Our Kuleana
The Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office was established to help UH Mānoa and each of its units to uniquely and collectively reach the institutional goal of becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning.
Our kuleana guides and inspires us. Our team is comprised of a talented group of people both humbled and proud to engage in this important work.
Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Team
About Us
Alaka‘i: Our Leader
Dr. Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe
- Hometown: He‘eia, O‘ahu
- Kuleana: Native Hawaiian Affairs Program Officer who oversees strategic implementation of recommendations from the Native Hawaiian Reports; Director of UHM’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center; Interim Director of the Institute for Hawaiian Language Research and Translation.
- Email: kaiwipun@hawaii.edu
Limahana: Our Wonderful Staff
Paula Mac Cutcheon, MBA
- Hometown: Kula, Maui
- Kuleana: Operations coordinator
Dr. Kawehionālani Goto
- Hometown: Papakōlea, O‘ahu
- Kuleana: Program specialist: strategic planning support
Nick Childs, MPS
- Hometown: ʻEwa, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Program specialist: community engagement
Hope Matsumoto
- Hometown: Honouliuli, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Graduate Research Assistant, story gatherer and writer
- Graduate program: Master’s Student, English with a concentration in Cultural Studies
Kamakani Albano
- Hometown: Kalihilihiolaumiha, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Graduate Research Assistant: Campus Climate Committee in transforming Mānoa through centering pilina building
- Graduate program: Ph.D. Student, Political Science (Indigenous Politics specialization)
Kekuhikuhipuuoneonaaliiokohala Kanahele
- Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
- Kuleana: Graduate Research Assistant for NHPoLA office in partnership with HPOKA
- Graduate program: PhD Student, Political Science Program at Mānoa focusing on Indigenous Politics
ʻĀnela Purcell
- Hometown: Waiau, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Graduate Research Assistant, Data & Evaluation
- Graduate program:Ph. D. Student, Political Science (Indigenous Politics specialization)
Contact Us
Address
2500 Campus Road Honolulu, HI 96822
Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Team Archive
Makanalani Gomes
- Hometown: Waipiʻo, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Online engagement and outreach during the pandemic
- Graduate program: Master’s Student, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge
Emily Medeiros
- Hometown: Waikīkī, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: OER (Open Education Resource) Student Specialist
- Graduate program: Master’s Student, Hawaiian Studies
Sofia Luczak
- Hometown: Hālawa, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Graduate Assistant: Support the Campus Climate Committee in its efforts to transform Mānoa
- Graduate program: Master’s Student, Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Hoakalei Watanabe
- Hometown: Mililani, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Online engagement
- Graduate program: Undergraduate student, Double Majoring in Environmental Earth Science and Hawaiian Language with a Minor in Dance
Sonya Zabala, MA in Communications
- Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
- Kuleana: Operations Coordinator
ʻElia Akaka
- Hometown: Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu
- Kuleana: Online engagement and outreach during the pandemic
- Undergraduate program: Undergraduate Student- Double Majoring in Hawaiian and Hawaiian Studies with a Minor in Music, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language and Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge
Pua Souza, Master’s in Social Work
- Hometown: Kohala, Hawaiʻi
- Kuleana: Graduate research assistant: Communications, Inter-departmental and Community Engagement Initiatives
- Graduate program: PhD Student, Curriculum Studies, College of Education
