Tiele-Lauren Doudt

Name Tiele-Lauren Doudt

Age 26

Town/Moku Kīlauea, Koʻolau

Island Kauaʻi

Social Media Handle @tielelauren

Nominated by Kammie Tavares

Leadership Category Culture

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

ʻAnoʻai ke aloha e nā hoa makamaka o ka ʻāina kāʻili lā - ʻo Tiele-Lauren Doudt koʻu inoa, no Kīlauea iki mai. I have the pleasure of being the current Education Coordinator for Mālama Hulēʻia, a non-profit that aims to steward a 600-year old loko kuapā located in the ahupuaʻa of Niumalu on the island of Kauaʻi. I am also a part time lecturer in Hawaiian Studies for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. These days you can find me out in Niumalu surrounded by students that are passionate about exploring their natural environment.

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

I LOVE food! Especially Hawaiian food! Meaʻai that was grown by and for Hawaiians. Meaʻai that was produced, prepared, and distributed on our ʻāina. So much of our identity and well-being comes from our physical, mental, and spiritual interactions with each other and our physical landscapes. And there is always so much more that is left for us to kilo, research, and remember about our ancestral food systems.

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

I have always admired our leaders in the community (especially our farmers and educators) who are deeply committed to their end goal. Whenever things get tough - not being able to afford a home, picking up trash that's been dumped by the local community in our wahi, foreigners testing our boundaries - I think of the resilience of our kūpuna and strive to emulate aloha and kūpaʻa in all that I do.

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

My aloha for food production stems from a childhood spent cooking and growing food at the Waipā Foundation in Hanalei. My great inspiration for returning to graduate school comes from the many sunsets spent in Lualualei, Waiʻanae with the MAʻO Organic Farms ʻohana. My Kumu Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa inspired me to seek out our loko iʻa as a source of community vitality. Today I am inspired by our 6th grade students from Anahola's Kanuikapono Public Charter School.

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

IʻA

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

WAI