Fellows mentioned in this story:
Noelani Kalipi
Ashley Lukens
Wren Wescoatt
From Pilali:
Ashley and Wren sit down with Noe Kalipi to explore leadership, community engagement, and the complex intersections of land, policy, and military presence in Hawaiʻi. Noe shares her journey from growing up in Hilo to working in Washington, D.C. as a congressional intern for Senator Daniel Akaka during the era of the Apology Resolution. She reflects on how those early experiences shaped her understanding of reconciliation, public service, and the importance of approaching governance with aloha and humility.
Ashley and Wren discuss Noe’s work building relationships between institutions and communities, including her time with the Kohala Institute and current role navigating issues related to U.S. military land leases in Hawaiʻi. The conversation highlights the importance of community participation, ancestral knowledge, and dialogue across differences. Noe emphasizes the need to hold space for disagreement while building shared understanding, and reflects on how meaningful change often happens through small cracks in large systems when people commit to showing up with integrity and care for place.
Listen and watch at pilalipodcast.org.
HumanizeHer — In this episode of HumanizeHer, we sit down with Dawn Lippert to talk about everything she believes about clean energy, community, and how we can build a better world. Her passion for the planet started from her childhood instinct, charging her family a quarter for leaving the lights on. Today, Dawn leads as the CEO of Elemental Impact, her non-profit platform that has deployed over $105 million into climate innovation. While also leading her sister venture fund, Earthshot Ventures, a $94 million private fund. Together, these two engines have unlocked more than $11 billion in additional funding for global solutions.