The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补’s Cohort Kumukahi has quickly become a transformative professional development experience, connecting faculty and staff across diverse fields—including engineering, nursing, marine biology and medicine—with Native Hawaiian values and practices.
Launched in March 2024, the weeklong program by the (NHPoL AO) immerses participants in activities that emphasize cultural practices and values. Through mapping moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies), mālama ʻāina (care for the land), oli (chants), and pilina (relationship, connection) circles, participants learn to foster community and purpose.
Jenny Engels, a project manager at on the 惭ā苍辞补 campus, found the program deeply impactful.
“In the 20+ years I’ve been associated with 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补, this training has been the single most useful to help me understand Native Hawaiian values, 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补’s Strategic Plan, and my role as a settler and guest in these islands.”
, will begin in January 2025 and will have three sessions to choose from (March, July or October). In English, Kaulua can be described as two of a kind; a pair; which is utilized in terms such as waʻa kaulua referring to a double-hulled canoe.
“Our mission is to learn from the wisdom deeply rooted in Hawaiʻi about how to aloha one another and our island home. That is how we can fulfill our kuleana to Hawaiʻi and the world, which is highlighted in the title of our UH 惭ā苍辞补 strategic plan,” said Punihei Lipe, director of NHPoL AO. “We’re here to help deepen pilina (connection) as we learn and grow together. To us, that is how we foster change that we hope will eventually ripple through our campus, from leadership to faculty and staff, to our students, and on to our communities.”
The NHPoL AO team’s efforts are part of a multi-step process to achieve goals articulated in the , which outlines 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补’s main priorities and strategies for achieving them.
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