Our Board of Directors

Kauanoe Kamanā

Co-Founder and President

Member since 1983
Dr. Kauanoe Kamanā is a founding member of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo and serves as its president. She was born in Honolulu and raised in Kalihi and Kalamaʻula, Molokaʻi. She is the director of U.H. Hilo’s P-20 Hawaiian medium education laboratory school Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu. As a teacher and administrator, she works with students, teachers and families to re-establish the vibrancy of Hawaiian language and culture in Hawaiʻi. Kauanoe believes that we all have a role in carrying the legacy of Hawaiian language into the future.

Pila Wilson

Member since 1983
Dr. William H. “Pila” Wilson is a founding member of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo. Pila was born in Honolulu after his parents came to Hawaiʻi during World War II. Pila teaches at Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani Hawaiian Language College at U.H. Hilo. His professional expertise includes Hawaiian grammar, the history of the Hawaiian language and language revitalization. Pila has played a key role in developing state laws for education through Hawaiian and in establishing U.S. federal policies to protect and promote Native American languages.

Larry Kimura

Member since 1983
Larry Lindsey Kimura grew up in Waimea, South Kohala during the 1940s with his grandparents being among the last native Hawaiian speakers of their community. He has taught Hawaiian language for over 40 years at the University of Hawaiʻi and continues his work at Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at U.H. Hilo. He is a co-founder and current board member at the ʻAha Pūnana Leo.

Keawe Lopes

Member since 2011
Dr. Keawe Lopes is a professor at Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language at U.H. Mānoa and the coordinator of Ka Waihona A Ke Aloha, Ka Papahana Hoʻoheno Mele. His intimacy with the Hawaiian language serves as a foundation in his hālau, Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe, which he opened with his wife in 2005. Keawe is also a recording artist and Nā Hōkū Hanohano nominee in both the Hawaiian Language Album and Haku Mele Song Composer categories.

Kīʻope Raymond

Member 1986 – 2004, 2011-present
Kīʻope was born in Lahaina and now lives in Waiakoa, Kula, Maui with his wife, Lisa Schatteburg-Raymond. Their two children, Kuaola and Kaleʻa, both attended the Pūnana Leo o Maui; which Kīʻope established. Kīʻope is a retired Professor of Hawaiian at U.H. Maui College. However, as a member of the board of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo, he continues to assist in the revival of the Hawaiian Language. He is grateful for the parents and communities in Hawaiʻi and, indeed, the many people around the world that have become a part of the Hawaiian Language revitalization movement.

Hulilau Wilson

Member since 2011
Hulilauākea Wilson is a native Hawaiian language speaker. He is a Pūnana Leo graduate and also a graduate of Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu class of 1999, the first class in over 100 years to be educated completely through the Hawaiian language. Hulilau is a graduate of Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani and a former Teacher Aide at Pūnana Leo o Hilo.

Our Executive Team

Ka‘iulani Laehā

Chief Executive Officer
Ka'iulani Laehā is the Chief Executive Officer of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo. Since joining the organization in 2018, Ka'iulani has led strategic growth across the ʻAha Pūnana Leo's full portfolio, sustaining and expanding the Pūnana Leo preschools, the foundation of more than 40 years of Hawaiian language medium education, while developing innovative platforms to further normalize ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi in everyday life.
Her path to this work is grounded in deep nonprofit leadership experience spanning youth programming, fund development, and executive management. She has served as executive director of Pacific Links Hawaiʻi Foundation and as development manager for Kupu, a Honolulu-based nonprofit focused on mentoring Hawaiʻi's youth as stewards of culture and environment. Across every role, her focus has remained consistent: preparing younger generations for a meaningful life in Hawaiʻi and beyond.
Ka'iulani's influence extends beyond the ʻAha Pūnana Leo into the broader early childhood landscape. She served as the Hawaiian medium education representative on the Early Learning Board, the state governing body responsible for directing statewide early learning policy from prenatal through kindergarten entry. She is also a steering committee member of Commit to Keiki, a statewide collaborative launched in 2020 addressing child care and early learning, family violence prevention, and early childhood mental health. She was named to Pacific Business News' 40 Under 40 in 2023.
Ka'iulani was born and raised in Kuliʻouʻou and now lives in Wailupe, where she is raising her keiki. She is a Kamehameha Schools graduate and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in finance and a Master of Business Administration.
Her connection to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is personal as much as professional. She came of age during a pivotal moment in the language's resurgence, one made possible by the founders and early pioneers of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo, and began her own path to fluency in her early teens. That early aloha for the language now drives her commitment to ensuring ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi endures as the living core of what makes Hawaiʻi distinct.
Cristin Gallagher

Chief Financial Officer
Cristin Gallagher is the Chief Financial Officer for the ʻAha Pūnana Leo. As a certified public accountant with extensive experience in financial management, Cristin brings a strategic, analytical approach to strengthening the organization’s fiscal health and operational efficiency.

With a background in nonprofit and business financial management, Cristin has spent over a decade helping organizations navigate financial planning, budgeting, and compliance. She has worked closely with executive leadership and boards to develop sustainable financial strategies, oversee grant funding, and improve operational workflows. Before joining ʻAha Pūnana Leo, she provided consulting services to businesses and nonprofits across Hawai‘i specializing in financial reporting, cost analysis, and strategic planning. She has also held key financial leadership roles in healthcare and public accounting, where she worked on audits, tax preparation, and revenue cycle management.
Based in Hilo, Cristin enjoys gardening, spending time at the beach with her family, and playing soccer with her husband. She also serves on several nonprofit boards and remains dedicated to strengthening financial sustainability for organizations that make a lasting impact in Hawaiʻi.