Meet the Summer 2021 Kuleana Academy Cohort!

HAPA is excited to announce the cohort for the 6th cohort of Kuleana Academy, a leadership development and campaign training program for emerging leaders in Hawai‘i.

The academy will run online from May 8-September 11, 2021.

Meet the cohort.

Hawai’i Island

(Mira) Kencho Gurung

Kencho is a fierce advocate for the many causes and communities she holds dear to her heart including communities of color, environmental and racial justice, animal rights, LGBTQ+ inclusivity and reproductive rights. She works on Hawaiʻi Island in food justice and hopes to continue to support her communities through intersectional activism. 

(Melissa) Leilani DeMello

Melissa Leilani DeMello lives in the beautiful ʻŌlaʻa forest in the Puna district of Hawaiʻi Island. She is the Director of Operations at KŪ-A-KANAKA LLC, a Native Hawaiian social enterprise that allows her to help make a difference for the lāhui Hawaiʻi.

Colehour Bondera

Colehour Bondera is a farmer and long-time community and agricultural activist who seeks to meet basic community needs by working across cultural and linguistic divides. He serves as the president for the board of Kona Coffee Farmers Association, past board member of the Kona Farm Bureau and a board member of Beyond Pesticides.

Lisa Pana

Lisa Pana was born and raised on the homestead of Keaukaha. Pana is a proponent for change in the health and eudaemonia of her community and its members. She is also an advocate for educational wellness and sustainability amongst young Hawaiian leaders. 

Elizabeth Laliberte

Liz Laliberte is a special education teacher at Hilo High School as well as the head faculty rep for the teacher's union. Over the past 15 years she's provided enrichment activities for students, such as the speech and debate team created with her husband Greg, as well as raised two children of her own.

Kauaʻi

Nicole  Cristobal

Nicole “Nikki” Cristobal is from Kauaʻi and is the executive director of Kamāwaelualani Corp., a non-profit that focuses on environmental and cultural sustainability and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Administration and Policy. 

Jerilyn Puamana Guyang

Jerilyn Puamana Guyang is a lomi lomi practitioner and structural integration practitioner formally trained in other healing arts. As a community advocate and supporter of Aloha ʻĀina, she strives to protect the delicate natural resources that we have in Hawaiʻi, especially wai ola. She believes that through service and education, we can find the inspiration to use our voices within our own communities. 

Lorilani Keohokālole

Lorilani Keohokālole was born and raised on Oʻahu. She currently resides on the island of Kauaʻi with her husband and four children. Her passion around advocacy was cultivated at a young age, focused on the health, wellness, and future of Hawaiʻi’s diverse communities. The Hawaiian cultural value of Mālama ʻĀina (care of the Land) is a key value that drives her passion for the protection of the ʻĀina (Land). Keohokālole believes that in caring and cultivating a relationship with the land, one ultimately is cultivating and caring for oneself. She currently serves as an organizing co-director for Pesticide Action Network. 

Maui

Jordan Ashley Hocker

Jordan Ashley Hocker is a parent and full-time Sustainable Science Management student at UH Maui College. She believes that progress in our communities is measured by the quality of life of our most vulnerable community members. That belief serves as the foundation of her commitment to pushing for justice and equity in community decision making, as well as policies that protect the future of our families.  

Kaupena K. Kalima

Kaupena K. Kalima was born and raised on the island of Oʻahu. She moved with her two young children to Maui in September 2001. Her belief is that people should be treated fairly and given a voice –– including children, kūpuna and people with disabilities. Kalima will advocate for Hawaiʻi’s people, land & resources, ‘iwi protection and food self sufficiency.

Laʻakea Low

Laʻakea Low is a Kanaka Maoli born and raised on Maui whose credentials include a Bachelor's degree in Sustainable Science Management from University of Hawaiʻi Maui College and a Master's degree in Natural Resources from Oregon State University. He works to foster and improve upon the overall well-being of Hawaiʻi's environment, economy, and society.

Samuel Peralta

Samuel Peralta is a political science major with 15 years of experience in public service and education. He currently serves as the student government president at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui and is on pastoral staff at New Hope Maui church. In addition to practicing regenerative agriculture in the ahupua'a of Wailuku, he is passionate about Aloha ʻĀina, domestic violence prevention, and Hawaiian immersion education. 

Oʻahu

Adele Balderston

Adele Balderston is a Historic Preservation Planner for the City and County of Honolulu, the founder of 88 Block Walks, a series of unconventional walking tours created to raise awareness of socio-spatial inequality, and an advocate for community agency in urban Honolulu.

Jahren Pintor

Jahren Pintor is a student at Farrington High School passionate about helping young voices fight for social justice. He has worked for the United States Youth Senate, Young Democrats of Hawaiʻi, Youth for Hawaiʻi, Keith Amemiya and Radiant Cordero’s campaign, and is currently working to lower the voting age to 16. 

Jasmine Slovak 

Jasmine Slovak envisions a Hawaiʻi that is welcoming and economically viable; a place where leadership lifts up the native people, women, and working class people who are the foundation of regenerative environments and economies. Jasmine sits on the board of HCAN Speaks! the advocacy arm of Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network. She is also an active member of the Hawaiʻi Women’s Coalition and the coalition’s Anti Racism Advisory Council. 

Nadia Alves

Nadia Alves is the eldest daughter in a large family of immigrants. Their experiences have taught her that everyone deserves a fair shot at life no matter their circumstances. This drives her to work toward making the world a better place.

Sergio J. Alcubilla III

Sergio J. Alcubilla III is a staff attorney at a non-profit, public interest law firm serving vulnerable communities. A parent to two amazing kids, Aina (9) and Sergio IV (7); he believes in doing what we can today to make sure we leave our communities better for the next generation tomorrow. Inspired by his own lived experiences, he is passionate about advocating for the interests of the working class and immigrant communities, support for education and Hawaiʻi’s teachers, and a diversification of our economy and shift to responsible tourism.

Ted Bohlen

Ted Bohlen is a former deputy attorney general who has worked on environmental issues for many years. He is passionate about mitigating the climate emergency and protecting coral reefs and clean waters. He is a founder of the Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition and Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi. 

“We are excited to support emerging leaders who want to engage in civic work. There’s a groundswell of interest in transparent, responsive government in recent years, and we want to be part of empowering new and diverse voices in local and state civic leadership.”

-Aria Juliet Castillo, Program Manager

For questions, please email HAPA Executive Director, Anne Frederick, at anne@HAPAhi.org