Kamakanaokealoha Aquino

Name Kamakanaokealoha Aquino

Age 32

Town/Moku Waimānalo

Island Oʻahu

Social Media Handle none

Nominated by Kaiwipuni Lipe

Leadership Category Education

Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.

I am from Waimānalo, Oʻahu and graduated from UH Mānoa with my BA Hawaiian Studies and MEd Educational Administration, focused in higher education. I've been involved in several student organizations during my undergraduate years and traveled to Aotearoa/New Zealand for a semester exchange. My ʻohana and I have been involved in the community, particularly our Waimānalo homestead association and the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission. I currently work as the coordinator for Hui ʻĀina Pilipili, the Native Hawaiian Initiative in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, coordinating different projects for the College in becoming a Hawaiian place of learning.

Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?

I saw myself wanting to work within the higher education system after my exchange to the University of Waikato in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I've experienced, engaged and witnessed in how the institution responded to their responsibility to Māori. It is why I have chosen to work in higher education to help the institution respond responsibly and in a cultural appropriate manner. My work also intersects in the community to help provide space and opportunities for our Hawaiians in higher education, so that the knowledge that they invest in learning will then be invested to positively change our communities.

Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.

I think kuleana is the first and foremost quality of leadership that I strive to express in my life and work. In work, I feel my kuleana is my passion. I get to create opportunities for Hawaiians in higher education. Outside of work, my kuleana is to my ʻohana and to my community, by being in engaged in my homestead community.

Pilina is another quality I strive towards in creating relationships and partnerships with others, whether it’s with faculty or departments or with Hawaiian organizations and communities. It is important for me to build relationships for our communities to the College.

Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?

My grandmother Lucy Noelani Lonomaʻaikanaka Mia Akau has been my inspiration and set the foundation for my work. It started when l was in high school. She was very active in our Waimānalo community, like our Waimānalo homestead and Waimānalo Health Center. I would attend many different community meetings with her. This was how I became engaged in our Waimānalo homestead association. Her dedication and activism guided my pathway to my current work.

What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui?

manaʻolana

What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui?

decision-making