Emma-Lani Brown
Name Emma-Lani Brown
Social Media @elbowoop
Age 15
Town/Moku Kona Oahu or Kaimuki
Island Oʻahu
Leadership Category Mālama ʻĀina - Environmental Sustainability
Nominated by Leināʻala Medeiros
Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.
Aloha my name is Emma-Lani and I am a sophomore at Mid-Pacific Institute. I love to golf, dance, play the ukulele, and do community service. I have been golfing since I was three. Some of my greatest accomplishments in golf was being team captain in eighth grade golf and becoming a varsity one teammate as a freshman. I also have been doing modern dance since I was three. Modern Dance includes jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and hip hop. I also do hula both at school and outside of school. I have only been dancing hula for three years but my inspiration comes from a summer school class at Mid-Pacific Institute taught by Kumu Wehi Romias. She is a student of Kumu Lanakila Casupang. She gave me the courage to do hula and go beyond by enrolling in hula at school. My second year of taking that class in the summer, I decided to join a hālau which is a reason why I joined Hālau Na Pualei o Likolehua. I have been playing the ukulele for five years and I am taught at Roy Sakumaʻs Ukulele Studio. I have participated in a total of four ukulele festivals. I also help my aunty and uncle serve food at Next Step Shelter at Pier 1. I have been helping at the place for a long time with my family and we all love helping people in need. I also am an opio board member for a nonprofit organization called Papahana Aloha 'Āina Hawai'i. We just had our webinar series last month on the topic of la'i and the many uses of it.
Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?
The work that I do is important to me because it allows me to give back to my people and also my community. I give back to my people and my community because I am able to show them how to keep healthy with things from our ʻāina using different native plants.
Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.
There are three qualities of leadership that I admire. 1) communication 2) positive attitude and 3) open-mindedness and creativity. I express those qualities by practicing and living those qualities in my everyday life at home, school and community.
Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?
My Aunty Momi Mo'okini Lum.
What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui? growth
What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui? injustice