Jennifer Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua
Name
Social Media Handle
Nominated by
Age
Town/Moku
Island
Leadership Category
Jennifer Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua
@noegk
Imai Winchester
47
Kalihi & Heʻeia, Oʻahu
Oʻahu
Education
Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.
ʻO Noelani Goodeyar-Kaʻōpua koʻu inoa, a he kupa na Oʻahunuialua. Na nā ʻāina o Heʻeia, Waikīkī a me Kalihilihiolaumiha i hānai mai iaʻu. While Iʻve lived my life on Oʻahu, the recent generations of my moʻokūʻauhau connect me to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Southern China and the British Midlands. I am the daughter of Lana Sue ʻIlima Kaʻōpua and Brian Goodyear, and I am a mom of three. My career is dedicated to public education, at the university level and in K-12 schooling before that. I am a teacher and have worked at UH Mānoa in the Political Science department since 2007, teaching Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Politics. My research has involved documenting, analyzing and proliferating the ways Kānaka and our allies are transforming unjust systems through our own political values and initiatives. Being in the ocean and surrounded by other wāhine o ke kai gives me life.
Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?
I love my work as an educator because I love seeing students connect with their own brilliance. Educators have kuleana to inspire students to see the heights they might reach and give them tools to strive toward those goals. I also love my work as an educator because I appreciate the ways students are constantly teaching me and helping me to grow. I believe that teachers, students, families, and communities together can heal injustices and create the conditions for more balanced and sustainable life in Hawaiʻi. Education is my lifeʻs work because I firmly believe education is an important way to help students, families and communities realize their own power to create self-determined futures.
Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.
A koʻokoʻo best symbolizes what leadership means to me. Like a koʻokoʻo, strong Hawaiian leaders support the collective body of the lāhui Hawaiʻi. Koʻokoʻo provide that support by being planted on the ground and by being solid enough for others to lean on when they need uplifting. Koʻokoʻo must have consistent integrity. They are useful more than flashy. I try to impart these values on the students I train, and I always hope that they exceed what I have been able to accomplish.
Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?
There are too many kumu to name all of them. A few who have passed on but who have been instrumental in shaping my life path are Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell, Kumu Kanalu Young, Kumu Haunani-Kay Trask, Papa Soli Niheu, and my Popo, Dorothea Sui Kum Chun.
What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui?
EAducation