical expertise, he leads studio production and audio engineering for both the Hale Kuamoʻo and the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana, while continuing to produce music and multimedia under his independent brand, ikaakamai.

Laurel Nakanishi is a writer, educator and director of the HŌʻĀ program. She has taught creative writing to students across the pae ʻāina over the past seventeen years. Born and raised on Oahu, Laurel is the author of the books Mānoa|Makai, Ashore, and Late Morning Before the Abyss. 

Nuʻuanu is the ʻāina that raised me, Kaneʻohe is the ʻāina that currently feeds me. I taught at Farrington High School for 15 years before becoming a State Office Resource Teacher for Social Studies, then worked at the Office of Hawaiian Education where my primary kuleana was ʻĀina Aloha. I am currently one of the State Office Teachers in Health Education with a focus on ʻĀina Based and Wellness Engagement. 

Joshlyn "Joshy" Noga is an 8th grade agriculture teacher at King Intermediate School. Joshy is dedicated to growing aina-education within Hawaii Public Schools. Over the last 6 years she has been restoring an area on the King campus, removing invasive plants and re-introducing Native and Pacific island crops. From this work, hundreds of students have been able to build a deeper connection to the land on their campus, and learn more about the importance of Native reforestation. To help support the growth of her program and give the students a better understanding of how to repurpose non-native plants and use Native plants in everyday life, she has partnered up with different cultural practitioners. Bringing them into her classroom for students to learn hana noeau.

New York City was the place that sparked the art in me. Japan refined it. Hawaii defined it. Early childhood memories are filled with fond recollections of playing with paint and clay in the basement of MOMA in N.Y.C. I received my formal art training from The Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture in N.Y.C., where I immersed myself in a full spectrum of art including Painting, Printmaking, and Western Calligraphy. It was at an Art Show at The Japan Society in N.Y.C., where I first became fully captivated by the power and beauty of abstract black and white forms that emerge when Painting and Calligraphy become one. Happily, this newfound connection I had made with the Art of Japanese calligraphy inspired me to go to Japan where I went to study Japanese Calligraphy and Painting with a Master calligrapher and National Treasure. What an enormous impact this has had on my art as well as my life. My work in oil, acrylic, tempera, and sumi ink are an endless exploration of dynamic color combinations, lines, bold forms and a celebration of Eastern and Western influences. I met my husband in Japan (from Hilo, Hi.) raised 3 sons in Hawaii, and for the last 25 years been sharing art with children and adults. I received my Education degree from Hunter College in NYC and Graduate degree at UH Manoa in East Asian Art history & Japanese Language and Calligraphy. As a Fulbright scholar I returned to Japan to see if the art & cultural traditions of Japan are still being learned, preserved, perpetuated, and practiced with the children of Japan. Happy to report that they are! I am currently the art Specialist-instructor at Hanahau'oli School and Saturdays at the Downtown Art Center and Art Tent in Honolulu and teach art during the summers at Punahou School.

Kahealani Paogofie is a Teaching Artist of the HŌʻĀ program.  She has served as an elementary classroom teacher in the Waiʻanae Moku for over twenty years.  Kahealani is passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences for students and educators through moʻolelo.

Kasey Popken is a mother of two, was born and raised in Waiʻanae, and a proud graduate of Kamehameha Schools. Her current position is Program Director for the FCIL (Family Child Interaction Learning) programs within Partners in Development Foundation, which are Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool, Ka Paʻalana Homeless Family Education Program, and Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana. She has been working in the early childhood education field for over 20 years, 17 of which has been with Partners in Development Foundation's Ka Paʻalana Program.

Ethan Porter, MPX10 Humanities & Hawaiian Culture teacher at Mid-Pacific Institute, brings over 10 years of experience across public, private, and charter schools. A Kapolei High alum, he holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Hawaiian Studies and Political Science. He is also the Project Director of the Pledge to Our Keiki Student Ambassador Program with Kanu Hawaii.

Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit is a life-long student of Hawaiʻi’s history and was the Director of the Hawaiian newspaper project, Hoʻolaupaʻi. She has been the Programs Director of Awaiaulu since 2011 and guides the progress of Awaiaulu’s various projects that bridge Hawaiian knowledge from the past to the present by creating bi-lingual educational opportunities for today's generation.

Jessica Sobocinski MEd is an educator and researcher living in the ahupuaʻa of Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi Island. Originally from Portage, Indiana, she discovered her passion for education through work in food hubs, where she saw the potential of community gardens to foster healing and address social inequality. After serving as a garden kumu at Hōnaunau Elementary and earning her K-6 teaching license through Kahoʻiwai, Jess has worked in farm-to-school programs across Hawaiʻi Island for over a decade. As a graduate student in the MEd CS STEMS² program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, her research focused on using ʻāina-based education to promote social justice education in elementary schools, empowering students to recognize and address injustices while developing empathy and resilience. Jess has returned to her roots at Hōnaunau Elementary, serving as a first grade general education teacher!

Charis-Ann Sole has been an early childhood educator in Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi for the past 20 years. She holds an MS in Child Development from Erikson Institute and an MEd in Early Childhood Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her interests center on re-imagining education systems for Indigenous students, partnering with communities, connecting students to their kūpuna, as well discovering her own connection to her people that came before.

Maluhia States is a Hawaiian language educator whose study and teaching center on native speakers, especially the generation documented during the 1970s revitalization. Mentored for years by living native speakers of Niihau and Hawaii island, he works to make language accessible to Hawaiians today through the technology they already use. 

Dalani Tanahy is a practitioner, artist and teacher of the traditional art of Hawaiian kapa or bark-cloth making. One of a growing group of people who have devoted themselves to the rescue and rehabilitation of an art once considered lost, she has spent over 30 years immersed in the kapa arts. It became evident early on that kapa required attention to many arts to bring it back to life, including the cultivation of source plants for fiber and dyes and the gathering and crafting of traditional tools. With no living resources of Hawaiian heritage to teach ancient techniques, practitioners, including Dalani, were left to study museum collections and writings and learn from kapa makers of other Pacific Islands.

Born in San Diego, California and living in Makaha, Oahu, Hawaii for over 40 years, Dalani was a prolific creative since childhood, especially in illustration, fiber arts and crafting. In Hawaii she was able to learn traditional practices like fighting arts, medicinal plants, outrigger canoe racing, surfing, hula, hale and hei’au restoration among others. Somehow, teachings from all these arts coalesced in kapa making. During her career thus far, Dalani was able to create gifts of kapa for the Dalai Lama during his 2015 visit to Hawaii and for the Commander of the Pacific Submarine Fleet during his change of command in 2013. Kapa is created for stage and performance art and for local and global exhibitions and projects, and for traditional use such as reburials of human remains being returned from museum collections and the wrapping of newborn keiki.

“My love for my Hawaiian heritage is what ultimately led me to become an artist in its traditional arts, especially that of kapa making. The art of Hawaiian kapa was considered a “lost art”, with very few people knowledgeable or practicing it. To date I have taught thousands of people and travelled extensively to share this art. More importantly, My peers and I have been able to reacquaint Hawaiians with the kapa that their ancestors made, as many people could not recognize the differences in the varied types of Polynesian bark cloth. By working with professional designers, the hotel industry, museums and education centers we can also share with guests to Hawaii, visual information about some of our precious native art forms. Bringing kapa from a lost art to a very alive art has been both goal and achievement and I look forward to doing much more.”

Heidi Waiamau is a Senior Project Manager with Kamehameha Schools, where she leads collaborative initiatives that integrate Hawaiian culture-based education, conservation, and community partnerships to strengthen connections between learners, ʻāina, and ʻike kūpuna. With more than 20 years in education, she works alongside schools, Native Hawaiian organizations, conservation practitioners, and research institutions to develop place-based learning experiences that inspire civic engagement, environmental stewardship, and the next generation of aloha ʻāina leaders.