Fellows mentioned in this story: Kamuela Enos

From University of Hawai‘i Foundation News:

When thinking about the term “Hawaiian culture,” Kamuela Enos, director of the UH System Office of Indigenous Innovation, has begun to use the phrase “ancestral sciences and technologies calibrated for integrated biosystems management.” This paradigm shift positions Indigenous practices as potent sites of innovation, applying traditional knowledge and practices to address contemporary problems.

The now year-old University of Hawaiʻi Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE) was initially established with a $1 million grant in 2021 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. Enos and Aimee Malia Grace, director of the UH System Office for Strategic Health Initiatives, co-lead the initiative.

Now an anonymous donation has given a major boost to the center in the form of a $4.6 million gift that will fund the center’s first endowed chair and provide funding for programs and activities to advance the Center’s work.

“This gift validates and affirms our work to restore and improve the health of our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities,” said Enos, the project’s principal investigator. “We are deeply grateful for the support and recognition for our program and the incredible potential it has to lift up our Indigenous communities.”

Continue reading at uhfoundation.org and bizjournals.com.