ʻŌiwi Women Who Mean Business
For 28 years, Pacific Business News’ Women Who Mean Business program has honored some of the outstanding women shaping Hawaiʻi’s business landscape. To mark the award’s 28th anniversary, this year, 28 women were honored representing a range of industries, from finance to education. Among these mana wāhine are seven ʻŌiwi whose professional excellence, vision, and commitment to their organizations and communities are creating lasting, positive impacts. The honorees were celebrated at a gala on March 12. The Hawaiian women in the 2026 cohort of Women Who Mean Business include (top row, l-r): Lindsay Ah Loo, executive director of The Nakupuna Foundation; Phyllis Freitas, director of sales at Hawaiian Telcom; Charmaine Hauanio-Kuewa, divisional director of development at The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division; Jan Kaeo, owner and master trainer for Dale Carnegie Training Hawaiʻi and Guam; (second row, l-r): Genesis Nicklaw, senior vice president of operations at Hawaiʻi State Federal Credit Union; Makana Reilly, director of advancement and communications at Hawaiian Community Assets; and Attorney Crystal Rose, founding partner of the legal firm Lung Rose Voss & Wagnild, who was named PBN’s 2026 Career Achievement Honoree. – Photos: Courtesy of PBN
EPA Gives Navy a Pass on Red Hill
The Star-Advertiser reported last month that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that the U.S. Navy is no longer required to meet with the community regarding the Red Hill water crisis – an announcement that came as a surprise to members of the Community Representation Initiative (CRI).
The CRI is a panel comprised of 10 community members – formed under a 2023 EPA consent order – who were tasked to engage directly with the Navy in the aftermath of the water crisis. The consent order was issued as an enforcement action against the Navy in response to its handling of the 2021 crisis during which some 20,000 gallons of jet fuel were released into the environment from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The fuel spill contaminated the drinking water of some 93,000 Oʻahu residents, sickening people and killing pets. Per the consent order, the CRI met weekly and the Navy was required to attend one meeting per quarter (four per year). However, the Navy did not attend any of the required meetings in 2025.
According to the article, CRI member Michell Poppler said she felt that the EPA allowed the Navy to pull out of the meetings because the Navy did not like answering challenging questions. Former CRI Chair Marti Townsend added, “this really cements the EPA as an apologist and a shield for the Navy as opposed to a regulator [that] holds them accountable.”
Daniel New Ke Ola Mamo ED
Ke Ola Mamo, the Native Hawaiian Health Care System serving Oʻahu, has named Maile Daniel as its new executive director. Daniel has nearly two decades of leadership experience in nonprofit service, behavioral health, and program administration.
Prior to joining Ke Ola Mamo, Daniel served as program administrator for Steadfast Housing Development Corporation, overseeing statewide programs, supervising multidisciplinary teams, and working with government agencies and community partners to support housing stability and behavioral health services.
“Maile brings both heart and experience to this role,” said Karen Fetzer, chair of the community relations committee. “Her commitment to serving Oahu’s Native Hawaiian communities, combined with her proven leadership and insight into the challenges facing the individuals and families in Hawaiʻi, make her exceptionally well-suited for this position.”
Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in business management, and master’s degrees in social work and business administration from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is also a licensed social worker and a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner.
Under her leadership, Ke Ola Mamo will build on its foundation to expand access, elevate care, and strengthen community – ensuring that Native Hawaiian health and wellbeing are supported through culturally grounded services and strategic partnerships.
Yeaman Selected as Newest KS Trustee
Eric Yeaman has been selected by the state Probate Court as the newest member of Kamehameha Schools’ Board of Trustees. He fills the vacancy created upon the closing of Robert Nobriga’s term, which ended on June 30, 2025.
Yeaman has more than three decades of executive and board leadership experience across Hawaiʻi’s financial services, telecommunications, energy, healthcare, real estate and investment sectors. He is currently the founder and managing partner of Hoku Capital LLC, a firm that provides strategic advisory services and pursues strategic investments in Hawaiʻi-based companies as well as national private equity and real estate funds.
Previously, Yeaman served as president and CEO of First Hawaiian Bank, as president and CEO of Hawaiian Telcom, and as chief financial officer at Kamehameha Schools. He has also held senior leadership roles at Hawaiian Electric Company and Hawaiian Electric Industries.
In addition to his professional experience, Yeaman currently serves on the boards of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, Friends of Hawaiʻi Charities, and the Hawaiʻi Asia Pacific Association. He previously served on the Kamehameha Schools Audit Committee and on the boards of The Queen’s Health Systems and The Queen’s Medical Center.
Born and raised in Kona, Yeaman is a graduate of UH Mānoa, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting with distinction. He is a certified public accountant in the State of Hawaiʻi.
Avian Malaria Affects All Birds
A new UH Mānoa study shows that avian malaria can be transmitted by nearly all forest bird species in Hawaiʻi, which explains why the disease is present almost everywhere mosquitoes are found. The research, published February 10, found avian malaria at 63 of 64 sites tested statewide, including areas with very different bird communities.
“Avian malaria has taken a devastating toll on Hawaiʻi’s native forest birds, and this study shows why the disease has been so difficult to contain,” said Christa Seidl, mosquito research and control coordinator for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, who conducted the research.
Avian malaria damages birds’ red blood cells, leading to anemia, organ failure, reduced survival and, in some species, death. Studies show that ʻiʻiwi have a 90% mortality rate if infected.
“We often think first of the birds when we think of avian malaria, but the parasite needs mosquitoes to reproduce and our work highlights just how good it has gotten at infecting them through many different birds,” Seidl said.
The study analyzed blood samples from more than 4,000 birds across Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island.
The broad ability of avian malaria to infect and spread explains why the disease is so widespread. The findings also suggest there are few, if any, mosquito-infested habitats free from transmission risk. Worse, mosquito-free habitats are rapidly disappearing as warming temperatures allow both mosquitoes and avian malaria to develop in former refuges.
IJA Fellows Arakaki and Chai-Andrade
Two ʻŌiwi, Connor Arakaki and Kalani Chai-Andrade, are among the nine emerging journalists selected to the Indigenous Journalists Association’s (IJA) 2026 Indigenous Journalism Fellowship cohort for undergraduate and graduate students from Indigenous communities who aspire to careers in broadcast, radio, print, visual and digital media.
Each student is paired with an experienced Indigenous journalist as their mentor. Over the course of the program, fellows receive virtual training and mentorship designed to strengthen reporting skills, build confidence and prepare them for their careers.
Arakaki, from ʻEwa Beach, Oʻahu, is a student at Yale University double majoring in ethnicity, race, and migration and English. During the 2024-25 school year, Arakaki was editor-in-chief of the Yale Herald, the university’s weekly magazine, and more recently, was a reporter for Honolulu Civil Beat and the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab. Their writing can also be found in The Nation, The New Journal, Hawai’i News Now, DIAGRAM, HIFILM, and elsewhere.
Chai-Andrade, from Keaʻau, Hawaiʻi Island, is a photojournalist at KVAL-TV based in Eugene, Oregon. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism and cinema studies from the University of Oregon and is currently pursuing a master’s in advertising and brand responsibility. He specializes in sports photography and has also worked with the Northwest Indigenous Language Institute in Eugene and reported on local communities in Accra, Ghana (West Africa).
The fellowship culminates at the 2026 Indigenous Media Conference in Portland, Oregon, where fellows will create content across digital, social, and multimedia platforms highlighting the importance of the ongoing work of Indigenous media.
A Collection of Writings by Meyer
Hoʻopono: mutual emergence is a collection of writings and ruminations by Indigenous scholar, Hawaiian systems thinker, and author, Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer.
Since 1998, Meyer has shared her Indigenous knowledge-based concepts and lived principles with thousands of people through hundreds of talks, gatherings and conferences. Her teachings and ideas have been published, cited and delivered through a variety of national and international journals, books, lectures, videos and conferences around the globe.
The manaʻo shared in this touching and meaningful collection helps “ground us” in this fluid time of global uncertainty. From a Hawaiian perspective, Meyer posits that we are in a species-based “huliau,” an opportunity for humanity to welcome change, and experience a shifting of priorities and possibilities that seeks a “mutual emergence” of our best and most generous and joyful selves in relationship to the living world.
The articles and writings in hoʻopono: mutual emergence lay the foundation for an expansive and inclusive system of thinking, being, and doing based on ʻike Hawaiʻi. The book also includes photographs, tables and content that triangulate and unpack a variety of comparisons and observations. Her writings encourage readers to believe in their own capacity to internalize ideas and welcome change, growth and inclusion.
Published in 2025 by ʻAi Pōhaku Press, hoʻopono: mutual emergence is available at Native Books.
Chief of War Wins at Spirit Awards
The cast of the Apple TV series Chief of War, headlined by Jason Momoa and co-written by Momoa and Paʻa Sibbett, was named “Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series” at the 41st Annual Spirit Awards Ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California, in February.
The Spirit Awards are presented by Film Independent, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, and in amplifying the voices of independent storytellers and celebrating their diversity, originality and uniqueness of vision.
The award celebrated the predominantly Pacific Island cast that includes, in addition to Momoa: Charlie Brumbly, Luciane Buchanan, Cliff Curtis, Brandon Finn, Siaosi Fonua, Roimata Fox, Ioane Goodhue, Moses Goods, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Benjamin Hoetjes, Siua Ikaleʻo, Keala Kahuanui-Paleka, Mainei Kinimaka, Kaina Makua, Temuera Morrison, Branscombe Richmond, Te Kohe Tuhaka, and James Udom.
Curtis, Goods and Kahuanui-Paleka were on hand to accept the award. Curtis read a statement by Sibbett that said, in part, “Quite often, Pacific artists are asked to play a background role in other people’s stories … with Chief of War we weren’t asked to play small-time criminals or hula dancers. We weren’t cast as ʻBouncer Number Two’ or as musicians. We were asked to showcase people [and] language never [before] captured on screen in this way.”
Toves Named a Champion for Change
Kaylah Toves from Oʻahu has been named one of six 2026 Champions for Change (CFC) – a Native youth leadership initiative of the Center for Native American Youth designed to highlight positive stories of impact from Indigenous communities.
Toves, who is Kānaka ʻŌiwi and Acoma Pueblo, is a senior at Cornell University double majoring in government and American studies with a minor in American Indian and Indigenous studies.
At Cornell, she serves as a student leader and advocate, acting as co-president of the university’s American Indian Science and Engineering Society and its Hawaiʻi Club, and as a student ambassador for the Brooks School of Public Policy’s Cornell in Washington program. She also conducts legal research with Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute analyzing gender-based inequities across the United States.
During Fall 2024, Toves served as a legislative intern in Sen. Brian Schatz’s Washington, D.C., office supporting policy research and constituent services on issues impacting Hawaiʻi and Indigenous communities. She aspires to pursue a career in public policy in Washington, D.C.
Use of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in Homes Increasing
A recent column submitted by UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani to the Star-Advertiser notes that ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is the fastest-growing non-English language spoken in Hawaiʻi homes according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
From 2016 to 2024, the number of residents age 5 and older speaking Hawaiian at home rose from 18,400 to 27,338 – a 48% increase (+8,938 speakers). No other non-English language matched this growth.
The surge is most dramatic in Hawaiʻi County, where speakers jumped 125.6% (from 5,000 to 11,279). Maui and Kauaʻi counties combined grew 48.3% (3,500 to 5,191), while Oʻahu saw a 9.8% rise (9,900 to 10,868). Among children ages 5-17, Hawaiian now ranks as the most spoken non-English home language across the pae ʻāina.
This revival began in 1983 with ʻAha Punana Leo preschools, operating in defiance of the 1896 law banning the use of Hawaiian as a medium of instruction in schools. After the ban’s repeal in 1986, Hawaiian medium pathways expanded from Pūnana Leo into public schools via kula kaiapuni (Hawaiian immersion) programs.
Chock Wins Olympic Medals for Skating
Olympic ice dancer Madison Laʻakea Te-Lan Hall Chock is the first and only Native Hawaiian to ever win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, she and Evan Bates, her husband and skating partner, took the silver medal in ice dancing. The couple was just 1.34 points behind the gold medal winners, France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron – a ranking that was disputed by fans.
This was not Chock’s first Olympic medal. She is also a two-time gold medalist in the team event at both the 2022 and 2026 Olympics. Since she began competitive skating in 2006 at the age of 14, Chock has won more than 40 medals for skating – 24 of which are gold medals. She is a seven-time U.S. Champion and a three-time World Champion.
Born in Redondo Beach, California, Chock began skating at the age of 5, and, as her interest and prowess developed, her ʻohana moved to Michigan so she could receive top tier coaching. In a USA Today article, Chock expressed her joy at being able to be part of the Winter Olympics as a Hawaiian saying, “It means so much to have that representation of Hawaiʻi on the ice.”
UH Survey Seeks Input from Mahiʻai
Co-cropping – the cultivation of multiple plant species in the same field to increase yields and increase biodiversity – is at the cutting edge of science. Long a traditional Hawaiian practice, western research now recognizes the complex interactions between crops in polyculture systems.
However, the infinite variations in crop combinations, spacings, timing, and management mean that a western science framework will never be able to examine all options. This is where farmer observations and accumulated knowledge play a critical role.
To identify how intercropping indigenous plants affects Hawaiian cultivation characteristics such as soil water retention, crop yield, soil fertility and input requirements, University of Hawaiʻi student researcher Ella Hazen, supported by Dr. Noa Lincoln of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory, has developed a 10-minute survey and is seeking responses from mahiʻai (farmers) and others who plant traditional Hawaiian crops together (co-crop) here in Hawaiʻi.
This voluntary survey is anonymous and open to individuals 18 years or older. Survey responses will help researchers compile high-quality data, which will be distributed back to the community to make traditional Hawaiian co-cropping information more accessible.
To participate in the survey go to: surveymonkey.com/r/6RQZXFZ
11th Annual Manu o Kū Festival
