Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 3, 1 March 2022 — Mana Wāhine [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mana Wāhine

y POKE NŪHOU K ^ N EWS BRIEFS "

Kanoelani Davis, Moloka'i

Moloka'i artist Kanoelani Davis has been named a First People's Fund (FPF) 2022 Cul-

tural Capital fellowship recipient. This is the second time Davis has been recognized by FPF, having received a Community Spirit Award in 2018. Davis, a cultural practitioner and kumu hula, is owner of PoMahina Designs, a wearable art company that merges Hawaiian culture and contemporary design. Based on Moloka'i, Davis opened her online shop in 2017 and was invited to share her designs at New York Fashion Week in 2018. Clothing sold on her website is made to order and she reinvests a portion of her sales back into the community. In January, Davis started a podcast called "MANA Bomb" to inspire and empower other 'Ōiwi. FPF has honored and supported Native artists and eulture bearers for 25 years with the belief that "art embodies Native peoples' culture, our understanding of who we are and where we eome from" and that artists and culture bearers help Indigenous people to connect with their past and chart their future. Over the years, FPF has awarded 423 fellowships to 324 artists in the U.S. and Canada exceeding $5.5 million. Davis is one of 27 2022 FPF fellowship recipients and the only Native Hawaiian. The Cultural Capital fellowship is awarded to artists and culture bearers who are rooted in their communities and eommitted to passing on their eultural knowledge.

Chelsie Evans, Maui

Chelsie Evans has been named the new executive director of Hawaiian Com-

munity Assets (HCA), Hawai'i's largest Department of Housing and Urban Development-certi-fied housing counseling agency. HCA serves over 1,500 loeal residents annually providing free finaneial counseling, ineome supports, and career coaching. Originally from Makawao, Evans has focused for most of her career on serving survivors of domestic violence, keiki displaced from their homes, and youth with barriers to their educational and career goals. Before joining HCA, Evans was executive director of Maui Hui Mālama whieh works with at-risk youth. In her new role, she will help Native Hawaiians and other loeal residents fulfill their dreams of homeownership by helping to close the housing gap and by delivering high quality hnaneial and housing programs to the community. Evans has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in human services. She has presented at national symposiums for social justice and domestic violence, and founded Wrapped in Wings, an organization whieh supports critically ill children and their families. HCA and partner organization Hawai'i Community Lending have established the nation's first-and-only network of Finaneial Opportunity Centers with ofhces on four islands. Together, they are working to build the eapacity of low- and moderate-in-eome families, especially Native Hawaiians, to achieve and sustain eeonomie self-sufficiency by increasing ineome, building assets, and securing affordable housing.

Moanalani Jones Wong, O'ahu

On February 6, 'Ōiwi surfer Moanalani Jones Wong made history when she won

the first ever women's Billabong Pro Pipeline, defeating five-time world ehampion and Olympic gold medalist, fellow Native Hawaiian surfer Carissa Moore, in the final heat. Jones Wong was considered a "wildcard" entry when she was invited to compete in the Billabong Pro at the North Shore's ieonie Banzai Pipeline, so even her advancement to the finals was something of an upset. It was her first surf competition in six years. She grew up in Pūpūkea watching the Pipe Masters. Her parents taught her to surf, and she surfed Pipeline for the first time when she was just 12 years old. Prior to her victory at the Billabong Pro last month, Jones Wong, 22, was relatively unknown. Although her lifetime goal has always been to heeome a world ehampion, Jones Wong took a detour to pursue a degree at UH West O'ahu where, in 2021, she heeame the first graduate of the bachelor of applied science Hawaiian and Indigenous Heahh and Healing (HIHH) program. Her senior project was titled "Surfing: More Ihan a Sport." With the opportunity to surf in the first women's Billabong Pipe Pro, and her unexpected victory, Jones Wong is no longer an unknown surfer. She has been propelled onto center stage of the world of international surfing and is currently the top ranked female surfer in the 2022 Women's Championship Tour.

Uenus Kau'iokawēkiu Rosete-Medeiros, Maui

Hale Kipa recently announced the appointment of Venus Kau'iokawēkiu Ros-

ete-Medeiros as its new CEO. The Hawai'i nonprofit organization, whieh has served at-risk youth and their families for more than 50 years, began its search for a new CEO last Fall. Born and raised on Maui, Ros-ete-Medeiros graduated ffom Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and has an MPA ffom Madison University. She has more than 35 years of experience serving youth and families in Hawai'i and her background includes work with nonprofits, as well as with private and puhlie school systems. Most recently she served as Kamehameha Schools' eommunity strategist and regional director for Maui, Moloka'i and Lāna'i, overseeing community investments, puhlie and private collaborations and Hawaiian culture-based educational programs. She also founded and served as the executive director of the Neighborhood Plaee, a Maui nonprofit, from 2004-2011. As an active community and social justice advocate, Ros-ete-Medeiros has developed several community grassroots programs and initiatives including the Kamālama Parenting Curriculum based on traditional Hawaiian values that is being used by a number of organizations throughout Hawai'i. Hale Kipa is a multi-service, fully accredited nonprofit agency that specializes in working with at-risk youth and their families. Hale Kipa has served more than 67,000 youth throughtout Hawai'i since 1970, providing residential, outreach and foster care services at no cost.

Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum,0'ahu

In January, Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum broke not one, but two glass ceilings when

she heeame the first woman and the first Native Hawaiian to serve as president of the EastWest Center. Vares-Lum brings significant leadership background to her new role. A retired U.S. Army Major General with 34 years of service, she has extensive experience addressing national security in the Paeihe region. After retiring, she formed her own consulting company, advising the most senior ofRcials at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and cultivating key relationships with nations throughout the region. Vares-Lum has a BA in journalism and a master's degree in teaching ffom UH Mānoa. She also earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the US Army War College, is a graduate of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pa-cific Center for Security Studies, and was a National Security Fellow of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Puhlie Affairs at Syracuse University. She received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2017. Located on the grounds of the UH Mānoa campus, the EastWest Center was established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to serve as a institution for puhlie diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region with the goal of promoting better relations and understanding between the people and nations of the United States, Asia and the Paeihe through eooperative study, research and dialogue. ■