Board Members
SAM AKOI IV, PRESIDENT
Bio ...to come!
CLAUDIA KALAOLA, VICE PRESIDENT
Claudia Kalaola is a Maui Hikina decendent. Her kulaiwi is the ahupuʻaʻa of Mūʻolea located between Kipahulu and Hāna moku. Her parents are also Maui Hikina born who lived and worked their entire lives Hāna. Claudia graduated from Kamehameha Kapālama, and attended UH Hilo. Along with her 7 siblings she was raised to respect ʻāina, kai and all the resources that are important to a subsistence lifestyle. As a founding member and director of Nā Mamo O Mūʻolea and the Maui Nui Makai Network, she is a kakoʻo to the 8 other communities who are part of the Network. Along with a handful of people in Hawaii, Claudia is a Certified Festivals and Events Executive, and for 15 years chaired the annual Hāna Limu Festival.
DESIREE GRAHAM, SECRETARY/TREASURER
Born in Hāna, Maui, the daughter of Bernadette Wilhelm, Howard Manaois and Leslie Medeiros Jr., eldest granddaughter of Samuel & Elizabeth Wilhelm and Samuel & Cecelia Kalalau, Jr. University of Hawaiʻi Maui College graduate with AA Degree in 2017. Blessed to be living on Hawaiian Home Lands in Kahikinui, Maui. As Secretary of Wākiu Community Development Corporation, Desiree is honored to be part of such an Awesome Movement to assist the East Maui Native Hawaiians in striving for a better life on their own land that thrives in culture and traditions. Her Father-in-Law, the late Aimoku Pali, inspires her to continue his legacy of helping our Kanaka.
LORETTA O’HARA, DIRECTOR
Born, raised and currently resides as a lineal descendant in Hāna, rich in her Hawaiian history. From the battlefield of Wananalua to the fortified walls of Kaʻuiki, the spiritual lands beloved by the Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi and the birth place of Kaʻahumanu in a cave.
Growing up with her Fontanilla, Kalalau, Kalaola and Kaulainamoku ʻOhana, she lived in a plain hicks, box-like house painted dark green with a tin roof and a one car garage where they lived off the land growing their own produce. She is very involved in and felt the calling to help in supporting and protecting ʻIwi Kupuna. She also serves as a Board of Director on the Ke Aō Hāliʻi (Save the Hana Coast) Non-Profit. As a Steward, she is proud to have such Kuleana to engage her cultural skills. Loretta, also known as Etta, is proud to serve as a Board of Director on the Wakiu CDC knowing she can continue to raise her ʻOhana on the Hawaiian Homelands in Hāna for future generations to come. She understands the hardships the Community is dealing with when it comes to housing issues. She wants positive change for Hāna.
MARY "MELE" KAHANA, DIRECTOR
Mary Ann Kahana currently resides on generational land in Hamoa Village, Haneoʻo. She is from the Piʻilani lineage and feels blessed to return to her mother’s birth homeland. She earned a BS in Nursing from University of Hawaii and MSN from University of Phoenix, Family Nurse Practitioner. Mary Ann directly commissioned into the Air Force in 1997 and retired in 2017. Her deployment experience includes tours to Qatar, Djibouti, Balad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She joined Wākiu CDC because Hawaiians are landless in their own Kingdom of Hawaii. Ultimately, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) role is to place Hawaiian beneficiaries on Hawaiian Home Lands. Our Kuleana is to support Hana beneficiaries with deep ancestral ties to remain and live in Hana such as Wākiu.
NAKUA KONOHIA-LIND, DIRECTOR
Photo and Bio ...to come!
NOELANI LECKER, DIRECTOR
Photo and Bio ...to come!