MASTER OF CEREMONIES: RICK QUAN
Rick Quan is an Emmy award winning journalist with more than 35 years experience as a television broadcaster. He is currently the 5, 6 and 10 pm news anchor for KITV4, the ABC affiliate in Honolulu, Hawaii. Before moving to Honolulu in 2020, Rick worked as a sportscaster for the CBS and ABC affiliates in San Francisco and was the first full time Asian American male anchor in the Bay Area. He has also produced numerous award winning documentaries on Asian American pioneers.
HAWAIIAN MUSIC ARTIST: FAITH AKO
As the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier award winning female artist in Traditional/Contemporary Hawaiian music, Faith Ako has graced her audiences with her charismatic personality and aloha for everyone. Her new album, Ku‘u ‘Āina, Aloha, speaks to her birthplace on the windward side of O‘ahu where Faith and her 14 siblings were raised and where her heart is truly at peace. Her CD, which includes six original compositions, is important to her as it weaves together stories and memories of her home and the beauty of O‘ahu. It also includes a few of her favorite hula standards. (www.faithakomusic.com)
OLI: kumu hulA PATRICK MAKUAKĀNE
Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne is the founder and director of Hālau Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu of San Francisco, California. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Kumu Patrick studied with several of Hawaiʻi’s most revered hula masters: John Keola Lake, Robert Uluwehi Cazimero and Mae Kamāmalu Klein. In 2003, he received the title of Kumu Hula through a traditional ʻūniki ʻailolo ceremony curated by Mrs Klein. While a passionate preserver of traditional hula, his artistry also crafts a provocative treatment of tradition that leaps forward in surprising and meaningful ways. In the past few years, he has been a recipient of the prestigious Hewlett 50 Arts Commission and the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Legacy Grant. In 2022, Kumu Patrick was given a special Lifetime Achievement Kulia i ka Nuʻu Award from the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce of Northern California. He says, “To be recognized by an esteemed organization like HCCNC is humbling and inspiring. He mea waiwai nō.” (https://naleihulu.org/about/kumu-patrick-makuakane)
SPECIAL SPEAKER INTRODUCING MANA UP: SENATOR DONOVAN DELA CRUZ
Donovan M. Dela Cruz is a Hawaii state senator from District 17, which encompasses Wahiawā, Whitmore, portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, Launani Valley, and Waipi’o Acres. Senator Dela Cruz, born and raised in Wahiawa, is a graduate of Leilehua High School, the University of Oregon where he earned a BA in Journalism and Communication Studies, and Masters in Organization Leadership from Argosy University.
Senator Dela Cruz is the Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means. He serves on boards and is a member of various organizations nationally and locally such as the National Council of Environmental Legislators, National Association of Latino Elected Officials and Leeward Community College Culinary Institute Board just to name a few. Prior to becoming senator, he also served on the Honolulu City Council for eight years, serving as its Chair for three years, being the youngest chair in the history of the Council, at age 30.
Some of the programs that Senator Dela Cruz has been invited to and participated in are such programs as the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Gettysburg Leadership Experience; Emerging Leaders Program, University of Virginia; American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) Exchange Program to Australia; and the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs Leadership Workshop at the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education.
Senator Dela Cruz was instrumental in initiating the Whitmore Project, a detailed plan to revitalize Central Oahu by re-establishing agricultural dominance in our local ag industry by bringing farmers and the state together to increase local food production, create jobs, engage in partnerships, and to provide workforce housing resulting in creation of jobs and promoting economic development.