Indigenous Programs
At the Fall 2024 Convocation, the Title III He Loa Ke Aho program presented, Moʻo: Access to Hawaiian Education, Then and Now. The presentation recognized the continuum of Hawaiian Education throughout Hawaiʻi history. By acknowledging how Kānaka Maoli accessed Indigenous education, He Loa Ke Aho asked the question, How does Leeward CC continue to appear on this timeline? Does your role as an employee support this continuum of access to Hawaiian education? Through this inquiry, employees self assess the kuleana to Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi in their primary role at Leeward CC.
At the Fall 2024 Convocation, the Title III He Loa Ke Aho program presented, Moʻo: Access to Hawaiian Education, Then and Now. The presentation recognized the continuum of Hawaiian Education throughout Hawaiʻi history. By acknowledging how Kānaka Maoli accessed Indigenous education, He Loa Ke Aho asked the question, How does Leeward CC continue to appear on this timeline? Does your role as an employee support this continuum of access to Hawaiian education? Through this inquiry, employees self assess the kuleana to Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi in their primary role at Leeward CC.
Kawaimanomano, the many waters, is the first Indigenous professional development offering in the history of Leeward CC. In this program, participants engage in an exploratory program over the course of a semester. From 2020 to 2026, faculty of Kawaimanomano instructed seven cohorts and 111 graduates. Graduates are made up of Administrators, Faculty and Staff of the College as Kawaimanomano is open to all employees. The program has been featured in the Community College Journal and has won the Wo Community Building Award (2nd Place). The program won the 2024 Best in Show Bellwether Award. Kawaimanomano continues to be the flagship of Indigenous professional development training at Leeward CC.
| YEAR |
KAWAIMANOMANO EMPLOYEE GRADUATES 2020-2026 |
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 17 |
| 2023 | 12 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2025 | 11 |
| 2026 | 15 |
Table 1: From 2020-2026, Kawaimanomano PD Program graduated 111 employee participants.
With an entry into Indigenous professional development experience, Kawaimanomano graduates are eligible to advance and continue their training. In 2024, Ka Lei Kumupaʻa Native Hawaiian Professional Development program, was offered by the Title III program, He Loa Ke Aho. The primary goal of He Loa Ke Aho, includes providing a deep, rigorous and robust experience for employees seeking more Indigenization training. Unique to this professional development opportunity, is the co-learning experiences employees shared with students. Participant outcomes of Ka Lei Kumupaʻa Native Hawaiian professional development program include the practice of Indigenization methods experienced in relationship to ancestral practices. 108 participants completed Ka Lei Kumupaʻa PD modules between 2024-2026 in asynchronous, hybrid and in-person modalities. 44 unduplicated employees graduated in four cohorts instructed in 19 varying opportunities. Ka Lei Kumupaʻa concluded with an 84% completion rate.
“I thought I knew a lot, but I have a lot to learn. It required a lot of thinking and emotional space.”
Faustino Dagdag,
Assistant Professor, Alumni of Kawaimanomano, Ka Lei Kumupaʻa, and Hoʻopūnana
“I thought it was going to be really easy. This was the most intense program Iʻve ever been in.”
Luca Preziati,
Assistant Professor, Alumni of Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa
“I thought it was going to be really easy. This was the most intense program Iʻve ever been in.”
Luca Preziati,
Assistant Professor, Alumni of Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa
Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa graduates meet the criteria to advance to the Paeʻāina Professional Learning Community (PLC). In this PLC opportunity, faculty participants activate Kūlana Maoli | Indigenous Standards of Being, as experienced in prior professional development programs. Through professional learning communities, faculty are advised, coached and guided to activate pedagogy of indigenization through the development of an informed OER Indigenous lesson plan. Paeʻāina participants access a comprehensive support program, cultural developmental advisory rubric, and fundamental and grounding mentorship.
| KA LEI KUMUPAʻA PROGRAM MODULES |
2024-2026 KA LEI KUMUPAʻA MODULE GRADUATES |
|
PULELO: |
37 |
| HAHAI: Unpacking the Why Behind Indigenization |
21 |
| HOʻOILINA: Examining Cultural Identity through Moʻolelo of ʻOhana |
23 |
| NOHO PŪ: Investing in Native Hawaiian Student Vibrancy |
21 |
| MĀLAMA: A Native Hawaiian Learning Community |
6 |
| 2025 | 11 |
| 2026 | 15 |
Table 2: From 2024-2026 Ka Lei Kumupaʻa engaged 108 duplicated employees and 44 unduplicated graduates.
The professional development programs of Leeward CC advance co-learning experiences in novel Native Hawaiian student support programs like the Hoʻopūnana Mentorship program, and the Paʻapono Internship program. Both programs innovatively engage students and employees within the College and within Indigenous communities of people, place and practice. Through the methodologies of co-learning, Leeward CC employees charter new and inclusive opportunities alongside students. These practices demonstrate the normalized value of inclusivity as seen in the shared moʻolelo of employees and students.
Outside of designated professional development programs, He Loa Ke Aho provided access to Indigenous professional development within the community through the E ʻImi Naʻauao program. ʻImi participants learn and grow directly from Indigenous experts, practitioners, institutions and initiatives of Indigenous centered education. With multi-tiered opportunities of professional development, Indigenization practitioners cast he loa ke aho, a long line, to grow, contribute to, and to sustain a grounded and authentic Native Hawaiian learning community.
The current and past Indigenous professional development opportunities of Leeward CC can be referenced here in the Waihona ʻAho, Indigenous Programs of the College. For further information about past, current or future professional development opportunities, contact the Innovation Center for Teaching and Learning.
Ka Lei Kumupaʻa
NATIVE HAWAIIAN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Ka Lei Kumupaʻa program established roots of specificity and rigor through ancestral knowledge, lifeways, history, and language of Hawaiʻi. To feel akin to indigenization as a norm, specific methodologies that reflect ancestral practices were accessed. Ka Lei Kumupaʻa was implemented through intentional and inclusive care for the varying readiness of employees seeking to expand and deepen prior Indigenization knowledge. The program consisted of five curated professional development modules. The program innovatively produced high quality digital media resources. These films would develop into the premier Indigenous resources of He Loa Ke Aho, garnering high impact for engaged participants. Through high quality primary media resources, rigorous assignments, learning experiences, and valued relationships, participants fastened blossoms securely in a strong foundational lei, as its name Ka Lei Kumupaʻa, describes.
Pulelo | Rise
PEERING INTO THE DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF INDIGENOUS AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
Hahai | Pursue
UNPACKING THE WHY BEHIND INDIGENIZATION
Hoʻoilina | Inheritance
EXAMINING CULTURAL IDENTITY THROUGH
MOʻOLELO OF ʻOHANA
Noho Pū | Dwell Together
INVESTING IN NATIVE HAWAIIAN
STUDENT VIBRANCY
Mālama | Protect, Serve
A NATIVE HAWAIIAN LEARNING COMMUNITY
Pulelo, Rise: Peering into the Disproportionate Impact of Indigenous and Intergenerational Trauma
Ka mea nani kai Pali-uli ʻeā, ke pulelo aʻela i nā paliʻeā. The beauty at Pali-uli rises fine as the cliffs of Pele’s fire. Pulelo is to rise. In the chant Aia la o Pele, Pele’s rising plume and fire mirrors a raised hae Hawai’i | Hawaiian flag, and the rising of acknowledged, supported and confident Kānaka Maoli students in pursuit of a higher education degree.
Since the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, and Act 57 by the Republic of Hawaiʻi banning ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian language, culture and history taught in schools in 1896, Kānaka Maoli have since been intergenerationally impacted by Settler colonialism. Through indigenization, the integration of epistemology of Indigenous people in educational institutions, Leeward CC acknowledges the colonial history of Hawaiʻi, the intergenerational trauma of Kānaka Maoli, and the waiwai | value of the ancestral people of these lands. Pulelo participants learn from Native Hawaiian historians, a political scientist, government executive leaders, and community educators, to establish the necessary knowledge of historical education, and how healing of a dispossessed Indigenous ancestral people, improves persistence, success and wellness of Kānaka Maoli students in higher education. Through the knowledge of history told by Kānaka and advocates, Pulelo participants reinforce the foundation of their kuleana to Indigenization education.
“The integration of Hawaiian knowledge and values across the curriculum will be a critical step in decolonizing education on our campus.”
Dr. Alyssa MacDonald,
Marine Option Coordinator, Alumni of Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa, Paeʻāina Participant
“Dr. Kosasa stated ‘The crimes of the state do not have to be our crimes if we work to mitigate the violence committed against Hawaiians’..how can I mitigate that? What can I do?”
Dr. Leanne Riseley,
Dean of Academic Services, Alumni of Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa
Hahai, Pursue: Unpacking the Why Behind Indigenization
Hahai nō ka ua i ka ululāʻau. Rains always pursue the forest, ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 405. The faculty and staff are the forest. Students are the rains. When Instructors go towards indigenization, students follow and pursue the same. The Hahai program identifies, explores and examines opportunities and reasons behind the efforts created to improve appropriate spaces and increase engagement of Kānaka Maoli and all students. With historical knowledge of Settler colonization, and the history behind indigenization of Leeward CC, Hahai participants thoughtfully unpack the why behind such efforts. Through identified spaces and services, Hahai participants prepare to guide students on a rich, meaningful and poignant journey.
“The metaphor of the forest and rains resonates deeply with me—the faculty and staff being the forest, and the students as the rains that nourish and transform us. In the early stages of my dissertation, which focuses on building community for Pacific Islander students in online classrooms through student-informed teacher professional development, I see the potential for this metaphor to guide my work. It underscores the importance of creating supportive environments where students can thrive and contribute to our collective growth and evolution. Now equipped with a deeper historical understanding, I am empowered to make deeper intentional choices about how I contribute to indigenization and support Native Hawaiian communities. This journey involves embracing collaboration, respecting cultural sovereignty, and utilizing my skills to advocate for inclusive and culturally responsive educational practices.”
Tasha Moses,
Tutoring Services Coordinator, Alumni of Kawaimanomano, Ka Lei Kumupaʻa, and Hoʻopūnana, Paeʻāina Participant
Hoʻoilina, Inheritance: Examining Cultural Identity Through Mo‘olelo of ‘Ohana
He ipu hoʻoilina mai na kupuna mai – An inherited container from the remotest ancestress. Said of the womb, the container by which the family line continues, ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 642. This wise saying can be applied to the connection within a family and the passing on of identity through practices, values, language and land from one generation to the next. Through natural inheritance, Indigenous family history and values persevere. In the absence of natural inheritance, Indigenous families sever a connection to the past, leaving generations of Kānaka seeking access to valued ancestral practices and ways of being elsewhere, or not at all. If accessible, Kānaka may find their natural inheritance in educational institutions or ancestral communities of practice. College may be the one point of access to ancestral knowledge for Kānaka scholars.
Hoʻoilina participants explore how ancestral knowledge, values, genealogy, language, land, and ways of being exist in ʻohana, builds on cultural identity, and impacts future generations from a source generation. Through family histories of the Hanohano family in Pāpaʻakoko on Oʻahu island, and the Makuakāne family in Puna on Hawaiʻi island, Hoʻoilina participants grow appreciation for Indigenous perpetuation in the family through values, to increase opportunities for acknowledgement of Native Hawaiian identity in the shared space of higher education at Leeward CC. Kuleana to Kānaka Maoli and Hawaiʻi is realized by Hoʻoilina participants through the moʻolelo of ʻohana Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian families. The Hoʻoilina film is an example of a high quality and high impact resource of Ka Lei Kumupaʻa. It was additionally reproduced and an official selection into the Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival in 2026.
Makuakāne Family | Hanohano Family | HAAPI Film Fest
“The first thing that comes to mind is that the Native Hawaiian culture is vast and varied, there are certain hallmark values but ʻohana is so important that it allows for variation between families. These families also talked so much about place-based identity, it made me wonder about students who no longer have a place their family cares for and feeds them.”
Dr. Ashley Biddle,
Social Sciences Discipline Coordinator, Psychology & Human Development Family Studies Co-Director, Alumni of Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa, Hoʻopūnana Mentor, Indigenous Instructional Design Project Collaborator
Noho Pū, Dwell Together: Investing in Native Hawaiian Student Vibrancy
Noho pū | Dwell together comes from the Indigenous ancestral perspective, Noho pū i ka uahi pōhina – Sat together in the gray smoke. This ancestral practice comes from the exchange between a teacher and pupil who sit together next to a smoky fire at night. Through experiences like this, the positionality of the teacher and student is not one of permanency. Whomever holds the expertise, takes the lead, and whomever is of lesser expertise, becomes the pupil. In this practice, the natural roles resume after the need is met. The teacher values the student, and the student values the teacher, the same.
In Noho pū, the exchange of moʻolelo or one’s history is shared and appreciated as a valued source of knowledge, because of who the moʻolelo belongs to. This ancestral way of being contrasts the Western institutional approach of the teacher as a primary source of knowledge, and the student as the receiver of knowledge. This norm repositions participants in new and vulnerable ways, expanding the traditional relationship. Through this methodology, Noho pū participants advance the correlation of student identity, wellness, and the higher education academic journey.
“In the many times I want to give up, I remind myself that my journey is my own unique path to my goals. Getting a higher education is very important to me and despite what may come my way I understand the importance of achieving my goals no matter how long it may take. I know I am resilient.”
Māhealani Tennant,
Student, Alumni of Paʻapono, Paʻapono Mural Participant
Mālama, Protect, Serve: A Native Hawaiian Learning Community
Na ke kaikuaʻana e mālama i nā pōkiʻi. The older sibling takes care of the younger ones. Mālama is to protect and serve. In this professional development opportunity, participants lean on the ancestral worldview of care, service and protection in roles and inter-relationships of stakeholders in the journey of Kānaka Maoli students.
With diverse learners in an Indigenous learning community, the cultivation of a safe, protected, and growing Native Hawaiian Place of Learning is essential. The module acknowledges the multitudes of learners, be it Settlers, developing learners of a Hawaiian worldview, budding Hawaiian language learners or speakers, Hawaiian Studies learners, or Hawaiian practitioners. Leeward CC nurtures safe space by recognizing the diversity and commitment to learning, respectfully, openly, and over time. The Mālama module video showcases the most comprehensive collection of Leeward CC stakeholders. These individuals share personal care for their beloved lands, in order to demonstrate the level of care for an Indigenous place of learning. With this understanding, audiences acclimate the mālama of one another as resources, learning partners, mentors, mentees, consultants, and ʻohana. Through this demonstration, Leeward CC elevates the value of a Native Hawaiian place of learning. Through the Mālama module we establish a Native Hawaiian learning community with reverence and aloha, to protect and serve it unwaveringly.
“I owe a lot to my Ho’opūnana and IS116 community in teaching me how to be a better student/person living in Hawai’i. Learning about the history of the people and how it’s shaped their stories reminds me of how parallel my people’s story is to Hawai’i.”
Yannis Basilio,
Student, Alumni of Hoʻopūnana and Paʻapono, Ēwe Maoli Hawaiʻi Participant, Paʻapono Mural Participant
| HE LOA KE AHO NATIVE HAWAIIAN STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES 2024-2026 |
|---|
| 45 Students and Employees Engaged |
| 47 Participation Experiences |
| 20% Participants Returned for Another Cohort |
| 4 Hoʻopūnana and Paʻapono Cohorts |
Hoʻopūnana Mentorship and Paʻapono Internship
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
Pākōlea is to train and grow in a desired shape as a plant. The Student Support Services were offered to ASNS, AA-HWST, AST and LBRT degree program students to ensure student growth is supported and developed in the most desirable way needed.
Across four cohorts from Spring 2025 through Summer 2026, He Loa Ke Aho Native Hawaiian Student Support Services engaged 45 students and employees through 47 participation experiences. One in five participants returned for at least one additional cohort, demonstrating an interconnected pathway through which participants could enter, return, and deepen their engagement over time.
| HE LOA KE AHO NATIVE HAWAIIAN STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES 2024-2026 |
|---|
| 45 Students and Employees Engaged |
| 47 Participation Experiences |
| 20% Participants Returned for Another Cohort |
| 4 Hoʻopūnana and Paʻapono Cohorts |
Table 3: Mentorship and Internship programs of the Native Hawaiian Student Support Services were offered in Partnership with the Office of Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation, Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Excellence and engaged students and employees of Leeward CC.
Hoʻopūnana
Mentorship Program speaks to creating a space that protects, nurtures, teaches, and prepares someone to eventually lele aʻe, to fly upward. Like a mother bird gathering many different materials to build a pūnana (nest), Hoʻopūnana brought together students and employees to cultivate an intentional safe space for learning, relationship-building, and growth.
Paʻapono
Summer Internship Program speaks to the continual return to one’s natural state of being and an affirmation of wholeness. Inspired by the practice of hoʻoponopono and the teachings of esteemed kūpuna and practitioner Aunty Lynette Paglinawan, Paʻapono was developed as a summer internship experience centered on wellness, identity, and one’s ʻoiaʻiʻo (authentic truth).
Hoʻopūnana
Developed as a semester-long mentorship program, Hoʻopūnana reimagined mentorship through reciprocal co-learning. Rather than positioning employees only as mentors and students only as mentees, participants practiced kilo (observation), hāmau (silence and listening), hoʻolauna (relationship-building), cultural practices, reflection, and kūkākūkā (deep conversation) alongside one another. Through these practices, mentorship became a shared responsibility in which everyone had something to teach, learn, and contribute.
Across two cohorts, Hoʻopūnana engaged students and employees, growing from 14 participants in Spring 2025 to 16 in Fall 2025. By Fall, the cohort included an equal number of students and employees (eight Kaleohano/students and eight Kaleoiki/faculty and staff) creating an intentional multigenerational and cross-campus learning community. Through this community, Hoʻopūnana demonstrated that indigenization is strengthened not only through what we teach, but through how we learn with one another. By cultivating pilina (quality relationships that help us evolve) across institutional roles, the program created spaces where identity, belonging, wellbeing, and shared kuleana (responsibility) could grow. This reciprocal approach was later recognized by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) on February 3 2026, which identified Hoʻopūnana’s relationships among students, faculty, and staff as evidence of Leeward CC’s commitment to embedding Indigenous practices and student support.
Hoʻopūnana (The Nest We Create Together) was collaboratively created by lead artist, Gillian Dueñas, alongside student and employee participants of the Fall 2025 Hoʻopūnana Mentorship Program. This art piece is located in Leeward Community College’s Waiaʻanae Moku campus. The mosaic represents a space where each person can be held, supported, and given room to grow into who they are meant to become. Created from broken and reassembled pieces, the mosaic draws inspiration from different practices of repair. Cracks joined together reference the Japanese practice kintsugi of repairing broken pottery with gold, while the pewa reflects a Hawaiian practice of patching and strengthening what has been broken. Surrounding hands represent the people, and the different forms of care, it can take to bind pieces together. From this collective act of repair and care, kalo emerges as a new life, representing what can grow when people are supported through quality pilina (relationships). Hoʻopūnana reminds us that growth does not always require hiding what has been broken. Through relationships grounded in authentic care, different people and experiences can come together to support healing, growth, and transformation for ourselves and for one another.
Paʻapono
Building upon the importance of pilina, Paʻapono invited participants to explore who they are, where they come from, and the kuleana they choose to carry forward. Through seven weeks of huakaʻi, moʻolelo, creative expression, mentorship, community engagement, and reciprocal co-learning, participants strengthened relationships with themselves, one another, ʻāina, community, and Lāhui Hawaiʻi. Across two summer cohorts, participation in Paʻapono grew 80%, from 10 participants in Summer 2025 to 18 in Summer 2026. More importantly, participants began moving between He Loa Ke Aho experiences: five of the eight Fall 2025 Hoʻopūnana Kaleohano (students) (62.5%) continued into Summer 2026 Paʻapono, contributing to an interconnected pathway.
The special recognition, Paeʻekahi, highlights one Paʻapono participant whose journey demonstrated significant growth through their engagement with the resources, relationships, and co-learning experiences cultivated through He Loa Ke Aho. Selected with the manaʻo of Kaleoiki (employee mentors), the recognition honors not simply what a participant accomplished, but how they grew throughout the experience. In Summer 2026, Elisabeth Jordan-Pagaduan was recognized as the Paʻapono Paeʻekahi. At orientation, she entered the program shy and reserved. Over seven weeks, Jordan-Pagaduan engaged in the culturally grounded resources and reciprocal co-learning experiences of Paʻapono, gradually strengthening her confidence and willingness to share her voice. At Hōʻike, that growth was captured in her own words: “I have found my voice again.” Jordan-Pagaduan’s journey offers one example of the impact Paʻapono sought to cultivate- creating intentional spaces where students can strengthen their relationships with themselves and others, recognize their own growth, and move forward with greater confidence in their ʻoiaʻiʻo. Jordan-Pagaduan reminds us that the goal is not becoming someone new, but reconnecting with what was already within us.
“Growing up, I wasn’t super exposed to Hawaiian culture. Throughout my 13 years in public school, I’ve learned the most about Hawaiʻi’s history in a semester class at Leeward CC. I knew more about America and World Wars than I did the ground beneath my feet. It made me feel disconnected to my culture and sometimes forget what I even was.”
Elisabeth Pagaduan,
Student, Alumni of Paʻapono, Paʻapono Paeʻekahi Recipient, Paʻapono Mural Participant
Paʻapono strengthened Leeward CC’s indigenization community by expanding student success beyond academic and career achievement to include wellness, identity, place, relationships, and kuleana. Across four Hoʻopūnana and Paʻapono experiences, one participant’s moʻolelo (story) illustrates what this deepening engagement can look like. Alberta “Leolani” Sugui represents how intentional, safe spaces can support a student’s evolving sense of identity, belonging, and kuleana. At the beginning of her journey in Spring 2025 Hoʻopūnana, Sugui shared that she hoped one day she could “pay it forward.” Through Summer 2025 Paʻapono and Fall 2025 Hoʻopūnana, her reflections demonstrated a growing confidence in knowing who she is. By Summer 2026 Paʻapono, she reflected, “My pilina with myself has been stronger as I know my worth as a Kanaka and kuleana to my community.” Sugui eventually carried this kuleana into action by founding the nonprofit organization Our Health is Our Wealth, connecting personal wellness and identity with ʻohana, community, and Lāhui Hawaiʻi. Her longitudinal journey illustrates a movement from aspiration toward activation. Therefore, demonstrating the potential of sustained, indigenous grounded engagement to support students as they deepen their understanding of who they are and how they choose to carry their kuleana forward.
Nā Uapo O Ka Haliʻa (The Bridges that Carry Our Knowledge Across Generations) was collaboratively created by lead artist, Gillian Dueñas, and student participants of the Summer 2025 Paʻapono Internship Program. You can find this art piece in Leeward Community College’s Waiaʻanae Moku campus. The mural reflects the knowledge, experiences, and memories we inherit, carry, and eventually pass forward. “Nā” recognizes the many backgrounds and experiences we each bring. Whether it is cultural, spiritual, and personal. “Uapo,” meaning bridge, represents the connections between our kūpuna, ourselves, and future generations. Through these bridges, we receive knowledge from those who came before us while carrying forward what we have learned through our own experiences, including both our successes and mistakes. “Haliʻa” speaks to cherished memory and remembrance. In other words, the things we hold onto as we continue through life. Together, Nā Uapo O Ka Haliʻa reminds us that although generations may carry us farther from ka wā kahiko (ancient times) and our world continues to evolve, our connection to the past does not have to disappear. We become part of the bridge. We are receiving what was carried to us and determining what we will carry forward for those yet to come.
Kiʻowai (A Space of Abundance) was collaboratively created by lead artist, Gillian Dueñas, alongside student and employee participants of the Summer 2026 Paʻapono Internship Program. This beautiful piece is located in DA-200 at Leeward Community College. Its name comes from a line within Leeward CC’s oli (chant)- “He kiʻowai lua, he muliwai no ʻEwa. An abundant, overflowing estuary for ʻEwa.” The mural draws upon the abundance of wai (water) and the many moʻolelo (stories) held within the waters of ʻEwa and Puʻuloa. From the famous pipi (oysters) and loko iʻa (fishpond), to Kaʻahupāhau and her brother Kahiʻukā as guardians of the place. Together, these stories remind us of the life, knowledge, and relationships that can flourish when ʻāina is abundant. Kiʻowai also draws upon the practice of loko iʻa as a metaphor for our haumāna (students). Like young pua (another reference for baby fish) nurtured within protected waters until they are ready to enter a larger loko iʻa, students need spaces where they can be nourished, challenged, and given what they need to grow. Leeward Community College becomes a kiʻowai for our students. A place where knowledge, relationships, experiences, and skills can nurture their growth until they are ready to move confidently into larger waters. Through this metaphor, Kiʻowai asks us to consider not only how students grow, but what kind of environment we create for that growth to occur.
“Paʻapono has brought me a lot of confidence, led me to great friends and amazing experiences and a lot of moʻolelo that I’ll forever cherish. Being in Paʻapono also helped me a lot with understanding and speaking ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. I felt so blessed by the opportunities I had throughout this program”
Khaylene Magana,
Student, Alumni of Paʻapono, Paʻapono Mural Participant
Paeʻāina
CROSS DISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY
The Cross Disciplinary Professional Learning Community is Paeʻāina. Paeʻāina is an archipelago or group of islands. The Paeʻāina PLC replicates a lei of islands as a community. It is a strand that collectively creates a lei naʻauao, a garland of knowledge that adorns. Paeʻāina PLC eligibility include faculty who have graduated from Kawaimanomano and Ka Lei Kumupaʻa. In Paeʻāina, faculty develop and produce indigenized Open Educational Resources or OER lesson plans. The lessons provide examples of specificity and intentionality of Indigenous integrated education in multiple disciplines.
Through the Paeʻāina PLC, coaching and advising support the lesson plan development. The securing of a Native Hawaiian expert or practitioner as a mentor is critical to the rigor and authenticity of the lesson. A curriculum development proposal process integrates Indigenization methodologies of which the Paeʻāina participant completes. The process is rigorous and comprehensive. It includes the submission of a personal narrative that describes how the Paeʻāina participant arrives at the commitment of Indigenization. The Paeʻāina participant goes on to describe the curriculum and instruction of the newly designed lesson plan. From here, a Cultural Advisory Board evaluates the submission through the use of a cultural advisory developmental rubric. Members of the Advisory panel provide further inquiry, recommendations, commendations, and a summative evaluation determining the developmental level of the Indigenous lesson plan.
“Thank you so much for this opportunity and process. It was both challenging and fulfilling. I sincerely appreciate the rigor of the program and expectations, as well as the rubric and feedback process. Mahalo again to both you and the panel!”
Dr. Lauren Lum Ho,
Instructional Designer, Alumni of Paeʻāina, ʻO Hāna ka ʻĀina Uluwehiwehi Participant, Indigenous Sensory Space Designer and Curator, Indigenous Instructional Design Project Lead
E ʻImi Naʻauao
INDIGENOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN COMMUNITY
E ʻImi Naʻauo is the seeking of knowledge. Outside of professional development programs at Leeward CC are opportunities for community based Indigenous professional development. These offerings are supported to strengthen the journey of Indigenous learning. Between 2023-2026, the He Loa Ke Aho program supported 112 employees through 12 E ʻImi Naʻauao community PD opportunities at Leeward CC.
Community opportunities are necessary to provide employees with an expanded opportunity to connect and define further ancestral practices as seen through people, place and practice that are limited in either online or in-person course settings. In Hakalau on Hawaiʻi island, E ʻImi Naʻauao and Ēwe Maoli Hawaiʻi participants worked with field staff, managers, and graduate assistants on the slopes of Mauna Kea in critical habitats to engage in reforestation efforts of the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. In Hāna on Maui island, participants traveled to ancestral and historical sites, and learned directly from community leaders in places of practice. At the ʻAha Hoʻoponopono held at UH West Oʻahu in 2025, participants engaged with healers, kūpuna and haku hoʻoponopono | hoʻoponopono practitioners from across Indigenous communities of Hawaiʻi to Australia. Through intensive, place, and Indigenous based learning opportunities, E ʻImi Naʻauao participants access experiential learning to imagine, envision and design for Indigenous experiences of future students.
