Dino-John Iokepa-Guerrero
Name Dino-JohnIokepa-Guerrero
Age 46
Town/Moku EWA/HONOULIULLI
Island Oʻahu
Leadership Category Mālama ʻĀina - ENvironmental Sustainability
Nominated by Tim Los Banos
Share with us a little about yourself and what you do. I have always been about helping others. When I turned 19, I became a fire fighter and have been doing so for 27 years now. For me, it was about doing something that I could help others at possibly one of their worst times in their lives. This gave me a sense of fulfillment knowing that I could give that person or family some type of kōkua in their time of need. I have never been one for the spotlight. Instead, I prefer working and helping others in the shadows and behind the scenes so to speak. ʻOhana and community and have always been a part of me and what I love doing. Especially sharing Hawaiian family traditions and knowledge that have been passed down to me from my ʻohana and from what I have learned through my years. I see this as passing on knowledge that I received from generations before me. This knowledge is a great way to help people, families and communities. Our kūpuna ʻike has been passed down thru time just for that, to kōkua those that pay attention and mālama that knowledge. This knowledge is to help us survive, thrive and take up our kuleana for the generations to come. So forth laying down a solid foundation that generations may be built upon. I have always felt like this and I will keep helping ʻohana and communities.
Why is the work that you do important to you? The community? The work that I do I believe has a positive effect on family and community. This positive effect comes from our ʻike kūpuna that has been gained from thousands of generations living in these islands. This ʻike has been time tested and proven to help kanaka thrive in these islands. By teaching this type of ʻike to communities and ʻohana, this can only kōkua everyone to thrive like our kūpuna have, with a modern twist but with the same foundation of mana'o kūpuna.
Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life. The two qualities that I admire the most in leadership are aloha and mālama. If leadership has these two qualities, it is very hard to make wrong choices for the group, for the ʻohana and for community. I try to express these qualities in everything that I do. To truly have aloha for someone or something means that you will mālama, or take care of that relationship in the best way and by the best means possible. Aloha is a quality that translates to having something true, pure, strong and unconditional, in that we keep relationships between each other and between all living things that surround us in working order where everyone and everything benefits. To mālama is to take care of someone or something in a manner that places the kuleana upon each and everyone one of us in a community or ʻohana.
Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing? My ʻohana. Those that came before me, those that are here with me now in this generation and those that are coming in the next generations. Also the kūpuna that gave so much of their time, aloha and of themselves to pass on their knowledge for the next generations.
What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui? Sustainability
What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui? Accessibility