The Commission

He kūpaʻa kēia i ka hoʻōla ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma o ka home a me ka hoʻonaʻauao. He lima kōkua wiwoʻole nō hoʻi no ka pono o ke aʻo ʻana i kā kākou poʻe keiki ma o ka ʻike kūpuna o nēia ʻāina aloha. Pēlā e hoʻokele mau ai i kaʻu hana ma ka noho ʻelele ʻana ma kēia ʻAha Kula Hoʻāmana.

Makalapua has focused her life’s work on the reestablishment of Hawaiian as the primary language of the home and education. Her professional and research interests are inspired by her commitment and respect for the Hawaiian language and culture and include language acquisition, immersion education-program planning and evaluation, educational resource development, teacher education, and educational reform. Makalapua attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, for undergraduate and graduate degrees earning a B.A. in Hawaiian Studies, a professional diploma in language education, a M.A. in ESL, and an Ed.D. in Professional Educational Practice. As a Hawaiian educator for over 40 years, Makalapua has taught at the elementary, secondary and university levels and has served as administrator of Oʻahuʻs five ʻAha Pūnana Leo preschools and Ke Kula ʻo Kamakau, a P-12 indigenous medium public charter school. Recently retired from the University of Hawaiʻi as Associate Professor at Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, Makalapua serves on numerous educational committees, as well as mentors graduate level students.

Brandon Keoni Bunag is the Vice President of Public Programs and interim Director of Education at
Bishop Museum. He is responsible for all public operations as well as programmatic-related initiatives of
the Museum, including the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of the Museum’s
education initiatives and programs. These include on-site school field trips, outreach, planetarium and
communityy, public and daily programs.

He previously served on Hālau Kū Māna’s (HKM) Governing Board and later its Poʻo Kula (Head of
School). Before HKM, Brandon worked at Kamehameha Schools in the Extension Education Division.
There, he was responsible for the planning and execution of Hoʻomākaiʻikaʻi, the long-standing summer
boarding program that connected students to their kūpuna through moʻolelo, mele, oli, hula, and
cultural site visits. He was also instrumental in expanding the Hoʻolauna and Kūlia I Ka Pono summer
programs to communities across the Pae ʻĀina. Collectively, the Explorations Series were programs
designed to provide opportunities for haumāna to connect with their culture and community while
gaining a sense of kuleana. These experiences and the opportunity to serve on the Commission is fueled
by a deep passion for Hawaiian culture-based and community-based education that puts student
success at its core.

Brandon earned a bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian Studies and a master’s degree in Political Science from
the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He attained an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University
of Southern California where his research focused on resource allocation in Hawaiian-focused charter
schools. He was born and raised in Halawa, Oʻahu and continues to reside there with his wife and two
keiki, both whom have previously attended public charter schools.

Donna Ann Kameha’iku Camvel is the Education Systems Specialist for Ka Lama Education Academy, one of ten programs under the Institute for Native Pacific Education & Culture or INPEACE. Her family, the Līhuʻe, Kahanu, Pāoa, Kea, Lono ʻohana are kupaʻāina from the ʻili of ʻIolekaʻa in the Heʻeʻia Ahupuaʻa and Kamehaʻiku has served the Heʻeʻia community for the last thirty-five years.

Co-founding the Ahupuaʻa Restoration Council of Heʻeʻia in 1999 as a successful grassroots community platform which led to the restorative efforts taking place in the Heʻeʻia ahupuaʻa today, she is well aquainted with community service. She attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for her undergraduate degree in Womenʻs Studies and Hawaiian Studies, continuing on to earn a M.A. in Hawaiian Studies and in 2020, successfully defended her dissertation, “Hoʻoulu ʻĀina: Restoration in the Heʻeʻia Ahupuaʻa, to earn her doctoral degree. For twenty-five years she has taught Hawaiian Studies at Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, the last six years at Windward Community College. As a kumu, cultural practitioner and matriarch of her ‘ohana, Kameha’iku has served and continues to serve her community with place-based mālama and aloha ʻāina educational & cultural opportunities at her ʻohana’s kuleana in ʻIolekaʻa.

Jill Baldemor began her career in education 25 years ago as a Teach For America corps member and 2nd grade teacher in Washington Heights, New York City. She returned home to Hawai‘i in 2000 and practiced law with Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. In 2007, she became the Executive Director of Teach For America, Hawai‘i, which focuses on educational equity and excellence by finding, developing, and supporting diverse leaders as they work to expand opportunity and life options for all our young people. In her capacity, Jill has worked with Title I public schools across Hawai‘i Island and O‘ahu. Today, approximately 300 Teach For America teachers are working statewide in Hawai‘i schools. Jill previously served on the Hawai‘i State Public Charter School Commission from 2014-2017 and 2020-2023.

Alex Harris has spent his career working to improve educational opportunity for young people. He currently leads the grantmaking team for the Hawaii-based Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, where his work helps more low-income students to access good jobs by obtaining a promising degree or credential. Alex has prior public sector leadership experience in the Hawaii Department of Education and DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education and has led large initiatives for the National Governors Association, Council for Chief State School Officers and US Education Delivery Institute supporting transformation of school districts and systems.

Harris is a board member of AdvanceCTE and the National Career Academy Coalition and sits on the organizing committee for Grantmakers for Education’s national conference. He holds degrees from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and Brown University and lives in Windward Oahu with his wife and two sons.

Cathy is the granddaughter of teachers, the daughter of teachers, the mother of a teacher and a teacher of teachers. Her life work continues to be on normalizing Hawaiian culture based education practices in the classroom for all of Hawaiʻi’s students. She earned a B.A. in English, a secondary teaching certification and an M.Ed. from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Cathy also earned an Ed.D. in Professional Educational Practice from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has taught grades 6-12 for 23 years on Hawaiʻi Island and is currently an Assistant Professor of Middle/Secondary Education at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu.

Bio forthcoming

Known affectionately by many as “Kumu Lehua,” Dr. Lehua Mark Veincent is on the vanguard of Hawaiian language and cultural education. The Hawaii Island native, with genealogical ties to Kaʻū, Puna, Keaukaha and Panaʻewa, earned dual degrees at UH-Hilo – a BA in Hawaiian studies and a BBA in business in 1988, plus a teacher certification in 1990. He has also earned two master’s degrees from UH Manoa, in curriculum and instruction in 1999, and in educational administration in 2002 and a third master’s degree in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University in December, 2019. In 2016, Kumu Lehua earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His doctoral’s work focused on cultural knowledge and education within a given community in strengthening one’s identity and recognizing the importance of one’s mauli, uniqueness.

For over 35 years, Kumu Lehua has served as an educator on Hawai‘i and Maui Islands. He has taught kindergarten through 12th grades, and has also served as a lecturer and supervisor in the teacher education program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Kumu Lehua has served as Hawaiian Language instructor for over 20 years for the DOE Community School for Adults and at the Hawaiʻi Community College. As Hawaiʻi Island is an important part of his foundation, Kumu Lehua has sat on numerous school and community boards.

In 2001, Veincent co-founded the Ke Ana La‘ahana Public Charter School in Keaukaha – a 7 th -12 th grade cultural-based school. He has served as a Department of Education State Resource Teacher in Hawaiian studies and language, vice principal at Hilo Intermediate and Hilo High Schools, principal of Ke Ana La‘ahana, and principal of Keaukaha School. Since 2012, he has served as Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i high school principal.