The ‘Upena Network offered place-based education to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Academy grounded in deep connections to our ancestral homeland and Kanaka identity. Moʻolelo related to Hawaiian culture, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and traditional practices were highlighted in the solar, police, carpentry, and commercial driver’s license academies on Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi.

The Hiʻiaka Association is a hui of wahine mid-level career ʻŌiwi leaders. The Hiʻiaka Association is a safe space for wāhine to discuss issues unique to the female ʻōiwi leadership experience and to network with one another. Through this ʻōiwi leadership training, we employ a Hawaiian perspective to explore diverse and thought-provoking topics related to the professional advancement of wahine leaders.

The Hui Kūnihi is a hui of kāne and wahine mid-level career ʻŌiwi leaders. The Hui Kūnihi exposes potential ʻŌiwi executives to a plethora of activities and presentations to add to their skill sets to become outstanding ʻōiwi leaders in Hawaiʻi. Like the Hiʻiaka Association, the Hui Kūnihi addresses topics relevant to emerging Hawaiian executives to establish a network of Hawaiian leaders in various business sectors.

Kamaikahuliwaʻa is a one-year ʻŌiwi leadership development program. Kāne and wāhine will be invited to participate in this cohort beginning in November 2023. Throughout the year, invitees will visit all six moku on Oʻahu to study the moʻolelo of wahi kapu and explore lessons about ʻŌiwi leadership. In addition, there will also be an orientation dinner, a two-day retreat, a leadership conference, and a culminating dinner.