Mawae Morton (Founder, Faculty)
Mawae Morton is originally from Aotearoa (New Zealand). Mr. Morton has affiliations with several iwi, including Ngäti Tuwharetoa, Ngäti Pukenga, Te Atihaunui a Paparangi, and Ngäti Maniapoto. Mr Morton holds a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from Massey University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Victoria University of Wellington. He has served in key Maori governance roles, notably as Chairman of the Tauponuiatia Management Board on appointment by the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board; and as a founding Trustee and Director of the Putahitanga o nga Ara Trust, which is the governance entity for the Pouakani Treaty Settlement. Mr. Morton has held several policy positions with the New Zealand Government in the area of Maori development, Maori land and natural resource management, and Treaty of Waitangi issues. As a Senior Consultant with KPMG Consulting and in private practice, Mr. Morton advised many Maori trusts and incorporations on Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations, governance issues, strategic planning and business planning.
Peter Vitousek (Founder, Faculty)
Peter M. Vitousek is Morrison Professor of Population and Resource Studies in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University. He was born in Hawai’i, and now does most of his research there – making use of the extraordinary environments and ecosystems of the Islands as a model for understanding ecology and human-environment interactions globally. There is no truth to the rumor that his interest in Hawai’i is anything but academic. He graduated from HPA, Amherst College (BA Political Science), and Dartmouth College (PhD Biology), then taught at Indiana University and the University of North Carolina before joining Stanford’s Department of Biological Sciences in 1984. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was named “America’s Best Ecologist” by Time/CNN in 2001. Peter is married and has two children.
Neil J. Kaho’okele Hannahs (Founder, Faculty)
Neil Hannahs directs the Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools which is responsible for a portfolio of 358,000 acres of agriculture and conservation lands in Hawai’i. These lands are deployed to promote a thriving land for a vibrant people by implementing strategies to steward natural resources, promote sustainability, develop rural economies and engage Hawaiian social enterprises in these opportunities.
Mr. Hannahs is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and received BA and MA degrees from Stanford University. He is active in community affairs, serving on the governance boards of Queen’s Health System, Queen’s Medical Center, Moloka’i General Hospital, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Wai’anae Community Re-Development Corporation, Hawai’i BioEnergy and Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.
He is also founder and co-director of the First Nations’ Futures Program in partnership with Stanford University, as well as the Hawai’i Investment Ready Program. Mr. Hannahs serves on advisory boards for the U.S. Army Garrison Command, as well as the Richardson School of Law, Hawai’inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Sea Grant College of the University of Hawai’i.
Kamana Beamer (Faculty)
Kamanamaikalani Beamer PhD received bachelor’s degrees in both Philosophy and Hawaiian Studies in 2002. “Kamana” received his M.A. in Geography in 2005 and completed his PhD in Geography in 2008. Kamana has been recently added to the LAD team as the Land Legacy Education Manager. Kamana’s kuleana includes the FNFP fellowship as well as ‘Āina Ulu and other educational initiatives on KS Legacy Lands. He has previous experience in Fellowships where he was a member of the inaugural cohort of Mellon-Hawai‘i fellows as a post-doctoral fellow and was also an ‘Ōiwi Ake Akamai pre-doctoral fellow.
Kamana has been an active member of the Native Hawaiian community through his involvement with traditional Hawaiian resource management initiatives, political activism, and Hawaiian music. He has worked with family restoring lo‘i (traditional wet-land taro fields) in Waipi‘o, Hawai‘i and is a songwriter and composer for the Hawaiian music band Kāmau, who released an album titled, “Live From the Lo‘i.” Kamana comes from a long line of Native Hawaiian educators and composers. He credits his grandmother, Nona Beamer, as his greatest mentor.
Kamana is married to Laua‘e (Murphy) Beamer and lives in Waimea, Hawai‘i. The Beamers are proud parents to daughter Halialoha Kawahinekapuanolani Kapuailohiamanonokalani Leipuanaala Beamer.
B.J. Awa
B.J. Awa is originally from Kahalu’u, O’ahu – born and raised. He is a lifelong learner and true believer in education. B.J. is a proud Kamehameha Schools class of 1999 graduate and product of Ke Ali’i Pauahi. He subsequently earned his Bachelors degrees from Pacific University in Mathematics and Economics (2003) and holds Masters degrees in Travel Industry Management (2005) and Economics (2008) from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. B.J. continues his personal, gradual educational pursuit toward a PhD in Economics, Resource Management.
B.J. formerly held the position of Undergraduate Economics Advisor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Economics Department and continues to lecture microeconomic and macroeconomic courses periodically at the University. B.J. first joined Kamehameha Schools professionally in 2006 via the Land Assets Division (LAD) as an intern within the Strategic Resources Team then under the leadership of Mawae Morton. He has since made a couple of smooth transitions along with his team under the leadership of Kamana Beamer with Kamehameha Schools’ reorganizations: first within LAD into the then newly formed Land Legacy Education Team all under the Endowment Group, and second into the now newly formed ‘Aina Based Education Department within the Community Education Implementation (CEI) Division under the Education Group. B.J.’s duties within Kamehameha Schools have gradually increased throughout the years but one constant kuleana from 2006 to now has been FNFP whether it be in the role of project support intern to coordinator, manager and now Director.