2024 Inaugural Session
“What is Your Mo‘olelo?”
Feb. 5, 2024

The Leadership Speaker Series is the realization of a generous donation from Vaughn Vasconcellos KSK’71. This initiative provides opportunities for students to meet and connect with leaders at local, national and global levels. During these interactive sessions, students will gain insights into the personal journeys of these influential leaders, understanding the paths they took to achieve their positions of influence. The goal of the series is to inspire students through shared stories and empower their own story, encouraging a belief in the possibilities of success through leadership.

Meet Leadership Speaker Series Founder Vaughn Vasconcellos

Vaughn Vasconcellos

Founder, Leadership Speaker Series

Vaughn Vasconcellos is a co-founder and advisor of Alaka‘ina Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports Native Hawaiian education and culture. He previously served as CEO and president of Akimeka, LLC, an information technology services company that was acquired by VSE Corporation in 2010. Prior to that, he worked as an independent consultant and sales executive for Unisys Corporation and served as a major in the United States Army. He holds an executive MBA from Northeastern University, a master’s degree in management from Troy University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in 1971.

Vasconcellos was born in Honolulu and raised on Hawaiian Homelands in Ho‘olehua, Moloka‘i. He continues to give back to the community through multiple organizations including Chaminade University as a member of the Board of Governors, the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program Advisory Board, and the Suzie Martin & Vaughn Vasconcellos Leadership Institute, which is named after him and his wife, Suzie. He also served as the former chair of Chaminade University’s Board of Regents.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka

Honoree, 2024 Leadership Speaker Series

Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka was an educator and politician who represented Hawai‘i as a United States Senator from 1990 to 2013; he was the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Akaka was born in Honolulu in 1924 and graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in 1942. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, participating in the battles of Saipan and Tinian. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and worked as a teacher, principal, and program planner for the Hawai‘i State Department of Education.

Akaka was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 and served for 13 years before being appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1990, following the death of Sen. Spark Matsunaga. He was reelected to three full terms and served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He sponsored the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the Akaka Bill, which would establish a Native Hawaiian governing body. Akaka retired from the Senate in 2013 and passed away in 2018 at the age of 93.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye

Honoree, 2024 Leadership Speaker Series

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye represented Hawai‘i as a United States Senator for nearly 50 years, from 1963 until his death in 2012. He was also the president pro tempore of the Senate from 2010 to 2012, making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history. Before entering politics, he was a decorated soldier who fought in World War II as part of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, an all-Japanese-American unit. He lost his right arm in combat and received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, becoming the first and only senator to receive both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.

Inouye was born and raised in Honolulu to Japanese immigrant parents. He graduated from McKinley High School and attended the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he was a pre-medical student and a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He later earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School. Inouye practiced law in Hawai‘i and served in the territorial legislature before becoming Hawai‘i’s first U.S. representative when statehood was established in 1959. After being elected to the U.S. Senate three years later, he became a respected leader on various issues, including appropriations, commerce, intelligence, and Indian affairs. Inouye also played a key role in the Senate investigations of the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals.

Gerard K. Akaka, MD

Speaker, 2024 Leadership Speaker Series

Gerard K. Akaka, MD, is an internist and the vice president of Native Hawaiian affairs and clinical support at The Queen’s Health System in Honolulu. He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine in 1989 and has been in practice for more than 30 years. After finishing his Internal Medicine Residency at UH, he served in the US Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. During that time, he provided care to Cubans in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

After moving back to Hawai‘i, he served at the Wai‘anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center where he became the medical director. The next step in his journey was at the Queen's Medical Center as medical director of the Queen Emma Clinics. His role later changed to vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer. He has also served as a medical officer on the Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia Polynesian voyaging canoes. Akaka has family roots in Nu‘uanu and Pauoa, and graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in 1972. His life goal is to "serve with humble strength.”