Linda Jury
Name Linda Jury
Age 37
Town/Moku Waiʻanae
Island Oʻahu
Social Media Handle @waianaevalleyhomestead
Nominated by Shannon Bucasas
Leadership Category Mauli Ola - Health, Personal & Family Development
Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.
Aloha! My name is Linda Jury and I am a proud lifelong resident of Waiʻanae. I am married to my husband of 17 years, Josiah Jury. Together we have 6 children, 5 boys and 1 daughter. We are also the proud grandparents of a grandson. I am a teacher at Waiʻanae High School and an active member in our community through serving at our local church Holy Hill of Zion Thy Dwelling Place in Māʻili, as well as serving as a board member of Waiʻanae Valley Homestead Community Association. I teach Social studies and Hawaiian Language at Waiʻanae High school and have been teaching there for 6 years.
Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?
I love Waiʻanae and aspire to be the change I want to see in my community. I am always looking for opportunities to instill a sense of kuleana in my own children and students because when we start to take ownership of our communities, we make ourselves a part of the solution. I know my community is challenged with so many things, and just want people to see that we are all able to help uplift one another. I believe that healthy families creates healthy communities and a lot of the work that I do goes back to that.
Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.
I truly believe a leader is a servant. A leader is the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. A leader has the ability to persuade others to follow them and not because he/she is good with words, but because people see and believe that person is trustworthy enough to lead them in the right direction. All my life I have made it a point to be a person of integrity. I know what I stand for and am willing to work towards a cause that I believe in. In 2020, when Covid-19 hit our communities, I took a risk and asked people to be good neighbors. We organized a graduation drive by for about 40 seniors in our Waiʻanae Valley Homestead. I was amazed at the turn out of support and the graduates were overwhelmed with aloha from our community. It was beautiful to see! I also take on leadership as a teacher at Waiʻanae High School. One thing I always tell my students is I will never tell them to do something that I wonʻt lead first. I try to pave the way, break the ice or participate in events to give them an example to follow.
Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?
My community has inspired me to do this work. From my kupuna, my parents, my children, my students, my neighbors and even people that I do not know walking up an down our streets.
What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui?
kuleana
What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui?
kuleana