Pacific Business News 40 Under 40 Honors HILT’s Director of ʻĀina Protection, Shae Kamakaala

It is both an honor and a privilege to have been honored as a Pacific Business News 40 Under 40 awardee. Nominated by Aunty Puanani Burgess, Dept. of Land and Natural Resources Chair Suzanne Case, and Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT) Board Member Mary Charles, it is such a great platform to share about the important work that HILT is committed to. And truthfully, I am only here because I stand upon the shoulders of my own and many kūpuna (elders) and aloha ʻāina (those dedicated to stewarding the lands that feed) who have put their trust in me.

As the Director of ʻĀina Protection, I am humbled to have a functional role in land protection efforts statewide, especially those that return ʻāina back to generational stewardship as this is a proactive tool in bridging the private-public sector with community to uphold Constitutional obligations and protections for Traditional and Customary practices and our Public Trust resources for the indigenous peoples of this place—that when done, benefits all. In honor of the women nominees for this special acknowledgement, I revisited the “Building a Beloved Community” training materials that Aunty Puanani Burgess gifted my colleagues and I.

I’d love to share a little piece of this gift with you all that stuck out to me this time around:

“For your contemplation and consideration: What should people do with their lives? Many things obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness and isolation can be cured.”

(original quote by Kurt Vonnegut, adapted by Puanani Burgess and myself)

I look forward to wrapping up the year in birthing another human into this beautiful world and continuing the great and sacred work of HILT—hand in hand with you all.

— Shae Kamakaala, Director of ʻĀina Protection