Kawehi Goto

Name Kawehi Goto

Age 28

Town/Moku Papakōlea, Oʻahu

Island Oʻahu

Social Media Handle none

Nominated by Kaiwipuni Lipe

Leadership Category Education

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

Aloha mai kāua! My name is Kawehionālani Goto and I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Educational Psychology department. In my research, I am looking at conceptualizations of well-being through the stories of Kānaka doctoral students to inform how we understand mental health and well-being development. I am also a graduate assistant at the university in the Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office where I help gather and make sense of Native Hawaiian student data. I am a daughter, a sister, an aunty, a hula practitioner, a Hawaiian-Japanese wahine, and a life-long learner.

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

I am involved in this work and it is important to me because as a Native Hawaiian student myself, I have pilina in understanding Native Hawaiian student data. I hope that this work will support pathways through higher education for Native Hawaiian students who would like to go to a university. The work that I am involved in is important to the UH Mānoa community because I believe in the ability of the university to become a Hawaiian place of learning. While there are still many hurdles and challenges to this work, I think it is possible and envision that becoming a Hawaiian place of learning would be good for students across our pae ʻāina.

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

The qualities of leadership that I admire are connection, care, and pono. I have learned from the leaders in my life the importance of connection or pilina and understanding my role in relationship to those around me and in the spaces I inhabit. I try to embody this pilina by being kaikaina to those leaders, and recognizing my changing role as I become kaikuaʻana to other people that will come. These leaders have also shown me deep care and aloha, and inspire me to pay that forward as I strive to show that same care to the people and places I interact with. Lastly, I admire pono as a foundational leadership quality. I have learned through hula that being a pono leader means embodying all that I see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel, and I use these naʻau-rooted senses to live life through pono.

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

I have been and continue to be inspired by my ‘ohana, by many teachers and mentors, and by my dear friends. Namely, I recognize through my research and work at the university the mentorship of Dr. Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Lipe, Dr. Lois Yamauchi, and my Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang, as well as my hula brothers and sisters.

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

Hoʻoulu

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

Intergenerational trauma