Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer
Speaker Biography
Manulani Aluli Meyer is the fifth daughter of Emma Aluli and Harry Meyer who grew up on the sands of Mokapu and Kailua beach on the island of O’ahu and along the rainy shoreline of Hilo Palikū. The Aluli ohana is a large and diverse group of scholar-activists dedicated to Hawaiian education, restorative justice, land reclamation, ohana health practices, cultural revitalization, arts education, prison reform, transformational economics, food sovereignty, and Hawaiian music. Manu works in the field of indigenous epistemology and its role in world-wide awakening. Professor Aluli-Meyer obtained her doctorate in Philosophy of Education from Harvard (Ed.D. 1998). She is a world-wide keynote speaker, writer, and international evaluator of Indigenous PhDs. Her book: Ho’oulu: Our Time of Becoming – Hawaiian Epistemology and Early Writings is in its third printing. Her background is in wilderness education, coaching, and experiential learning, and she has been an Instructor for Outward Bound, Hawaii Bound, a coach for Special Olympics in three states, and a passionate advocate for the Hawaiian Charter School movement. Dr. Aluli Meyer has been an Associate Professor of Education at UH Hilo and spent five years in New Zealand as the lead designer/teacher for He Waka Hiringa, an innovative and accredited Masters of Applied Indigenous Knowledge at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, the largest Māori university with 30,000+ students. Dr. Aluli-Meyer is currently working at UH West O’ahu as the Konohiki of Kūlana o Kapolei, a movement developed by Hawaii Papa O Ke Ao (University of Hawaii Systemʻs initiative) to help contextualize higher learning within a Hawaiian world-view. Manu is a wahine kalai pohaku (stone carver) along with lei ano and lei hala maker (seed leis). She is dedicated to Indigenous Food Sovereignty and works to bring the coconut back into daily use. She is also a 30+ year practitioner of hoʻoponopono who appreciates and learns from the purpose and function of conflict.