Meet the Team

  • Lei Niheu

    Chair

    Lei is a Kanaka Maoli cultural practitioner and artist. She was an early member of Nuclear Free Independent Pacific and has been in the movement for a liberated Hawaiʻi for over 30 years.

  • Kaiulani Lambert

    Vice Chair

    An expert on land titles and dispositions, Kaiulani is an avid gardener.

  • Nani Omerod

    Treasurer

    Nani is a businesswoman who is a native Hawaiian homesteader and a member of Papakolea Community Association.

  • Healani Sonoda-Pale

    Secretary

    Healani is a community leader who has strong genealogical roots to Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi. She is an educator, feminist organizer, and protector of iwi, water, land and Kanaka Maoli rights. She is also the lead organizer for the O'ahu Water Protectors.

  • Kauwila Sheldon

    Member

    Kauwila cultural practioner who has strong community ties to O'ahu's Windward and North Shore. Aside from being a land and water protector she is also a doctoral candidate at Chaminade University in Leadership and Adaptation with an emphasis in Indigenous Leadership.

  • Kealoha Pisciotta

    Member

    Kealoha is a cultural practitioner and a long time protector of Mauna Kea and founder of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and Kai Palaoa. She has been in many landmark cases and projects protecting sacred sites and environment. Kealoha is a respected community leader who resides on Hawai’i island.

  • Kahuna Wright

    Member

    Kahunawai is an Associate Professor of Education Administration and co-author of Haunani-Kay Traskʻs biography.

  • Kapali Keahi

    Member

    Kapali is a musician and member of the band Lahaina Grown. He is a survivor of the 2023 Lahaina Fires and the co-founder of Lahaina Community Land Trust. He has been in the struggle for landback in West Maui for decades and is a Hawaiian Homesteader.

  • Lehua Kinilau-Cano

    Member

    Lehua is a Kanaka Maoli attorney who has helped draft multiple position statements and articles on self-determination. She is on the Hawaiian Home Lands waiting list and was the last elected Kia’aina of Ka Lāhui Hawai’i