Our Team
Kīpuka Kuleana was founded by four mothers living and raising their children on the island of Kauaʻi. These women include an associate professor, a lawyer, a GIS specialist and archival researcher, and a nonprofit director with expertise in conservation easements -
all dedicated to perpetuating kuleana and connection to ʻāina across generations.
A volunteer-run hui since 2016, Kīpuka Kuleana became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2018, hired its first part-time staff member in 2021 and welcomed its first executive director in 2024.
Our Staff
Tina Aiu
Executive Director, Co-Founder
Tina Aiu grew up in Wailua, Kauaʻi, where her family roots go back several generations. Her work with Kīpuka Kuleana is inspired by her kūpuna and stems from her 14 years of experience working with land trusts and other grassroots organizations to protect 'āina for communities across Hawai'i. After earning her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, Tina returned to Hawaiʻi and worked to connect high school youth to ʻāina as a Team Leader with Kupu's Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps. The experience inspired her to pursue a career in land conservation. Tina earned her J.D. and Environmental Law Certificate from William S. Richardson School of Law in 2013 and then worked as a Food Systems Planner for Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services. She worked alongside the Kalihi community to establish the first farmers market and community garden in Oʻahu's largest public housing neighborhood. Tina then served as Oʻahu Island Director with Hawai'i Land Trust, managing conservation real estate transactions and mālama ʻāina projects, including the purchase and permanent protection of Maunawila Heiau in Koʻolauloa, Oʻahu. After practicing as a civil litigation attorney, Tina returned to the conservation sector to manage conservation easement, ʻāina-based education, and community stewardship projects in Maunalua for Livable Hawaii Kai Hui. Working in partnership with Maunalua community leaders, Tina was instrumental in establishing a community ʻohana garden and mala kalo for families residing in Honolulu's urban core. She has also taught Conservation Transactions as a Lecturer in Law at William S. Richardson School of Law. In 2020, Tina's heart called her home to Wailua, Kauaʻi where she currently resides with her husband Franz and daughter Makaʻalohi. Tina is the co-owner of Modesta Media, a digital media production company that primarily services the environmental sector. Having spent much of her career establishing kīpuka for communities of Oʻahu, Tina is glad to bring her expertise home to Kauaʻi through her work with Kīpuka Kuleana and volunteered her time to establish and grow the organization as a co-founder from 2016-2024. Tina enjoys spending time in the mountains, playing with her 5 year old, and practicing martial arts.
Mālana Lopez
Born and raised in Kapaʻa on the moku of Puna, Kauaʻi, Mālana Lopez was brought up through the Kaiapuni education system. Through her immersion in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and ʻike kūpuna, she developed a deep understanding of the vital connections between ʻāina and the expression of Hawaiian culture and values. This foundation continues to guide her both personally and professionally. She went on to earn a B.A. in Sociology and Music from Colorado College, where we cultivated a broader social justice lens and a passion for community-centered work. Over the last four years, Mālana worked in the nonprofit sector supporting the unhoused community, gaining valuable experience in social work and program development. Returning home through Kīpuka Kuleana as the ʻOhana Outreach & Education Coordinator has been a meaningful opportunity for Mālana to reconnect with ʻāina, ʻohana, and the values that shaped her. She is honored to serve the Kauaʻi community and to support the vision of aloha ʻāina and ea for future generations.
ʻOhana Outreach & Education Coordinator
Chantal Zarbaugh
Community Engagement Coordinator
Chantal serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator for Kīpuka Kuleana, where she works alongside longtime Kauaʻi families to document ʻohana stories, strengthen community relationships, and support efforts that help families remain connected to their ancestral lands. Her work focuses on uplifting community voices and advancing initiatives such as the Wanini project, grounded in kuleana to mālama ʻāina and preserve generational ties.
She brings a diverse background in community engagement, business development, and nonprofit leadership. She has held roles with Kauaʻi Federal Credit Union and the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, and previously worked with the Kauaʻi Chamber of Commerce, building partnerships that strengthen Kauaʻi's social and economic fabric. She currently serves as Treasurer of the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association, where she previously led marketing and fundraising efforts for the Kauaʻi Lifeguard Association. A dedicated community advocate, Chantal volunteers her time supporting several local boards and organizations across the island.
Guided by her faith, family, and service, Chantal is committed to fostering trust, uplifting others, and helping ensure that future generations remain connected to their ʻāina, culture, and community.
Mahi'ai Naihe
Stewardship Coordinator
As a lifelong steward of the environment with deep roots in Kauaʻi, Mahiʻai brings both professional expertise and a profound personal commitment to the Stewardship Coordinator role. His background in native Hawaiian preservation, combined with years of hands-on experience in native ecosystem restoration, has provided him with the technical skills necessary to manage and protect precious lands. Mahiʻai's connection to this ʻāina, and specifically to the Wanini area where he spent his formative years exploring the reefs, harvesting kalo, and learning from kūpuna, fuels his passion for this work. Mahiʻai is motivated to serve Kīpuka's mission because he believes in community-led stewardship that honors and perpetuates the island's unique natural and cultural heritage, ensuring that these vital resources can thrive for generations to come.
Envy Naluz
Grants & Communications
Rooted in Haleleʻa and in service to the community on Kaua'i, Envy supports organizations engaged in meaningful, place-based work. At Kīpuka, she supports grants and donor relations while contributing to community initiatives and collaborative efforts that strengthen cultural resilience. Her work is guided by respect and humility, and carried out with intention, a willingness to keep learning, and a deep sense of accountability to people and place.
Outside of work, she is most often in the ocean surfing, studying 'ōlelo Hawai'i, usually with her dog Tuff by her side, who she jokes should have been named Holoholo, since he goes everywhere with her.
Board of Directors
Malia Akutagawa
Interim President
Malia Akutagawa is from the island of Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi. As a Kanaka ʻŌiwi, she was raised in a traditional, subsistence lifestyle; learning to fish, crab, gather limu (seaweed), prepare traditional foods and lāʻau lapaʻau (traditional herbs for medicinal healing). Malia was influenced strongly by her mākua (parent generation) and kūpuna (elders) in the aloha ʻāina movement to protect traditional lands from developers. This inspired her to become an attorney. Malia focuses her legal advocacy work on Native Hawaiian access, gathering, and religious rights; historic preservation and native burials protection; land use and environmental law issues; climate change law, policy, adaptation, and action planning; indigenous governance; native landback; and peacemaking utilizing traditional hoʻoponopono principles. Malia is an Associate Professor of Law and Hawaiian Studies and is part of Hui ‘Āina Momona, a consortium of scholars at the University of Hawaiʻi - Mānoa charged with addressing compelling issues of Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge and practices.
Elif C. Beall
Interim Vice President / Treasurer
Elif Beall is a licensed attorney, community advocate, and budding writer. Elif was founding Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA), and has served in many non-profit positions including executive leadership, development, and communications. Elif lives on the north shore of Kauaʻi with her husband, where she has resided since 2004. In addition to Kīpuka Kuleana, Elif also serves on the Kauaʻi Island Council for the Hawaiʻi Land Trust. She's happiest when in nature, or when practicing hula or lei-making, or discussing good questions and hopeful futures with family and friends.
Laura Kaakua
Secretary
Laura Hokunani Edmunds Kaakua was raised in Niu, Oʻahu, now lives in Waiʻalaeʻiki, Oʻahu, and has ancestral ties to Maui, Kāneʻohe on Oʻahu, and Kohala on Hawaiʻi Island. Laura is the Climate Mitigation Adaptation & Culture Manager at Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) where she oversees fulfillment of the historic Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation settlement agreement, leads development of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, is helping to create a Native Hawaiian Consultation Policy, and supports collaborative transportation solutions and projects that are based in community, indigenous knowledge, and nature. Prior to HDOT, she served as Deputy Director of the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), President and CEO of Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and Native Lands Program Manager for Trust for Public Land. She enjoys building and strengthening teams, strategic planning, facilitating unexpected collaborations, storytelling, and causing good trouble. Keiki sports games, ʻohana beach time, hula, and mālama ʻāina fill her free time.
Pua Rossi-Fukino
Board Member
Pualiʻiliʻimaikalani Rossi is from the ahupuaʻa of Wailua, in the moku of Puna, on the mokupuni of Kauaʻi. She holds a B.A. in Hawaiian Studies and in Anthropology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and an M.A. in Hawaiian Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is currently working towards a PhD in Aloha ʻĀina Leadership in Education from UH Mānoa's College of Education. She is an Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Studies at Kauaʻi Community College and teaches both Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language. Her interest in Hawaiian research first started when she began learning about the various wahi pana (significant places) in Wailua. Understanding that we must look to the past to be successful in our future, Pua continues to learn all that she can to support Mālama ʻĀina practices, indigenous knowledge, and the study of Hawaiian culture and history. In her spare time, you can find her either at the beach or up in the mountains. Her two young and active boys also keep her extremely busy!
Devin Kamealoha Forrest
Board Member
Devin Kamealoha Forrest is from Hāʻena Kauaʻi and is Kumu Hula of Hālau Hula ʻo Keʻalalauaʻeomakana located in Waipā, Haleleʻa, Kauaʻi. Devin was raised by his maternal grandparents Francis and Elizabeth Chandler. Hula has been a part of his ʻohana for generations, his great grand uncle being the revered Kumu Joseph ʻĪlālāʻole. Kumu Kamealoha went through formal ʻūniki training under Kumu Hula Lehua Matsumoto, who was a student of Kumu Hula Maiki Aiu Lake and Kumu Hula Mae Kamāmalu Klein. Kumu Kamealoha is also a student of Kumu Hula Kimo Alama Keaulana from whom his ʻike on the hula of ʻĪlālāʻole comes from Kumu Kamealoha is also a haku mele, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi scholar, and an attorney at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.
Co-Founders
Mehana Blaich Vaughan
Co-Founder
Mehana Blaich Vaughan grew up in Namahana and Kalihiwai, Kauaʻi, on the border of the moku of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau. Mehana has worked for thirty years developing ʻāina-based education programs on Kauaʻi, in Hawaiian charter and immersion schools, and training teachers in culturally grounded education. She is currently a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management and U.H. Sea Grant College program. Her research, teaching and outreach focus on understanding and nurturing community care and governance of land and waters in Hawaiʻi.
Jennifer Luck
Co-Founder
Jennifer Luck is the Chief Operating Officer for Common Ground Kauaʻi. She previously served as Executive Director of the Kauaʻi Public Land Trust, Kauaʻi Island Director of the Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and Managing Director of the Porter Trust and Wai Koa Plantation, where she oversaw the perpetual conservation of a 4-mile walking trail, multi-stakeholder negotiations for a dam remediation project, tenancy contracts and master plan renovations of 500+ acres of agricultural land. In addition to Kīpuka Kuleana, Jennifer sits on the boards of the Hawaiʻi Land Trust and Namahana Charter School. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Jennifer lives on the north shore of Kauaʻi with her husband Jason and daughters Midge and Frankie. She is happiest when she is spending time with them and her extended ʻohana, surfing, running and making lei.
Dominique Leu Cordy
Co-Founder
Dominique Leu Cordy grew up all over Oʻahu and now lives and farms kalo with her kāne and their two keiki in Haleleʻa and Koʻolau, Kauaʻi. She does freelance research across the pae ʻāina. Focusing on land in Hawaiʻi, she specializes in archival research and GIS mapping. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from University of California at Davis and an M.A. in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has over 17 years of experience in the field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) in Hawaiʻi, archaeology, EA and EIS review, community ethnography, historic land and historical research, and GIS research. She has guest lectured for six years for the Wahi Kūpuna Internship Program (WKIP) as well as the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu. Ms. Cordy has managed and developed cultural and historical GIS databases for government agencies, including the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE-POH), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. She engages actively in community organizations that seek to protect, preserve, and educate about Hawaiʻi's precious wahi kūpuna (cultural resources) and is a participating member of the Kaliʻuokapaʻakai Collective, the Waioli Taro Valley Hui. Dominique is the Deputy Director of Huliauapaʻa and a co-founder of Kīpuka Kuleana.