Raised in the rural US South with genealogical ties to the forests and coastal areas of lands now known North Carolina and Virginia, Dr. Akiemi Glenn is a Honolulu-based scholar and culture worker. As a linguist who works in Indigenous language revitalization, filmmaker, artist, and cultural practitioner, Akiemi’s work engages concepts of culture, race, and belonging at the intersections of art, social justice, and education. She is the founder and executive director of the Pōpolo Project, a community organization whose mission is to redefine what it means to be Black in Hawai‘i through cultivating connections between individuals, our communities, our ancestors, and the land, highlighting the vivid, complex diversity of Black cultures and identities in the Pacific and around the world.

Amber McClure is a documentary filmmaker born and raised on Kaua‘i. Her diverse background in documentary production, education, and community service reflects her passion for storytelling and narrative change. Until 2024, Amber held the position of Director of Programs at Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), a national media arts nonprofit based in Honolulu. She is now pursuing a PhD in American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Amber's commitment to elevating the roles of women in the film industry is evident through her involvement on the board of Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking and recently directed an episode of the short film series Reel Wāhine of Hawai‘i which premiered on PBS Hawai‘i in 2024. She has been an educator since 2015, teaching English and Japan-Hawai‘i history to international students at Kaua‘i Community College. 

Anne Weber-Yarbrough is committed to community and equity-- she is a non-profit leader, entrepreneur, and educator with a strong drive toward social impact and equitable outcomes. She believes that everyone has a role to play in this work and strives for this vision in her personal life, volunteer roles, and professional life. She is currently the Managing Director of Regional Initiatives at Teach For America Hawaiʻi, a national non-profit dedicated to the vision that one day all children will receive an excellent and equitable education. 

Celine, raised in Hawaiʻi, has strong family values influenced by her parents' mortgage company, House of Finance. She gained early entrepreneurial experience assisting in the family business and later worked in the startup sector, contributing to a software app and a co-working space in Hawaii As a Senior Consultant at BCR, she supports clients in strategic planning and family business dynamics across various sectors. C holds a Marketing and Management degree from the University of Hawaiʻi and is actively involved in non-profit and family business initiatives, including her role with Women Leaders in Family Enterprises.

Hilary Hacker has a master’s degree in Strategic Communications and a bachelor’s degree in Community Organizing. She has worked at Kapi'olani Community College since 2017 with the Community Health Worker Certificate Program as a lecturer and program coordinator and is now the Director of the Community Health Education Program. Hilary has worked in the grassroots and social services sphere of community health in many capacities, from outreach worker to health and community educator. She has worked with communities throughout the West Coast, Hawai'i and internationally from Guatemala to Palestine with a focus on humanizing complex global issues including immigrant, indigenous, land and water rights. She uses platforms as diverse as writing, photography, mural design, videography, web and graphic design. She is fluent in Spanish. Hilary is also a Co-Founder and Producer with Sovereign Lens LLC.

Kim Kamaluokeakua Moa is a documentary photographer and strategic communications professional with a passion for social justice and visual storytelling through an ʻōiwi lens.  Born on Maui and raised in ʻEwa Moku on Oʻahu, her work in the nonprofit sector has focused on storytelling that uplifts the voices of those most impacted in our community. Kim believes building capacity for communities to tell their own stories empowers them to manifest a vision of abundance in their own lives, for their ʻohana, and for generations to follow. She is currently the Narrative Change Director at Hawaiʻi Investment Ready (HIR) where she leverages narrative-led systems change strategies in pursuit of a more just, equitable, regenerative island economy where all life (land, people, communities) thrives. Prior to HIR, Kim worked as a freelance photographer in Boston, New York, and Hawai’i after attending Boston Universityʻs College of Communication for a master’s program in photojournalism. She spent nearly a decade documenting grassroots mālama ʻāina efforts across the paeʻāina with Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo, serving 6 years as their Communications Coordinator. Most recently she served as the Communications Director at the ACLU of Hawaiʻi. Kim also holds a BA in studio art & psychology and is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools.

Meeta co-founded Hub Coworking Hawai'i, a collaborative workspace dedicated to fostering innovation and supporting Hawai'i's entrepreneurial community. Since its launch, she has been instrumental in creating a dynamic ecosystem that provides essential resources, networking opportunities, and mentorship to local startups, small businesses, and remote professionals. Under her leadership, Hub Coworking has become a central resource for Hawai'i’s tech and innovation sectors as well as a prominent community gathering space in Honolulu. Prior to founding Hub Coworking, Meeta co-founded ShakaNet in 2002, a business center provider and Internet Service Provider that significantly contributed to Hawai'i’s digital infrastructure. She helped grow ShakaNet from two initial locations on O'ahu to more than 75 across all islands and held the Wi-Fi contract for all major airports in Hawai'i until 2014.