Kainoa Kaulukukui-Narikawa
NAME Kainoa Kaulukukui-Narikawa
SOCIAL MEDIA @kainoakk
AGE 35
TOWN/MOKU Honolulu
ISLAND Oʻahu
LEADERSHIP CATEGORY Education
NOMINATED BY Brigitte Russo
Share with us a little about yourself and what you do. I am a Kanaka ʻŌiwi woman, mother, educator, and emerging scholar. I am currently a third year PhD student in Education: Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a Senior Design Specialist at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama. My dissertation project is about climate change adaption and education and will highlight the everyday acts of political, spiritual, and relational resurgence of Kanaka ʻŌiwi in this modern era. I started my career in education as an 8th grade math and science teacher at ʻEwa Makai Middle School. I then spent two years as a NOAA education specialist at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument where I translated scientific literature into digestible education content for students and teachers. I also worked with classroom teachers across the archipelago to create project-based and place-based science curricula that empowered students to create positive change in their own communities. In 2017, I began planning and coordinating Hawaiian-culture based intersession S.T.E.A.M programs at Kamehameha Schools. In my current position at Kamehameha Schools as a Senior Design Specialist, I am collaborating with kumu and ʻāina stewards to create professional development opportunities that help to strengthen kumu confidence and ability to integrate ʻāina into their curricula.
Why is the work that you do important to you? The community? As a Kanaka ʻŌiwi mother, ʻāina educator and emerging scholar, it is important for me to add to the growing body of culture-based curricula and scholarship that is being conceived, conducted, and composed by Kanaka ʻŌiwi, with Kanaka ʻŌiwi lenses, for the benefit of Kanaka ʻŌiwi and other Indigenous peoples.
Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life. The leaders that I most admire are aloha ʻāina who are engaged in the personal and collective work toward decolonization. I am guided by their examples and do my best to support work that upholds our traditionally held values of respect, reciprocity, and integrity. Like the leaders that I admire, I strive to practice aloha 'āina in all aspects of my life in order to leave behind a legacy of care for 'āina and lāhui that better secures a sustainable future for my mo'opuna.
Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing? Haunani-Kay Trask, Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, Mehana Vaughan and Julie Kaomea are my intellectual role models and continue to inspire me to be the best educator and scholar that I can be for the lāhui.
What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui? Ea
What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui? Climate Change