PRESENTER BIOS

Presenter

Dr. Kū Kahakalau is an award-winning Native Hawaiian educator, researcher, cultural practitioner and expert in Hawaiian language and culture residing in Kukuihaele on Hawaiʻi Island. The first person in the world with a Ph.D. in Indigenous Education, Dr. Kahakalau has been creating successful culture-based learning opportunities integrating Hawaiian language at very high levels for the past 40 years. This includes culture-based Hawaiian language hands-on immersion summer programs, Hawaiʻiʻs first bi-lingual Hawaiian-focused PK-12 charter school, a bi-lingual culture-based teacher licensing program, and most recently a culture-based asynchronous Hawaiian language program for learners of all ages. She is also President of a culture-based bi-lingual post-secondary education and career training program for young Hawaiians, called EA Ecoversity. EA stands for Education with Aloha, since Dr. Kahakalauʻs research confirms that love, compassion, respect and kindness are the most important ingredients in 21st century education, just like they were in ancient times. EA also means sovereignty in Hawaiian aligning with Dr. Kahakalauʻs efforts as a native community activist to empower native Hawaiian individuals, families and communities to reach their highest potential.

Presenter

Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit has served as Programs Director of Awaiaulu since 2011, helping guide major projects that preserve and share Hawaiian knowledge. Formerly Director of the Hawaiian newspaper project Hoʻolaupaʻi, she now leads He Aupuni Palapala, which digitizes Hawaiian-language newspapers while safeguarding the original papers. She also leads the development of Kīpapa Educator Resources, an online platform that brings curated bilingual Hawaiian primary sources into classrooms across Hawaiʻi. A determined mother and Tūtū of a large ʻohana, Kauʻi is committed to preserving and sharing Hawaiʻi’s stories in ways that foster learning, connection, and identity.

Presenter

Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa was born and raised on the island of Maui. Kalei is an academic, practitioner, photographer, composer, and mixed media artist. A critical thinker, recognized kilo practitioner, philanthropist and advocate of access to traditional knowledge, she uses ancestral methods to create and enrich healthy environments and situations where people can thrive.

Presenter

N. Haʻalilio Solomon is an assistant professor in the Hālau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi ʻo Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he received a PhD in Linguistics. His dissertation, “Attitudes & Ideologies Surrounding ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: A Qualitative Study”, facilitates the renormalization of the Hawaiian language by addressing challenges that slow its progress. Haʻalilio’s current research focuses on heritage speakership, revitalization, linguistic landscape, and the phonetics of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. His other academic interests include Hawaiian music, hula, and historical research. As a polyglot, his multilingualism shapes his pedagogy and philosophy towards language education, revitalization, and renormalization.

Kahiamaikalani Walker is a Native Hawaiian and Samoan educator, voyager, and founder of Koʻolauloa Voyaging Education. Born and raised in Koʻolauloa, Oʻahu, he works with Tagata Moana Hui Foundation, helping to advance Indigenous Pacific values through education and community engagement.
His passion for voyaging began in third grade through Hawaiian immersion education and deepened through his involvement with the Polynesian Voyaging Society in 2022. Since then, he has sailed aboard several traditional double-hulled canoes, including Hōkūleʻa, Marumaru Atua, and Iosepa. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Applied Mathematics and Hawaiian Studies from Brigham Young University–Hawaiʻi.
Inspired by the haʻawina of the waʻa, Kahiamaikalani felt a kuleana to bring those experiences home so local keiki could learn, grow, and see themselves reflected in this ʻike. In 2025, he founded Koʻolauloa Voyaging Education under Tagata Moana Hui Foundation, creating a place-based Waʻa Class program that serves students across the region.

Presenter

He kama kena i ka wai maikai o Ahuimanu, he mea imi i na mea apau e hiki ke imi aku ai. I am the ʻIke Hawaiʻi Geosciences Specialist with Hawaiʻi Sea Grant's Ulana ʻIke Center of Excellence, where I knot moolelo and ike Hawaii into nets of knowing and unknowing across Geosciences, Philosophy, History, and Political Theory to advance epistemic sovereignty in Hawaii and the Pacific. As a kolohe practitioner, my work as a Kanakademic, trained by the academy in both social and geosciences, challenges haole knowledge systems and settler-supremacy, centers ike Hawaii in academic practice, and develops community-driven approaches to knowing Hawaii.

Presenter

Dr. Waiʻaleʻale Arroyo is a mother, executive, educator and cultural practitioner. She is the Vice President of Hiʻialo at Kamehameha Schools, having just completed her time as the interim Kapālama Head of school. She also served as a public charter Head of School and Chief of Staff for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. She holds an Ed.D. in educational practice, an M.Ed. in leadership, an MBA, and a B.Ed in elementary education with an emphasis in Hawaiian language and culture.

Presenter

In 2009, Mailani released her first solo Hawaiian album and garnered her first Femail Vocalist OTY in 2010.  She has performed to sould out crowds throughout the islands, America, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, and even Ireland. Beyond her awards and travels, Mailani upholds her cultural integrity and responsibility in speaking her language and in giving back to her community young and old.  One of her most proud achievements was sharing and teaching 'ukulele and singing Hawaiian songs at Pohai Nani; a care home for kupuna.

Presenter

Nālani Balutski is from Heʻeia and Kahaluʻu, Oʻahu, and currently resides in Kapālama. She is a faculty specialist with the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Native Hawaiian Student Services at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she has been for over 16 years, designing, implementing and seeking funding for programs in support of Hawaiian student success. She has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University, Master's Degrees in Hawaiian Studies and Educational Administration from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and a PhD in Education, also from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her dissertation surveyed the development of the Hawaiian higher educational system in the 19th century Hawaiian Kingdom as a strategy of Hawaiian leadership in promoting and protecting Hawaiian independence.

Presenter

Chantal holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. With more than a decade of experience in community program development and implementation in Homestead communities, she is also a mother of seven-plus. Her work centers on building resiliency and expanding resources to foster healthy, sustainable relationships and lifestyles while perpetuating social justice and cultural awareness, to underserved individuals, families, and communities.

Presenter

Manu Kaʻiama hails from Kaʻelepulu, Oʻahu. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and two master degrees, one in Accounting from the Shidler College of Business and the other in Hawaiian Studies from Kamakakūokalani Center of Hawaiian Studies. She enjoys a joint appointment as an instructor at both the School of Accountancy, Shidler College of Business and at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. As a serious supported of higher education for our Nation, she has fundraised over 15 million dollars to be used predominantly for scholarship support for Native Hawaiian students.

As a cultural practitioner in hula and chant, she is fascinated by researching mele. Manu’s interests include value-driven Native Hawaiian businesses, Island sustainability and “thrivability,” successful economic models for independent island Nations, among other topics. She is a serious supporter of justice for Hawaiians.

Katrina-Ann R. Kapāʻanaokalāokeola Oliveira is the interim Vice Provost for Student Success at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies, a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution, a master's degree in Geography, a master of Business Administration degree, and a doctorate in Geography from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. She is also a certified Co-Active Coach.