HUI HOʻOKAHUA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR KE KULA ʻO PIʻILANI
DR. KATRINA-ANN KAPĀANAOKALĀMAULIOLA OLIVEIRA
PELEKIKENA (PRESIDENT) | HOʻOLĀLĀ PAHUHOPU (CURRICULUM & STRATEGIC PLANNING )
Ph.D. Philosophy in Geography, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. M.B.A., University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. M.A. Geography, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. B.A. Hawaiian Language, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. B.A. Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. Interim Vice Provost for Student Academic Success, UH Mānoa, 2023. Assistant Vice Provost for Student Academic Success, UH Mānoa, 2021 to present. Interim Assistsant Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, UH Mānoa, 2021. Principal Investigator, Mai ʻŌ A ʻŌ Program, 2021 to present. Principal Investigator and Co-Executive Director, Noʻeau Program, 2018 to present. Director/Department Chair, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, UH Mānoa, 2007-2016. Professor and Graduate Faculty, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, UH Mānoa, 2013-2021. Graduate Faculty, College of Education, UH Mānoa, 2020 to present. Hawaiian Language Teacher, Lecturer, Advisor, Coordinator and Professor, UH Mānoa, 1996 to 2017. Omidyar Fellow, Asian Field Study Freeman Fellow, Mellon-Hawaiʻi Fellow, First Nations Futures Program Fellow, Kamehameha Schools East-West Center Fellow. 2010 Chancellorʻs Award for Meritorious Teaching, 2009 UH Presidentʻs Emerging Leaders Program, 2009 Selectee for Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar on Race, 2018 Betta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society Award, 2010 The Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University Certificate of Completion for the First Nationsʻ Futures Institute, 2007 Laeoʻo Award for Outstanding Doctoral Work on Native Hawaiian Education, 2006 HJ Wiens Memorial Award for Outstanding Doctoral Work in Geography. Authorships, reviews, keynote presentations, university courses, mentorships, and professional affiliations available upon request.
BRYCE THAYER
LUNA PUʻUKŪ (TREASURER) | ʻIMI HAʻAWINA HOʻOULU KĀLĀ (GRANTS & FUNDRAISING)
Being born and raised on Maui, Hawai’i, Bryce returned to the community and culture that he grew up in after graduation from Babson College in Massachusetts in 2003. Having studied Real Estate Finance, he began his working career at Bank of Hawa'i’i in Commercial lending. Bryce was then recruited to work on a Financial Advisory team at Morgan Stanley and has been there for the past 4 years. Bryce’s biggest passion today is working with Ke Kula ‘o Pi’ilani. As board president, he feels he is at the forefront of preserving our language and culture of Hawai’i while giving his own children the best possible educational experience. Youth will always prevail, so it is through our children that we will succeed as a society.
PAST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DR. ANNA LAURA ECKART-DODD
LUNA HOʻOMALU NO KE KŌMIKE HOʻOKŌ KULEKELE (POLICY & PROCEDURE COMMITTEE CHAIR)
Anna was born and raised on O’ahu, Hawai’i. After graduating from Brown University with a degree in human biology, she spent several years in the Republic of the Marshall Islands working in the airport and studying cultural dynamics. She returned to O’ahu to complete medical school and residency. She currently works for Kaiser Permanente as an internal medicine hospitalist and serves as the Chair of the Medicine Department at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Anna is interested in the intersection of physical health, spiritual health, and cultural health. She also works with her family to farm kalo.
DANIELLE KŪLIA PAHIA
LUNA NO KE KŌMIKE NOI LAIKINI HŌʻOIA MĀKAUKAU (ACCREDITATION AND LICENSING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR)
High School Diploma, Kamehameha Secondary Schools Kapālama. B.A. Early Childhood Education, University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa. Preschool teacher at Kamehameha Paukūkalo School, Maui. Past Facilitator Keiki O Ka ʻĀina Family Learning Center.
LEAH SANTOS
HOPE PELEKIKENA (VICE-PRESIDENT) | HOʻOKŪPONO PAHUHOPU (COMPLIANCE & TECHNOLOGY)
M.A. Media Studies, Emerson College Boston. B.A. Visual Anthropology, Documentary Film-Making and 3D Computer Animation, University of Southern California. Imagi Animation, Senior Production Coordinator, 2007-2008. Disney/Image Movers, Senior Production Supervisor, 2008-2010. VH1/Shed Media, Production Coordinator, 2010. MS Productions, Motion Graphics Designer/Editor, 2010-2016. Parents and Children Together, Administrative Assistant, 2014. County of Maui, Mayorʻs Office of Economic Development, Film Office Liaison, 2014-2015. Monkeypod Art Studio, Arts Leader, 2015-2016. Kamehameha Schools, Tech Coordinator and Teaching Assistant, 2015-2017. Ke Kula ʻo Piʻilani, Administrative Lead, Executive Director, Tech Teacher, 2019-2022. Freelance Graphics and Website Designer, All I See Is Art Business Owner, 2012 to present.
KUMU JOHN KAPONOʻAIKAULIKEIKEAO MOLITAU
KUMUʻIKE LOINA HAWAIʻI (CULTURAL ADVISOR)
Owner, Native Intelligence, Wailuku, cultural resource center and design company for Hawiaian practitioners, craftsmen and artisans. Raised traditionally with cultural guidance of one of Hawai'i's leading authorities, the late Kumu John Keola Lake, he has served as a Hawaiian cultural teacher and protocol advisor for various private and government organizations, including the Hula Preservation Society, the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission, Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks National Park Service, Maui Nui Botanical Gardens and Kamehameha Schools Maui. Today, he is a cultural authority on traditional customary practices in Hawaiian protocol, Hula, Oli, 'Ōlelo Hawai'i, and Pule. He is Kumu Hula of Nā Hanona Kūlike 'o Pi'ilani since 2002. He is the Kahuna Nui or high priest of Pu'ukohola Heiau and Kahuna Nui of the Royal Order of Kamehameha statewide.
JOY AULANI TAKATSUKA
LUNA NO KE KŌMIKE NOI LAIKINI HŌʻOIA MĀKAUKAU (ACCREDITATION AND LICENSING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR)
B.A. Elementary Education, Graceland University Iowa. M.A. Teaching and Learning, Curriculum and Instruction Specialization, Nova Southeastern University Florida. Hawaiʻi Teachers Standards Board, Advanced License Elementary Education K-6 Certification, July 1997. Teaching since 1996, Pāʻia Elementary School, Kaunakakai Elementary School, and King Kamehameha III Elementary School (since 2001). Maui District Teacher of the Year 2016. Co-Presenter at the Association for Positive Behavior Supports (APBS) Conference, San Diego in 2018 and Denver in 2017. Multitiered Systems of Support Team since 2015. Summer Transition-To-Kindergarten Program Lead Teacher since 2005. Instructional Leadership Team 2014-2017. National Board Certified Teacher 2013. School Community Council Member 2012-2013. Extended School Year Educational Assistant 2016. Home Hospital Certified Tutor. After School Tutoring Program Teacher. Science/Social Studies Curriculum Chair. May Day Committee Team Member and Court Advisor.
KIMBERLY THAYER
LUNA KĀKAU ʻŌLELO (SECRETARY) | ʻIMI HAʻAWINA HOʻOULU KĀLĀ (GRANTS & FUNDRAISING)
Raised in rural Ha’iku on the remnants of her grandpa’s pineapple farm, Kim developed a deep love for Maui’s native forests and natural resources. She broadened her horizons by earning a Bachelor of Social Science, Honors, in Anthropology from James Cook University in Australia. Upon returning home in 2007, she worked in land use planning before joining the Mauna Kahalawai (West Maui Mountains) Watershed Partnership in 2012. Her position at MKWP is immensely rewarding, working to protect West Maui’s forests and watersheds through a balance of office management, public outreach and education, and fieldwork in the back-country. Since 2010, she has served as a volunteer docent for The Nature Conservancy, leading group hikes into their Waikamoi Preserve while educating people about Hawai’i’s native forest resources. She is a founding board member of Ke Kula ʻo Piʻilani and is currently a partner at Skog Rasmussen, LLC. She enjoys the outdoors with her husband and two young keiki.
DR. KORTNIE CRUZ
KA ʻELELE O KA ʻAHAHUI KUKUPU PILINA |
Ph.D. Social Justice In Education, University of San Diego. M.Ed., University of California Santa Barbara. B.A. English, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. California Single Subject Teaching Credential. Hawaiʻi Teachers Standards Board Advanced License. Hawaiʻi Department of Education, Lahainaluna High School, Maui, Hawaiʻi, English Language Arts. Seabury Hall, Maui, Hawaiʻi, Public Speaking, AP Language and Composition, AP Seminar, Freshman Advisor. Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara Unified School District, English Language Arts. Allies for Equity Committee. Innovate Team Member. Mentor Teacher Santa Barbara Unified School District Induction Program. HIDOE Professional Development Ola I Ka Wai, Maui Huliau Climate Action Problem-Based Learning, and Kūkulu Pilina. Introduction to Teaching in Hawaiʻi. Kettle Moraine High School Wales, Washington. Summit Learning. Just Communities Institute for Equity in Education Workshop. Dr. Sandra Kaplanʻs Differentiation Training Series. Pathways Project Cohort I. Research interests include how power and privilege shape school outcomes, ecology of learning environments, the effects of colonization in education in Oceania, public perception, culture, and efficacy/success of independent school institutions in Oceania, place-based learning as a route to social justice, development, implementation, and evaluation of ethnic studies and coursework in K-12 settings, non-traditional alternative learning programs and how they work to break and/or build just communities, the effects of implementation of restorative justice practices in secondary schools, measuring the impact and authenticity of professional development trainings and initiatives (anti-racist, implicit-bias, PBIS, SEL, DEI, social justice trainings and workshops, and traditional grading systems and how they perpetuate segregation and inequity.
LUANA LEE ANN KAWAʻA
LĀLĀ NO KE KŌMIKE NOI LAIKINI HŌʻOIA MĀKAUKAU (ACCREDITATION AND LICENSING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR)
Luana Lee Ann Kawaʻa is a native Hawaiian wife, mother, grandmother, and educator. She has four amazing adult children, two hānai children who chose her as their mom, and two adorable granddaughters. She married her high school sweetheart, Llewellyn, and they currently reside in Paukūkalo on the beautiful island of Maui. She has been teaching Hawaiian language and culture for over 30 years. Hula has been part of her life since the age of 6. In 1995, she started her journey as a Kumu Hula (Master Hula Instructor) and completed the traditional ʻūniki process to become a Kumu Hula under Hōkūlani Holt in 2002. She is passionate about teaching and sharing Hawaiian language, culture, and values in a positive and inclusive learning environment.