CHECK OUT OUR SPEAKERS For
SPIRiT FEST 2026
MORE TO COME
MARISA FRANCO
Marisa Franco is a plant medicine facilitator, poet, writer, intuitive chef, and somatic listener whose work weaves connection back into the places trauma and societal wounds have frayed. Initiated into the Bwiti tradition of Gabon and shaped by years of cross-cultural study and lived devotion, she guides people through transformation, loss, and renewal with reverence, clarity, and deep listening. She has supported individuals through addiction, trauma, and profound life transitions — including veterans and first responders — and lives in Central Mexico with her fiancé, three dogs, and a baby on the way.
KUMU HINA
Kumu Hina is a Native Hawaiian teacher, cultural practitioner and filmmaker who uses digital media to protect and perpetuate indigenous languages and traditions. She began her film work as a protagonist and educational advisor for the award-winning films Kumu Hina and A Place in the Middle, and received a National Education Association Human Rights Award, Native Hawaiian Educator of the Year and White House Champion of Change for the groundbreaking impact campaigns associated with those films. Continuing her journey to the other side of the lens, Kumu Hina produced the award-winning short Lady Eva and the PBS feature documentary Leitis in Waiting about her transgender sisters in the Kingdom of Tonga. Kapaemahu is her first film in Olelo Niihau, in which she is fluent. Hina is also a transgender health advocate, burial council chair, candidate for the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and composer of “Ku Haaheo E Kuu Hawaii,” the internationally known anthem for the protection of Mauna Kea.
Meleanna Aluli Meyer
Meleanna Aluli Meyer is a creative— committed to the work of healing - of self, place and in service to the commmnity through the visual arts.
The murals that she creates in collaboration with extraordinary artists from the Hawaiian community and others allows for their collective work, to have a very positive impact on educating and healing of the Lāhui and others. As an arts educator her lifeʻs work in the arts has given her a lifetime of grace and inspiration!
Marata Hoett
I am An Intuitive Medium, Akashic Energy Healer, Maori Artist & Farmer.
Born into a whakapapa-geneology of Maori culture and traditions in New Zealand, I received the spiritual gifts of vision and insight cultivated and handed down from whanau-family hapu-sub tribe and Iwi tribe.
With my mothers tribal descent of Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri, and my fathers Nga Puhi tribal legacy, connects me with the ancestors of my home land and the higher realms of Great Ones, the teachers and healers of the past who stand ready to bring their love and power into the world today. It allows me to communicate with those who have passed beyond the veils and wish to offer their help and share their guidance.
It is therefore my desire and sacred responsibility to share these gifts with you. The ancient ways are more potent than ever in these times of global transformation. Please reach out and let me know how I can help bring light where it is needed in your life.
Kahu RYAN SOUZA
A Country boy from Haleiwa, Oahu, Ryan is a Kahu (Reverend), Entertainer, Artist, Husband, Father, and Ambassador of Aloha. Ryan is on a mission to share Aloha with the world through his varied gifts and spiritual understanding. Whether he is performing for 450 people a night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village or officiating a simple wedding with just the couple present the importance of expressing Aloha is non-negotiable. Ryan is so excited to be a part of Kuana’ike and looking forward to putting our intentions to action and truly creating a world of peace and harmony through Aloha.
ROB YOUNG
Rob Young Walker is an acclaimed filmmaker, music artist, and social entrepreneur hailing from Tacoma, Washington. As the founder of Excuse My Accent, Rob masterfully blends storytelling with social advocacy, addressing critical social issues and fostering cultural understanding.
"Bring Them Home," Rob's debut film, delves into the poignant stories of deported veterans. The film has been celebrated with 17 film festival acceptances and four Best of The Fest awards. In highlight, the film was screened at the United States Capitol building in Washington DC with the support of prominent non-profits LULAC and ACLU. This advocacy resulted in 50 legislative meetings and the addition of 44 new co-sponsors for the Veterans Service Recognition Act.
In the music realm, Rob has made a significant impact as a hip-hop artist, using his music as a platform for social change. His hit single "Excuse My Accent" became a social justice anthem, amassing over 3 million views on YouTube. He recently released “Life Is 2020 in Hindsight” a collection of songs representing his experiences and emotions maneuvering the monumental time in history.
Rob's commitment to social advocacy is evident in his speaking engagements and collaborations with organizations such as the National Alliance of Mental Health, Pacific Lutheran University, and the Washington State Governor's Department of Equity. He also serves on the board of the non-profit Kuana'Ike in Hawaii and has held prestigious positions such as Film Festival Director of African Comic Con in Oakland, California, and film festival judge for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
Arting & Writing To Transform Education
Meleanna Meyer,
Miki Maeshiro & Anna Sumida
This experiential workshop will explore identity and spirituality. Inspired by Arting and Writing to Transform Education, participants will begin this powerful process, diving deep intocreative expression and written reflection to reveal new insights into self and purpose. Be ready to stretch as this experience, rooted in creativity and presence, encourages personal transformation.
Sam Sokol
Sam Sokol is an expert in integrating technology and gamified learning to for the betterment of humanity. With his extensive experience in technology consulting, e-commerce, learning management systems, and online community development, Sam has helped numerous businesses and organizations to leverage technology for positive impact. Sam and his team partner with some of the world’s leading influencers, such as Deepak Chopra, and organizations like the United Nations, to create positive games like Graticube that benefit all of humanity. Through their work, they have helped entrepreneurs and high-performance teams to achieve their full potential through gamified learning. Graticube is a little game with a big heart that begins with curiosity, true stories and deep gratitude. Share as light as you wish, or go as deep as you desire, and experience accelerated heartfelt connection with those around you. The game is best enjoyed in 60-90 minutes with groups of 3-5 people. Each group will have a box of Graticube, which includes time & space dice as well as Story, Curiosity, and Gratitude cards. Sam will facilitate 2-3 rounds of play as well as the beloved “gift card round.” Graticube is a non-profit that serves to strengthen communities worldwide through facilitating authentic connection.
RYAN KEMP
Ryan (Ra) James Kemp is a systems futurist and relational architect who accompanies leaders through the deep processes of unlearning, cultural integration, and planetary remembering. Rooted at the confluence of quantum systems, indigenous wisdom, and regenerative design, Ryan cultivates spaces of relational transformation, where complexity becomes compost, and clarity emerges through kinship. His work invites a reweaving of perception, restoring the embodied intelligence needed to tend systems in transition. Through a meta-relational lens, Ryan supports the emergence of post-growth ecosystems grounded in healing, belonging, and life-affirming possibility.
Hi'ilani Shibata
Hiʻilani Shibata, born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi is a life long learner and has been in the field of Hawaiian Culture Education for over 20 years. She discovered her kuleana, her lifeʻs privledge as a child through her Native Hawaiian grandmother and further developed her generational gifts when working at the Bishop Museum from 2000-2014. She has since graduated as a lomi practitioner under Ka Pā o Lonopūhā and a haku hoʻoponopono with the Mary Kawena Pukui genealogy. She is the co-founder of Ka Mahina Project where through the Native Hawaiian traditional moon phases, the project helps people heal through community, moʻolelo, stories, and Hawaiian values.
Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer
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 Oahu and along the rainy shoreline of Hilo Palikū. The Aluli ʻohana is a large and diverse group of scholar-activists dedicated to Hawaiian education, restorative justice, land reclamation, ʻohana 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 books – Hoʻoulu: Our Time of Becoming – Hawaiian Epistemology and Early Writings (2001) and Hoʻopono: Mutual Emergence (2025) can be found at Native Books Hawaii https://www.nativebookshawaii.org/ Her background is in wilderness education, coaching, and experiential learning. She has been an Instructor for Outward Bound, Hawaii Bound, Wilderness Hawaii, a coach for Special Olympics in three states, and she has been 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 Aotearoa/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. Aunty Manu is currently working at UH West Oahu as the Konohiki of Kūlana o Kapolei, a movement affirmed by Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao (University of Hawaiʻi System initiative) to help contextualize higher learning within a Hawaiian worldview. She is dedicated to expanding this vision beyond institutions to include our beloved community through EA HAWAIʻI, an organic Higher Education movement dedicated to mōʻike aloha – Hawaiian epistemology. 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 40+ year practitioner of hoʻoponopono (Kaʻū Family Method) who appreciates and learns from the purpose and function of conflict. Ulu aʻe ke welina a ke aloha. Loving is the practice of an awake mind.
