{"id":19628,"date":"2025-03-12T09:56:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T19:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/?p=19628"},"modified":"2025-03-12T13:59:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T23:59:45","slug":"20-for-the-next-20-shawn-kanaiaupuni-pidf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/20-for-the-next-20-shawn-kanaiaupuni-pidf\/","title":{"rendered":"20 for the Next 20: Shawn Kana\u2018iaupuni, Partners in Development Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We are incredibly proud to celebrate our President and CEO, Dr. Shawn Kana\u02bbiaupuni, for being honored in Hawai\u2018i Business Magazine’s<\/em> “20 for the Next 20”<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a recognition of 20 outstanding professionals who are shaping Hawai\u2018i’s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This well-deserved acknowledgment reflects Shawn’s unwavering dedication to our mission of uplifting our community through Hawaiian culture-centered education, sustainable farming, and \u02bbohana-strengthening services. Her leadership continues to inspire positive change, and we are excited to see the lasting impact she will make in the years ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawn, mahalo for your hard work, vision, and commitment to serving our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally published by Hawaii Business Magazine, written by Vicki Viotti. Check out the full article here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Aaron Yoshino and Hawaii Business Magazine (@hawaiibusinessmagazine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The nonprofit\u2019s president and CEO leads unique educational initiatives, including a mobile preschool and assistance for homeless families.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shawn Kana\u2018iaupuni learned much at the Polynesian Voyaging Society, including a deeper understanding of Hawaiian culture\u2019s connection to the human spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s carried through to her work with the Partners in Development Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1997 that she now leads. \u201cThe community-based organization provides educational programs to keiki and \u2018ohana, supporting them for success and service,\u201d Kana\u2018iaupuni says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before joining PIDF in 2020, Kana\u2018iaupuni, an educator and Kamehameha Schools alumna, directed her alma mater\u2019s Public Education Support Division and worked for the schools\u2019 research and evaluation arm. That included studies on culture-based education and how it affects student outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her own culture-based education included beginning sailing as a crew member in 2015 on part of H\u014dk\u016ble\u2018a\u2019s worldwide voyage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was on the ocean, I was like, \u2018Oh, wow, this is home to me,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cBut my k\u016blana<\/em> (role) on the wa\u2018a<\/em> (canoe) was, I was a newbie and I was a rookie. So I just learned to follow and be as helpful as possible and try to learn as fast as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pursuit of learning and strengthening communities are core elements of PIDF\u2019s programs, which include T\u016bt\u016b and Me, a mobile preschool that trains families in early education, and the Ka Pa\u2018alana Homeless Family Education Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, PIDF and its partners won an eight-year, $20 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their collaborative work on the Kawailoa project\u2019s  restorative programs to reduce youth incarceration. Laura Dang, PIDF VP for administration, says Kana\u2018iaupuni\u2019s ability to \u201canalyze situations and think outside the box\u201d enables the foundation\u2019s broad reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PIDF\u2019s focus on family resilience led it to partner with American Savings Bank to help children build financial literacy. The Keiki Assets Account (KA\u2018A) helps parents save for their children\u2019s educational futures while giving them more confidence in handling their own money, says Beth Whitehead, executive VP and chief administrative officer at the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis program gives children a better start by helping their parents build a strong financial foundation,\u201d Whitehead says. \u201cThe stability and opportunities it creates will have a huge impact on their lives as they grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kana\u2018iaupuni sums up PIDF\u2019s mission: \u201cM\u0101lama i ka \u2018ohana, ola ke kai\u0101ulu,<\/em> which translates to when you care for family, you build healthy communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article appears in the <\/em>March 2025<\/a> issue of Hawaii Business Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are incredibly proud to celebrate our President and CEO, Dr. Shawn Kana\u02bbiaupuni, for being honored in Hawai\u2018i Business Magazine’s “20 for the Next 20” \u2014 a recognition of 20…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":19631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19628"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19646,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19628\/revisions\/19646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pidf.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}