Lilinoe Kauahikaua

Name Lilinoe Kauahikaua

social media @Lkauahik - IG or @Lilinoe Kauahikaua - FB

Age 37

Town/Moku Pi'ihonua - Hilo

Island Hawaiʻi Island

Leadership Category Mauli Ola

Nominated by Jamee Miller

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

I uses she/her/ʻO ia pronouns and is from Piʻihonua, Hilo on Moku o Keawe (Hawaiʻi Island) but has lived and grown in many other spaces throughout her journey, including Oʻahu, California, and Arizona.

I am a 2021 graduate of the Masters of Social Work program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM), my research focuses include data disaggregation, and Indigenous approaches to: behavioral/mental health, reentry services, incarceration, and substance misuse. I also received my B.A. in the Administration of Justice, with a minor in Hawaiian studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, along with a certificate in Hawaiʻi Lifestyles from Hawaiʻi Community College.

I currently serve as a population health specialist for Papa Ola Lōkahi focusing on addictions, behavioral/mental health, and social justice including incarceration and reenty in the Native Hawaiian community. I have lived experience in the areas I focus on and followed a path of cultural reclamation in my own healing journey. I am so grateful to be able to serve the lāhui in helping to perpetuate and connect cultural healing pathways for our kānaka experiencing issues with substance use, mental health, incarceration, and reentry.

I was appointed by Governor Ige to the Hawai’i Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse and Controlled Substances. I serve on the boards of ʻEkolu Mea Nui, Going Home Hawai’i, and Kinohi Mana Nui, as the cultural committee co-chair for The Going Home Hawaiʻi Consortium, and on committees for the Institute of Violence and Trauma (IVAT), and Hawaiʻi SUPD (Substance Use Professional Development) initiative.

I received the kāhea to return home and serve my lāhui over 10 years ago and am committed to pursuing social justice for the Native Hawaiian Community. I also enjoy singing, going to the beach, cultural learning, and spending time with ʻohana & friends.

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

My work is important to me because it is so closely intertwined with who I am and the pathways I have walked. As someone who grew up disconnected from truly knowing and understanding my cultural identity, I know firsthand how this disconnection can impact our lāhui of the diaspora as well as our lāhui here in Hawaiʻi. Our people are disproportionately impacted by addiction, mental health issues, incarceration, houselessness, and reentry due to the long term impacts of colonization and intergenerational, cultural, and historical trauma. Our lāhui also carries with them the incredible intergenerational strengths passed down by our ancestors, contained within our cultural knowledge, and ʻike kūpuna. It is our kuleana to help those who have found themselves disconnected from this knowledge, to reconnect and ignite their mana.

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

Some of the qualities of leadership that I admire are mana, grace, patience, confidence, a strong sense of identity, a sense of place, the ability to create safe spaces, and the ability to shift ones own paradigm with new knowledge. I also admire leaders who are not afraid to say, "I donʻt know", or "I made a mistake". I try to embody and express these qualities to the best of my ability in my own leadership spaces. I am always learning, asking questions, and consulting with those who have come before me. There is a wealth of knowledge in the incredible work our kūpuna have done before us. They have blazed a trail for us to follow and continue to perpetuate their work for the lāhui.

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

There are so many people that have inspired me. One would have to be my mother, who never gave up on me as I struggled throughout my life. She showed me what it meant to be a strong woman and was instrumental in my return home to Hawaiʻi. She always knew that I would find a sense of purpose and healing if I returned home. I have learned so much from the mana wāhine in my life as well, Sheri Daniels, Kealoha Fox, Aunty Lahela Kruse, Kanoelani Davis, Aunty Shari Lynn, Dr. Hannah Preston-Pita, Aunty Jackie Hong, Kateri Coyhis, and so many more. As well as kāne that share ʻike such as Palama Lee, Keola Chan, and Pono Shim.

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

Mauliola

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

trauma