Mahealani Cypher

Name Mahealani Cypher

Age 75

Town/Moku Kane`ohe/Ko`olaupoko

Island Oʻahu

Social Media Handle none

Nominated by Leialoha "Rocky" Kaluhiwa

Leadership Category Culture

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

Adopted by my maternal grandparents as a young child, I was raised in the ahupua`a of Kane`ohe and loved to sit at my tutu's knee and hear all of her stories about our `ohana and some of the fascinating things that occurred. From her, I learned to appreciate our culture and our family history, which was later to inspire me to study more and more about our heritage and ahupua`a. From my tutukane, I learned to love the lush and beautiful Ko`olau mountains and the communities where - as a young child - I accompanied him on his newspaper truck making deliveries every day. With scholarships, I was fortunate to obtain a good education, focusing on journalism and business. Although I left college in my third year to raise my children, I later returned to work in various fields - government agencies, labor unions, news media and the state legislature - and developed a broad knowledge and a variety of skills. After nearly 25 years working for the Board of Water Supply, I was appointed to serve as the 10th City Clerk of the City & County of Honolulu. Following several years of service in that post, I finally retired from the City in late 2008. During all the years that I worked in various jobs, however, starting in 1972, I took a great interest in what was happening in my community and - during my free time and concurrent with my jobs w/ the state and city government - contributed countless hours of volunteer work as a community and historic preservation advocate. Besides my kupuna, I credit Earl "Buddy" Neller for connecting me with the wahi kapu and wahi pana of Ko`olaupoko and which define my work of today with the Ko`olau Foundation. As an active member of our board, I spend much of my time working with volunteers, grant-writing, and pursuing our initiative to establish a cultural preserve in Haiku valley.

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

The work that I do is compelling to me. I feel called to do this work, by my kupuna, by my mentors and others who have shared their knowledge of our culture and history, by the spirit and mana of Haiku valley. Of course, I don't just advocate for Haiku; as a matter of fact, I have long been a strong supporter of incorporate historical knowledge into planning for the future. It is this connection - learning from our past while planning for our future - that I believe makes this work important for our community and for generations to come. I am mostly a story-teller, like my kupuna; but I celebrate and honor other cultural practitioners who share all of their `ike and traditional knowledge with us, and whose knowledge is vital to keeping our heritage vital and valued for the future.

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

A good leader is one who has followers, one who mentors others, one who is humble and always willing to prepare others to take on leadership kuleana, one who understands the need for balance in making decisions. A good leader shares his or her vision and helps the team move forward by giving them the tools or resources needed for them to succeed in achieving that vision. Some of the best and most effective leaders I have known have been very humble - even very powerful people that I've known have kept that spark of humility in their hearts. And a great leader has compassion for others. I try to practice as many of these qualities as I can, but - in my view - it's a lifelong, never-ending journey and quest for pono.

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

As I said earlier in response to other questions, I was inspired first by my grandmother, Elizabeth Keolahou Cypher, and later by archaeologist Earl "Buddy" Neller. More recently, the late Aunty Caroline Bright, a kupuna with ties to Haiku valley, has joined my group of aumakua who keep me focused and inspired.

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

Possibilities

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

self-deception