Summer Institute 2021

Puanani Burgess is known for the community building process, Building The Beloved Community, which she designs and facilitates throughout Hawai’i, the U.S. and the world.  She is a board member of the Kohala Center, Feed The Hunger Foundation and the Positive Futures Network.  As part of her community-based work in her home community of Wai’anae, she helped develop several community, family  and aina-based organizations including:  Ka’ala Farm. Hoa’Aina ‘O Makaha, Hale Na’au Pono (the community mental health center), Time Out Nursery and the Pu’a Foundation)Shi-e is a poet, cultural translator and mediator.  In 2009 she was among five people honored as one of Hawai’i’s Living Treasures by the Hawai’i Honpa Hongwanji Mission.

Christopher Emdin is tenured professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also serves as Director of the Program in Science Education and Director of Science Education at the Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education Center. Emdin’s work has been featured on ABC, CBS, PBS and various other media outlets He is author of the award winning book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-hop Generation, the New York Times bestseller For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood.. and the Rest of ya’ll too. His newest book, and Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success is currently available for pre order wherever books are sold. 

Terisa Siagatonu is an award-winning poet, teaching artist, mental health educator, and community leader born and rooted in the Bay Area. Her presence in the poetry world as a queer Samoan woman and activist has granted her opportunities to perform and speak in places ranging from the White House (during the Obama administration) to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France. The most memorable moment in her career was receiving President Obama’s Champion of Change Award in 2012 for her activism as a spoken word poet/organizer in her Pacific Islander community.

Proudly born and raised in the Bay Area, Christina “V” Villarreal spent nearly a decade teaching and learning with the beautiful youth of East Oakland, CA where she taught middle school and then served as an assistant principal. She also taught Ethnic Studies courses at San Francisco State University for three years before moving the East Coast for graduate school. Currently, Villarreal serves as the Faculty Director of the Teacher Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she also teaches courses on Ethnic Studies and Healing Centered Engagement. Additionally, she serves as a Radical Healing trainer with Flourish Agenda, and as an Ethnic Studies consultant with Acosta Educational Partnership. She holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley, an Ed.M. from Harvard University, an M.A. in Ethnic Studies from SF State, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Education from Columbia University. Her work and research focus on enactments of humanizing pedagogies, racial literacy and radical healing in classrooms, schools, and communities. When she’s not teaching, she can be found baking cookies or cupcakes, eating a huge bowls of noodles or cuddling with her doggie, Canela.

Kaʻanohiokalā Kalama-Macomber is a mother, a daughter and a kumu hula who is passionate about working with and for the lāhui in order to support the future generations of Hawaiʻi nei. From Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, Kaʻanohi has 10+ years of experience as a steward of Hawaiʻi culture-based educational programming. Her work with schools, families, and extended communities has helped to inform the work that she does today as the Nā Hopena Education Specialist with the HIDOE – Office of Hawaiian Education.

Ivee Cruz is a visionary, creative, facilitator, educator, dancer and conscious spirit. Ivee is passionate about growth, transformation and change. Ms. Cruz is a global citizen, born in the Philippines, raised on the borderlands of California and Mexico, currently blessed to call Hawaiʻi home. She has lived, worked, and studied in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Ms. Cruz is a lifelong learner and is currently a PhD candidate in Education with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. She has a Masters of Arts in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Bachelors of Arts in Global & International Studies and Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara. Ivee has been an educator for over 20 years in public, private, and charter schools across K-12 and higher education. She has experience in social entrepreneurship, NGOs, non-profit, and governmental sectors. Her contemplative experience includes People of Color Retreats at Deer Park Monastery, Mindful Schools – Educator Training, Greater Good Science Center, and Courage of Care. As a counselor, educator, and facilitator, she aspires to bridge culture, diversity, spirituality, equity, leadership, and consciousness for youth in education.