2026 Session
“Well-Being: Where Cultural Passions Intersect with Professional Journeys”
Feb. 10, 2026
Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i
In its third year, the Leadership Speaker Series continues to grow and thrive thanks to 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 gain insights into the personal journeys of influential leaders, understanding the paths they took to achieve their success and impact. Haumāna and kumu featured below continue to weave their unique stories, encouraging a belief in the possibilities of success through leadership.
Speaker, 2026 Leadership Speaker Series
Dr. No‘eau Peralto is a generational descendant of the ‘āina of Koholālele, Hāmākua, Hawai‘i, where he serves his community as the co-founding Executive Director of Hui Mālama i ke Ala ‘Ūlili (huiMAU). This Native Hawaiian-led nonprofit works toward reestablishing the systems that empower ‘ohana to thrive in Hāmākua for generations. Peralto earned his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Stanford University, a Master of Arts in Hawaiian Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Indigenous Politics from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Rooted in over two decades of Hawaiian archival and ethno-historical research, starting with the mo‘olelo of his own kūpuna, his dissertation explored the continuity of aloha ‘āina praxis in his home community of Hāmākua Hikina through the ‘āina- and mo‘olelo-based resurgence work of huiMAU. As a cultivator of seeds and stories, Peralto draws upon the storytelling traditions of his ancestors to inspire collective action toward abundant futures for Hāmākua and Hawai‘i.
Speaker, 2026 Leadership Speaker Series
Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘ole is proud to be known as “Tūtū” by her five grandchildren, and granddaughter by her forests and most visual creative force on Hawai‘i Island: grandmother volcano or Pele-Honua-Mea.
She is an educator trained in the tradition of Hula ‘Aiha‘a and Hula Pele, chant and ritual, for 35 years under Hālau O Kekuhi, named for her grandmother, Edith Kekuhi Kanaka‘ole. Keali‘ikanaka‘ole was ritually elevated to Kumu Hula (hula master) of Hālau o Kekuhi by her mother, Kumu Hula Pualani Kanahele, and her aunt, Kumu Hula Nalani Kanakaole.
Keali‘ikanaka‘ole’s college training includes a Master of Arts in Professional Development and Education, bachelor's in Hawaiian studies, and she is currently working toward her Ph.D in Natural Medicine with the goal of graduating in winter 2027.
In addition to her accomplishments as a professional singer, Keali‘ikanaka‘ole served as assistant professor and coordinator of the Hawai‘i Life Styles program and was a primary force in designing the Hawai‘i Life Styles degree program and student support center as well as the two-year associates degree programs in Hula, Fishing, and Farming at Hawai‘i Community Colleges. For the past 21 years, Keali‘ikanaka‘ole has been instrumental in writing for and managing 10 federal grants that help fund the colleges’ first degrees in native occupation and the very first Hawai‘i protocols program of any UH system college.
One of Keali‘ikanaka‘ole’s passions is strengthening the relationship between Hawai‘i ecological wisdom and scientific wisdom. She served as the Senior Scholar at The Kohala Center for 20 years and continues to facilitate ways of improving how Hawai‘i consciousness, and science and technology consciousness can work in harmony for the well-being of Hawai‘i. Keali‘ikanaka‘ole’s most important message in this effort is: “I Ola ‘Oe, I Ola Mākou Nei:” My life is dependent on you and your life is dependent on me.
Speaker, 2026 Leadership Speaker Series
Mahinapoepoe Paishon is a Hawai‘i moku-based social entrepreneur and community weaver committed to catalyzing lasting change through ‘āina aloha. She is co-founder and CEO of Waiwai Collective, a regenerative urban kīpuka that weaves together community, culture, and commerce. As founding executive director of Paepae o He‘eia, Paishon helped pioneer ‘āina-based education rooted in Indigenous knowledge and place.
Her work spans public and nonprofit sectors—from managing policy at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to leading award-winning Hawaiian charter schools. She recently served as County of Hawai‘i’s Leeward Planning Commission vice chair and contributes to multiple community organizations. As a leader in the ‘Āina Aloha Economic Futures movement, Paishon champions a resilient, values-driven economy grounded in deep love for Hawai‘i’s people, cultures, and land.
Speaker, 2026 Leadership Speaker Series
In both her professional career and as Kumu Hula, Ulalia Woodside Lee is dedicated to the thriving lands, seas, people and culture of Hawai‘i. Woodside Lee serves as the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Hawai‘i and Palmyra program, where across the Hawaiian archipelago and to Palmyra Atoll 1,000 miles south of Hawai‘i, she and her team protect and restore native forests, collaborate with communities and researchers for healthy coral reefs and fisheries, and develop cutting-edge research and interventions to tackle threats like climate change. In Hawai‘i, the Conservancy stewards 40,000 acres of native landscape preserves, in partnership with public and private landowners to protect the state’s watershed forests on 2.2 million acres, and with more than 20 coastal communities to develop locally designed marine managed areas.
Prior to joining the Conservancy, Woodside Lee spent nearly 15 years at Kamehameha Schools where she was responsible for helping steward over 200,000 acres of agricultural and conservation lands from Kaua‘i to Hawai‘i Island. During her KS tenure, she expanded place-based education partnerships, and natural and cultural resources management programs. She has served on the State of Hawai‘i Natural Area Reserves Commission and the State Board of Land and Natural Resources. Woodside Lee is also an author, invited speaker and volunteer leader for values-based leadership, culturally-ground stewardship for lands, waters and oceans, the indigenous relationship with natural resources management, natural climate solutions, and climate action. She is a contributing co-author of peer reviewed journal articles with The Natural Capital Project, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, and with fellow Conservancy researchers.
The traditional Hawaiian art of hula has always been a part of Woodside Lee’s life, and under the direction of her maternal relatives, she completed the ‘uniki (formal graduation) rites of her family’s genealogical hula tradition. Her mother, Kumu Hula Leiana Long Woodside, was her first hula teacher and she also trained with her aunt, Kumu Hula Mae Ulalia Loebenstein. Woodside Lee completed her kumu hula training through ‘uniki under the direction of her sister, Kumu Hula Hōkūlani Holt. She collaborates with other kumu hula to prepare dancers for competition, and to create, direct and tour recognized hula productions such as “Kahekili: Maui’s Paramount Chief” and “Kūlanikāko‘i: Living Waters.” Woodside Lee is also an invited judge and workshop presenter for competitions in Hawai‘i and Japan.
2025 Session
“Connecting through Voyaging”
Feb. 11, 2025
Kamehameha Schools Maui
Vaughn Vasconcellos KSK’71, the founder of the Leadership Speaker Series, provides insight into his vision and introduces classmates who have also contributed to the community through their leadership. This initiative provides opportunities for students to meet and connect with leaders at local, national and global levels. The series inspires students through shared stories and empowers them, showing them possibilities of success through leadership.
Speaker, 2025 Leadership Speaker Series
Archie Kalepa is an accomplished waterman from Lahaina, Maui, who has spent much of his life on the water surfing, paddling, sailing and keeping others safe. As a lifeguard captain, he helped develop new water rescue techniques, for which he earned the Eddie Aikau Waterman Award. As head of Maui Ocean Rescue and Safety, he introduced innovative rescue tactics to help save lives using jet skis and water sleds. Using his leadership skills, Kalepa has played a critical role in facilitating care, resources, and resilience to his beloved home, Lahaina, during the aftermath of the devastating wildfires.
Fearless in the water, Kalepa has surfed massive waves and, as a lifeguard, repeatedly overcame dangerous ocean conditions to rescue people from tragedy. Dedicated to perpetuating the Hawaiian culture, Kalepa is helping to lead a revival in Hawaiian canoe surfing. Always an innovator, Archie helped lead the boom in stand-up paddling, being the first to cross the Ka‘iwi Channel. He earned a spot in the prestigious Hawai‘i Waterman Hall of Fame in 2012.
Kalepa has shared his ocean safety expertise with lifeguards in ocean communities around the country, helping them to save lives just as he did. He first started crew training with the Polynesian Voyaging Society in 1992 and has sailed to Tahiti on both Hōkūle‘a and Hawai‘iloa.
Speaker, 2025 Leadership Speaker Series
Haunani Kane is a scientist, surfer and voyager from Kailua, O‘ahu. Currently an assistant professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Kane’s life is guided by the values and storied history of her kūpuna (ancestors). Kane studies how climate change impacts island people and communities. She began voyaging during her junior year at Kamehameha Schools and has sailed with Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia to an array of destinations including Tahiti, Rapa Nui, Australia and California.
Speaker, 2025 Leadership Speaker Series
Blossom Pualani Lincoln Maielua is from Pu‘ukapu, Waimea, Hawai‘i. A mother of three beautiful and energetic boys, a cultural practitioner and researcher, and an educator for over 20 years, Maielua received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Hawaiian Studies where she focused on Mālama ‘Āina (natural resource management), Hālau o Laka (visual arts), and Mo‘olelo (traditions and history).
She was first introduced to voyaging as a student in high school in 1999. In 2007, she sailed aboard Alingano Maisu on the Kū Holomau voyage to Satawal and Yap in Micronesia, served as an apprentice navigator in 2017 on Hōkūle‘a’s final leg from Tahiti to Hawai‘i, and, in 2019, navigated Makali‘i to Nihoa and Mokumanamana.
Maielua applies her time on the ocean, dedication to cultural practices, and land stewardship to the many classrooms and academic programs where she has taught, including Hālau Kū Mana and Kanu o Ka ‘Āina Native Hawaiian Public Charter Schools; and the University of Hawai‘i system: Kamakūokalani at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and I Ola Hāloa of Hawai‘i Community College and Pālamanui. Pualani currently works as a Hawaiian Studies instructor at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.
As a mother and educator, Maielua shares her passion for cultural revitalization, traditional lifestyles, and thriving communities.
Speaker, 2025 Leadership Speaker Series
Lohiao Paoa, a native of Kawela, Moloka‘i is a passionate paddler, surfer, EMT, and environmental advocate. Raised in the ‘ohana wa‘a with his father, Mel Paoa, a renowned Hōkūle‘a captain, he developed a profound connection to the ocean. As a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, he sailed in the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage and Moananuiākea Voyage. Travels from South Africa to Brazil, through the Panama Canal, Tahiti, and Alaska gave him a greater appreciation of the world around him. At home, his dedication to environmental stewardship played a pivotal role in the establishment of Moloka‘i Nō Ka Heke, a group that successfully restored the Kawela Stream.
Paoa graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in 2010 and received a bachelor’s degree in economics from San Diego State University followed by a master's degree in business administration from Chaminade University. He currently serves as a firefighter on Moloka‘i, reflecting his commitment to protecting his home and serving his community physically and culturally.
Forum Reflections
Forum and Discussion
2024 Inaugural Session
“What is Your Mo‘olelo?”
Feb. 5, 2024
Kamehameha Schools Kapālama
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Speaker, 2024 Leadership Speaker Series
Daniel “Ken” Inouye, Jr. is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in the entertainment, media and education sectors. He currently serves as the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu’s Executive Assistant to the Chancellor, providing strategic and administrative support to the campus leadership. Prior to joining UHWO, he was the principal of The Fritts Group LLC, a consulting firm that specialized in federal government affairs for the entertainment software industry. Inouye also held senior positions at the Entertainment Software Association, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America, where he advocated for the interests of the creative community on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Inouye has a strong background in music promotion and publicity, having worked as a publicist, regional scout, booking manager and owner of his own company. The Mililani resident holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in political science from The George Washington University Columbia College of Arts & Sciences.
Forum Reflections
Forum and Discussion
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