PUANANI BURGESS
Hawaiian poetess and storyteller. Puanani Burgess is a community building facilitator, trainer and consultant in Hawai’i, the US and the Pacific. She is also a poet and cultural translator noted for her experience in community, family and values-based economic development, mediation and storytelling processes and a board member of the Positive Futures Network, publishers of YES! Magazine.
CLIFFORD NAE`OLE
Master of Ceremonies and Oli (Chant): Clifford Nae`ole, kupuna (elder) and Hawaiian practitioner, has been a stalwart figure on the front line of the Hawaiian cultural renaissance, for more than thirty years. He has fueled the resurgence of native ecological wisdom, ancient ahupua’a and Hawaiian place-names on the island of Maui. He is the Cultural Advisor to the Ritz.
HŌKŪLANI HOLT-PADILLA
Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla has been the Kumu Hula for Pā’ū O Hi’iaka for over 35 years. She has devoted her professional and personal life to many aspects of Hawaiian culture throughout the islands. Holt-Padilla was a founding member, a parent, and a Director of Pūnana Leo O Maui Hawaiian Language Preschool. She was the first Maui Site Coordinator for Nā Pua No’eau, The Center for Gifted and Talented Native Hawaiian Children, and she was the Culture and Education Manager for the Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission. Hōkülani Holt-Padilla has participated in numerous Boards and public service organizations such as Kauahea Inc, Lālākea Foundation, ‘Īlio’ulaokalani, Protect Kaho’olawe ‘Ohana, Maui County Street Naming Commission and the County Commission on Culture and the Arts. Holt-Padilla currently works at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center as their Cultural Programs Director and continues to lecture at UHMC. She is tremendously proud to be from Maui and to be Hawaiian.
KU KAHAKALAU
Ku Kahakalau is a native Hawaiian educator, researcher, song-writer, native practitioner, and expert in Hawaiian language, history and culture residing in Kukuihaele on the Island of Hawai’i. She is founder and president of the Kanu o ka ‘Aina Learning ‘Ohana, and has created and oversees an innovative family of programs that are community-based, family-oriented and culturally-driven. All programs are grounded in a Pedagogy of Aloha that is at once ancient and modern, and presents unprecedented potential to address the distinctive needs of Hawaii’s native population.
