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About Our Office

I kua na mākou.

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.

NHPoL Team Fall 2022

Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Team

About Us

Punihei Lipe

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
Kawehi Goto

Dr. Kawehionālani Goto

  • Hometown: Papakōlea, O‘ahu
  • Kuleana: Program specialist: strategic planning support
Makanalani Gomes

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

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

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)
Kekuhi Kanahele

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 
Emily Medeiros

Emily Medeiros

  • Hometown: Waikīkī, Oʻahu
  • Kuleana: OER (Open Education Resource) Student Specialist
  • Graduate program: Master’s Student, Hawaiian Studies

Contact Us

Address

2500 Campus Road Honolulu, HI 96822

Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Team Archive

Sofia Headshot

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

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

Sonya Zabala, MA in Communications

  • Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
  • Kuleana: Operations Coordinator

NHPOL team 2021

ʻElia Akaka

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

Photo of Pua Souza

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
Top left to right: Sonya Zabala and Pua Souza; Bottom left to right: Punihei Lipe and Kawehionālani Goto
NHPOL Group Photo, from left to right: Kawehionālani Goto, Sonya Zabala, Punihei Lipe, Pua Souza, and Keahialaka Ioane
From left to right: Kawehionālani Goto, Sonya Zabala, Punihei Lipe, Pua Souza, and Keahialaka Ioane
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