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Kyler Hood

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Alan Shoho

Ka Wai Ola Staff

James Morioka1

James Morioka

B Camara

Bobby Camara

Ralph S. Cushnie

Tamara McKay

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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

Business & Tourism

“Hawaiʻi cannot be a copy of some place else’s future.”

“You cannot wait for the future to start preparing for it.”

“For workforce, it’s not one person’s or agency’s responsibility, but everyone’s”

Bennette Misalucha, executive director of the 

, said this and more in the first two minutes of the Future of Work Conference 2027, which welcomed more than 300 community leaders to the Japanese Cultural Center on Sept. 23.

The day-long conference was held in partnership with the 

Attendees participated in breakout sessions, surveys and discussions to exchange perspectives and build partnerships, organizers said in a recent announcement.

“The Future of Work Conference reminds us that no single organization can address Hawai

i’s workforce challenges alone,” Misalucha said in a statement. “By bringing employers, educators, workforce leaders and government partners together, we create opportunities to align our efforts, strengthen partnerships and develop solutions that benefit our people and industries.

“Our hope is that the conversations and connections made during the Future of Work 2027 conference will lead to lasting collaboration and meaningful action. Ultimately, the success of this conference will be measured by what we accomplish in the future, by creating opportunities for Hawai

i’s people to learn, work, thrive, here at home.”

s President and CEO Sherry Menor shared the meaning behind this year

’s theme: “Rooted in Culture. Ready for the Future.”

“It really speaks to the conversation we need to have in Hawaiʻi. The future of work is already here,” she said at the event. “Industries are evolving and employers are looking for news ways to attract, develop and retain talent. But as we prepare for what’s ahead, we have an opportunity to stay grounded – what makes our Islands truly special and unique are our people, our culture, and our sense of place.

“That’s why workforce development is such an important part of the 

: a roadmap to transform our economy and strengthen our competitiveness. It

’s about creating opportunities for people. … Because the future of our workforce and the future of our economy are inseparable.”

Menor noted that the blueprint aligns with 

the state’s generational workforce commitment

, “so that by 2045, all Hawaiʻi residents have a path to a career.”

“We need government, community leaders working together to build stronger pathways for people, connecting education with opportunity, and creating careers that allow local talent to build their futures here,” she continued.

Lord Ryan Lizardo, the chamber’s vice president of education and workforce development, told ASD that this annual event is intended to showcase how workforce is changing across sectors, share an economic forecast, and recognize individuals and organizations contributing to that work.

“One goal is to support talent, while helping employers find that local talent,” he said, noting that paying a good, living wage can be a challenge.

Associate Director of Education Sophia Wibholm shared how it was “cool to see so many K-12 teachers” in attendance.

“It’s great for them to hear from the industry leaders and apply what they learn into their classrooms,” she told ASD. “At the chamber. we are looking to improve classroom pathways (to careers) for different industries, whether that’s internships, externships, etc. … I really like [Department of Education] Superintendent Keith Hayashi’s vision of ‘Globally competitive and locally committed.”

Kaina Makua — a Native Hawaiian taro farmer and nonprofit leader, outrigger canoe coach, and actor who played King Kamehameha I in Apple TV series “Chief of War” — served as keynote speaker at this year’s conference.

Makua, who was barefoot, performed an ʻoli and spoke ʻōlelo at first, sharing the moʻolelo of his parents and kūpuna who came before them.

“Think about one of your kūpuna that taught you about your identity,” he posed to the audience.

He told stories of surviving Hurricane Iniki, fishing with his father, having difficulty reading from grade school on up and being pursued by Jason Mamoa, with a central theme of not compromising on who you are no matter the circumstances.

When Makua finally agreed to take on the role of King Kamehameha I, he said he committed to learning the language he spoke and way of living he practiced. He recalled only speaking ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi on set, and if others wanted to converse, they had to learn it, too, or they needed a translator.

“The crazy thing was they all wanted to learn, and they created such an amzing enviornment that I think Holywood has never see,” he said. “Stick yo your roots, stick to you, and be your truth. Know who you are and stand there because that is unique, and that’s what the world gonna ask for very soon.”

to provide hundreds of free bags of poi to the community in need, he told ASD.

Steven Bond-Smith of the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, or UHERO, followed by examining the trends shaping Hawaiʻi’s industries, employers and workforce needs. Later on that day, local speakers representing the fields of healthcare, construction, the public sector, defense, energy, information technology and tourism, took the stage.

Some interesting tidbits that came up from industry presenters included:

The event also recognized seven individuals and organizations contributing to change, including Eric Gill with UNITE HERE Local 5 and David DeLuz of the Hawaiʻi County Workforce Development Board, as well as State Rep. Andrew Takuya Garrett; Kazu Hayashida, manager of workforce planning at Hawaiian Electric; Melvin Dizon of Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center; Chentelle Rowland, executive director of Maui Workforce Development Board; and Matthew Stevens, executive director of Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative.

Kaina Makua Future of Work 2027

<title>'Chief of War' actor Kaina Makua, community leaders talk culture, workforce wins and woes</title>

Hawaiʻi Workforce Development Council in partnership with Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi put on its fifth Future of Work Conference 2027, which focused on preparing the state’s workforce for the future, while staying rooted in the Islands. The day was packed with speakers and presentations across industries, as well as networking, awards and solutions for moving forward.

'Chief of War' actor Kaina Makua, community leaders talk culture, workforce wins and woes

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

As the Victoria Ward corporation continued to develop its 60 acres of property in Kaka‘ako — a process it had started in the 1950s — a prime site in a prominent location at Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Boulevard was selected. This was what would become Ward Plaza.

Construction on Ward Plaza began in March 1969. It was designed by Au, Cutting, Smith & Associates in the Brutalist architectural style, which was extremely popular internationally at that time. Brutalism featured the use of unadorned concrete surfaces, usually dark grey, with exposed rough aggregate. It was considered to be the cutting edge of modern construction then. There are a number of similar Brutalist structures in Honolulu that you might recognize, like the Financial Plaza of the Pacific in downtown Honolulu along with a number of state and federal government buildings along Punchbowl Street. Even much of Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye Airport is Brutalist, having been built during this same period.

Ward Plaza opened on December 16, 1969. It contained 45,000 square feet of rentable space in one 3-story building and two 2-story ones. Tenants had the use of 165 parking spaces in the below-grade basement level. At the time of opening, renters included a Bank of Hawai‘i branch, a Reyn’s menswear store (the only retail occupant) and 16 other businesses including real estate, insurance, and a business machines representative.

Although Ward Plaza remained a popular professional building complex it was removed in 2018, probably to avoid continuing maintenance costs for something which was slated to be replaced eventually in the overall Howard Hughes plans. The site remained vacant for years afterwards although at the time of this article’s publication in 2026 it contains the lower floors of the under-construction Launiu condo.

You might question why one small commercial building deserves this much attention. There are many reasons — first, the documentation of what’s been destroyed in the growth of Honolulu is important. A great many lost buildings were never photographed at all, since nobody at the time thought they were worthy of attention, and we can never go back retroactively to right that omission. But additionally, Ward Plaza was notable historically because it was a significant step up for this particular neighborhood’s stature when it opened in 1969 as a unique architect-designed complex. And as Brutalist buildings in general age out of a useful life and are demolished, we need also to keep records to show they once existed. This is particularly true since the style is actively disliked by many critics today, leading to calls for it to be wiped out. We’ve seen this short-sighted attitude in the past lead to massive losses of buildings which today could never be replaced, and that mistake shouldn’t be made again.

1 IMG 6039 16x9

<title>Changing Kaka‘ako: Ward Plaza</title>

When it debuted in 1969, Ward Plaza elevated the neighborhood with a then-cutting edge architect-designed modernism. The complex was torn down in 2018 and construction has recently begun on its replacement, high-rise condo The Launiu Ward Village. Here's what made Ward Plaza special and why it should still be remembered.

Changing Kaka‘ako: Ward Plaza

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Justices on the Hawai‘i Supreme Court seemed incredulous Friday over a dispute between the Hawai‘i Elections Commission and the state Office of Elections.

The Elections Commission, the board that appoints and evaluates the state Election Officer, has been unable to meet since June. The previous election chair’s term concluded that month, and without a successor in place, it has fallen to other commissioners to schedule a meeting in which a new chair can be selected.

This seemingly trivial task has been met with repeated roadblocks by the Office of Elections, leading commissioners Ralph Cushnie and Tamara McKay to file a petition for the Supreme Court to intervene and clarify what authority the Office of Elections has over the Commission.

Aaron Schulaner, the attorney representing the Office of Elections and Election Officer Scott Nago, repeatedly told the Supreme Court Friday that the Office of Elections only serves an administerial role for the Commission, advising them on what they are or are not permitted to do based on state statutes.

If, for example, a leaderless Commission wishes to schedule a meeting, Schulaner said the Office of Elections can do so — so long as a majority of the eight commissioners request the office for assistance scheduling a meeting. But without that request by the majority of the Commission, the Office of Elections cannot provide administrative support, Schulaner said.

Cushnie and McKay argued that this alone appears to not be backed up by state law. McKay said Schulaner’s reasoning seems to be based on the statutory requirement that the Commission act by majority, but the definition of “act” is based on actions taken during an agendized meeting, not administrative functions like scheduling meetings.

But justices of the court seemed shocked at the dysfunction between the Commission and the Office of Elections, two bodies that are charged with serving the public good.

Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna questioned why the Office of Elections hasn’t been more proactive in scheduling a meeting after four months of inactivity by the Commission with a general election looming.

“Why are we here?” McKenna exclaimed. “Why can’t this be done by rational people that are trying to serve the public?”

Schulaner said the Office of Elections could proactively send emails to each commissioner, asking them if they agree with holding a meeting, and if five commissioners answer in the affirmative, then the office would begin scheduling a meeting. But McKenna again was incredulous: “If you’re conceding that you could do that, why haven’t you done that?”

The Commission’s own inability to schedule meetings was also called into question. Cushnie said the commissioners do not have access to their fellows’ email addresses or contact information, which has prevented him from coordinating other commissioners.

Schulaner suggested that allowing commissioners to know each other’s emails could raise concerns about violations of the Sunshine Law, the government transparency law that, among other things, prohibits public boards from discussing business outside of agendized meetings. But he also could not confirm that the state Office of Information Practices specifically advised the Office of Elections to not share commissioners’ contact information with each other.

“You’re telling us that in all the years that this commission existed and that we’ve had email, that they haven’t created an email that would just say ‘RalphCushnie@ec.gov’?” scoffed Circuit Judge Peter Cahill.

Justices also questioned whether the Commission’s legal representation represents a conflict of interest. Cushnie and McKay represented themselves Friday; the Commission’s own attorney, Deputy Attorney General Jordan Ching, did not appear.

In fact, Schulaner said that Office of Elections staff reached out directly to the Commission’s counsel and received advice from him to not distribute correspondence among the commissioners.

“So your client is contacting the other entity’s lawyer directly and asking for advice?” Cahill said, calling this behavior “unheard of” for a lawyer. “So the lawyer is making decisions, and there’s nothing to indicate in the record that the lawyer obtained the consent of his own client to have these communications?”

The court made no decision Friday, and did not indicate when a decision would be forthcoming. But McKay told Aloha State Daily afterward that she hopes a decision will be made soon, as the election is looming.

But regardless of the court’s decision, McKay said there is “true division” among the Commission, with animosity and “bad behavior” between the Commission and the Office of Elections, as well as between commissioners themselves.

McKay added that the question of whether the Commission is receiving proper legal representation “needs to be visited” as well in the future.

PXL 20261016 211501782 16x9

<title>Deadlocked state election organizations go to Hawai‘i Supreme Court</title>

Hawai‘i Supreme Court hears arguments in dispute between Hawai‘i Election Commission, Hawai‘i Office of Elections. At least one justice was stunned that the dynamic between the two groups had reached this point.

Deadlocked state election organizations go to Hawai‘i Supreme Court

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

Kūpuna on the hunt for affordable housing have a new option in Honolulu: Ho‘ohiki Senior Living.

The new affordable community at 1002 N. School St. — developed by Highridge Costa Development Co. in partnership with the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority — will soon welcome seniors 55 and older. The development will offer 249 rental homes reserved for households earning no more than 60% of the area median income. Income limits vary depending on household size; you can find the current income limits for the City and County of Honolulu 

, Ho‘ohiki offers 32 studios, 208 one-bedroom homes, and 10 two-bedroom homes, one of which is a manager's unit. Amenities include parking, an exercise room, classrooms, an arts and crafts room, multi-purpose room with a kitchen, and computer lab, along with an outdoor recreation deck with walking paths, resident gardens and a stage.

Gov. Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority Executive Director Hakim Ouansafi and Highridge Costa Development Co. President Moe Mohanna were among those who gathered Wednesday morning for a grand opening celebration and blessing.

Ouansafi told Aloha State Daily after the blessing that the project launched about 18 months ago. A storm earlier this year had caused some damage in the building because there were no windows, he said, noting that a three-month delay was initially estimated.

"We met again and we said, 'You know what? We need to do everything we can. Delays are not accepted' ... and to see today, still on time, it's actually a beautiful thing."

Ouansafi says, too, the idea that affordable housing has to be "this small, dark area" was unacceptable and new standards were needed.

"I believe, confident actually, that today we did set a new standard for affordable housing," he told ASD. "... You will not be able to tell that this is affordable housing — only in the name — and that is important. And we built it cheaper than what others would build it [for], just with the cooperation, collaboration, proper planning, not wasting time — time is money — and having some good partners. This will set the stage for what affordable housing should be, I think, for years to come. I'm very, very proud of it."

Honolulu City Council Member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, who represents District 6, told ASD that there was a previous attempt to redevelop the site, "and the need was great then and it's even greater now."

"I take the bus most places, so I see the people who this project could benefit each and every day," he says. "Sometimes I talk to them. I talk to them about how much they pay in rent, how much they struggle just to make ends meet here. We need more options exactly like this."

When asked how he felt to be there Wednesday, Mohanna's response was simple.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I could say just very, very grateful,\" he told ASD."}]

"The amount of work that goes into these communities in general, but specifically into affordable housing, it's years in the making just to get to a construction start," Mohanna says. "I know we always focus on construction because it's visible; you see something coming out of the ground. But as with any tree, the roots have to go first, then the tree starts coming out of the ground."

The roots, he says, is the community work, the design, approvals, the financing; that can sometimes take three to five years to get to the point the developer can start construction.

"That's where the heart really has to lead in knowing that one day you will stand in this community, and more important than stand in this community but come back ... and actually see the kūpuna that live here, meet them, talk to them, get to know them."

Applications for the community's housing lottery are being accepted now through Oct. 31, with the lottery set to take place Nov. 10. Applications received after Oct. 31 may be added to the project wait list. Find more information 

Hoohiki2 101426

<title>Affordable senior housing development opens in Honolulu</title>

Ho‘ohiki, located on North School Street, offers 32 studios, 208 one-bedroom homes, and 10 two-bedroom homes

Affordable senior housing development opens in Honolulu

As Hawai‘i voters begin receiving their ballots for the general election, they may ask: What does Constitutional Amendment Question 2 actually mean?

 to the state constitution will be on the ballot this election. One of those is self-explanatory — should the state Senate be allowed 60 days to appoint judges and justices between April and January, instead of the current 30 days — but the other may seem complicated.

Constitutional Amendment Question 2 asks whether the state should allow the counties to issue “Resilient Infrastructure for Shelter and Equity bonds” — or RISE bonds — to help fund public improvement projects. These bonds would be repaid by future tax revenues on the new developments funded by said bonds, without imposing additional taxes or raising tax rates, and would be exempt from the counties’ debt limit.

The proposed amendment was introduced in the state Senate this year with the stated purpose of attempting to lower the development costs of affordable housing. As noted in 

 — the measure introducing the amendment — the development of new homes requires large up-front investments in water, drainage and other infrastructure.

Rep. Luke Evslin, chair of the House Committee on Housing, said Wednesday that the solution to this has been either to pass on those up-front costs to homebuyers, leading to rising house prices and a lack of affordable housing, or to raise taxes.

RISE bonds would, in theory, present a third option by allowing counties to fund that infrastructure, with the debt being serviced by future increases in tax revenue specifically generated by those selfsame new developments made possible by the infrastructure.

This is not an original concept; 48 other states, excluding Hawai‘i and Arizona, use “tax increment financing bonds,” which operate on the same principle.

Evslin told Aloha State Daily Wednesday that it’s only due to a quirk in Hawai‘i's constitution that the state doesn’t also use these bonds. He said the constitution as written does not permit the counties to issue such bonds, hence the need for a constitutional amendment.

Evslin emphasized that the bonds do not bring an increase in taxes. The property taxes paid by new homeowners in a new development made possible by the bonds will be at the same tax rate as any other comparable development, but the revenues from those taxes will go to pay off the bond, rather than back to the county.

However, Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday that this does not mean the bonds will reduce the counties' tax revenues, as the tax revenues generated by these new developments do not currently exist. Rather than reduce existing revenues, the bonds will simply redirect some future revenues.

Furthermore, the amendment would exempt RISE bonds from counties’ debt limits, which Evslin said means a county could issue any number of the bonds — although, he added, because developments funded via the bonds will still require taxpayer-funded services such as police and fire department responses, counties will likely be judicious in how many they issue.  

Evslin said that the tax increment financing bonds are typically structured conservatively so that the municipality that issues them takes on little to no risk. He said in the event of a disaster wiping out the infrastructure investments — something he said has happened in California — typically the bondholder, not the municipality, is left holding the bag.

The proposal was nigh-universally popular as it passed through the legislature, with major unions such as the Pacific Resource Partnership and the General Contractors Association of Hawai‘i voicing strong support of the amendment. This week, the Chamber of Commerce Hawai‘i urged members to vote yes on Question 2. 

One of the few people to testify against the proposal, Hawai‘i County resident Cindy Freitas, warned about the potential for lost tax revenue and the lack of guardrails for how much of a county’s tax base can be captured by the bonds.

But Green and several other lawmakers spoke in favor of the amendment Wednesday. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said there is a roughly 28,000 unit deficit of housing on O‘ahu, which he said RISE bonds can help to reduce.

Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami called the bonds “a monumental change to how we fund infrastructure,” adding that, after the many disasters of 2026, it is clear that the state’s resilience is dependent on having modern and reliable infrastructure.

“Communities can only be as resilient as the roads that connect us,” Kawakami said.

Evslin

<title>So what is a RISE bond anyway?</title>

Voters may wonder what Constitutional Amendment Question 2 means when they receive their ballots this week.

So what is a RISE bond anyway?

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, feeling like someone or something is sitting on your chest, pressing you down into the bed. Your eyes are open, and you are fully aware of your surroundings, but you’re completely unable to move. You try to will your arms to push your body up and your legs to kick out, but nothing happens. You can’t see anyone, but you feel a chilling presence in the room with you. You’re not alone.

Numerous related traditions exist around the world. Newfoundland’s Old Hag, the Scandinavian Mare, and the Italian Pandafeche all include a supernatural being either sitting, standing, or pressing upon the sleeper. The Hmong people’s Dab Tsog is described as a crushing spirit that sits on the chest and takes the sleeper’s breath. The Turkish Ağırlık throws itself onto sleeping people and presses down with full force, preventing them from waking. While every culture has a name for this strange experience, in Hawai‘i, we simply call it the Pressing Ghost.

The sensations are not limited to being pressed into your bed. Sometimes the sleeper reports feelings of choking or strangulation. A choking ghost is said to grab or strangle a sleeping person, sometimes making it difficult to speak or breathe. With a pressing ghost, the person may feel as though someone is sitting on their chest or body, pushing them into the mattress, or simply holding them down with tremendous weight. While neither experience necessarily involves seeing the entity responsible, folklore often interprets the physical sensation as evidence that something has entered the room.

According to doctors and sleep researchers, there is a scientific explanation. Most attribute these sensations to sleep paralysis, a strange state in which the mind wakes before the body. During REM sleep, our brain temporarily prevents most bodily movement so we don’t physically act out our dreams. If consciousness returns before that paralysis has ended, the result can be a terrifying combination of awareness, immobility, and vivid physical or sensory experiences.

A person may be fully aware of the room around them but still be unable to move or speak. Some people also experience sounds of footsteps or breathing, figures moving in the dark, or the unmistakable feeling that someone, or something, is in the room. The most frightening sensations are pressure on the body, as though an unseen weight is holding the sleeper down, or the feeling of something choking or strangling them.

Sleep paralysis is not particularly rare. A systematic review of 35 studies involving more than 36,500 people found that an estimated 7.6 percent of the general population, roughly one person in 13, had experienced sleep paralysis at least once.

However, that does not mean every story of a ghost choking or pressing someone in bed can be explained as sleep paralysis. Some experiences do not fit the phenomenon, and the medical explanation cannot accurately establish what a person actually experienced. What it does show is that the sensations associated with sleep paralysis are remarkably vivid, and may explain why stories of beings that choke, sit upon, or press down sleeping people appear in so many different cultures.

Professor Loyd Auerbach, a parapsychologist and longtime investigator of paranormal experiences, takes a somewhat different approach from the strictly medical explanation. He recognizes that sleep paralysis can produce experiences of a presence, pressure, suffocation, and even the sensation that something is sitting on or pressing down on the body. At the same time, he does not believe that every experience reported as a ghost can simply be dismissed as sleep paralysis. Auerbach emphasizes that investigators should look at the details of each experience and distinguish between different types of phenomena rather than assuming a single explanation.

A few years ago, a Kaua‘i resident shared her experience with a pressing ghost in a cabin in Kōke‘e State Park.

“Before the lease auction in 2024,” she explained, “Our family used to camp in a little cabin in Kōke‘e almost every summer. We’d been going there for as long as I can remember, my parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, my two cousins, my brother, and me. It was always a special time for us. There was no electricity or TV, but we were never bored. Camping by lanterns and flashlights was always fun for us kids.”

As an adult, her family chose not to pursue a new lease, so they got together one last time to relax and enjoy the outdoors in Kōke‘e together. While the cold air and dozens of hiking trails are invigorating and exciting, they’re also exhausting. After a long day of fun and exploration, the entire family finally laid down to sleep.

For some reason, the woman woke up in the middle of the night to the sensation of being watched. She can’t explain why, but the feeling she got was negative, unhappy, almost angry. Then suddenly, it felt like someone was sitting or lying on top of her, and she was unable to move. She couldn’t even turn her head, but as she moved her eyes around the room, she couldn’t see anyone. Shadows in the corners teased her as she thought some entity might be hiding there, just out of sight. She tried and tried to move her arms and legs, to sit up, but she felt paralyzed; trapped under the weight of some unseen force.

The more she struggled, the more terrified she became, and she swears she heard someone else in the room shuffling around in the dark. Tears began to stream down her face into her ears, and she wondered if she was having a stroke or some other medical episode. She closed her eyes and prayed frantically, all the while trying to move. Then suddenly, the feeling disappeared, and she sat straight up in the bed.

She woke her husband, who used his flashlight to investigate the house and the locks on the doors and windows, but she knew he wouldn’t find anything. She guesses that the entire ordeal probably lasted only a few minutes, but in that state, feeling like someone was deliberately pushing her down into her bed, it seemed much, much longer.

“My mother immediately said ‘pressing ghost.’ My husband thought I should go to the ER,” she said, “And Google said ‘sleep paralysis.’ But I just don’t know. The feeling was real. The feeling of someone or something’s anger was real. And my fear was real.”

Kokee maiden

<title>Pressing Ghost in Kōke‘e</title>

Cultures all around the world have a name for the ghost that sits on your chest, keeping you immobile and terrified when you wake in the middle of the night. The same is true for Hawai‘i, and here's a tale of one such frightening experience in a cabin in Kōke‘e.

Pressing Ghost in Kōke‘e

Pasifika in Tech

The organizers of this annual pau hana are Indigenous tech professionals Sage Keʻalohilani Quiamno, Evan Naiʻaomana Castro, Lia Ikeda and Leimomi Bong, who are clear about what Pasifika in Tech is not: a networking event with a Hawaiian-shirt theme slapped on it. It’s a hui, sustained by people who show up when it’s hard.

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