Q U E E R I F Y
HAWAIIAN HISTORY MONTH | FILIPINO HISTORY MONTH | LGBT HISTORY MONTH
FALL 2023
MAIN PROGRAM | SESSION DESCRIPTIONS | PRESENTERS
Kaleikūkamakani "Kalei" Ruiz (māhū/he/she)
Leeward Community College, Queerify
Kalei serves as a counselor at Leeward Community College, working with advising, financial aid, and student support technology. As a queer māhū, he has conducted research geared towards decolonial understandings of gender and sexuality and provided sessions on these perspectives at various conferences within the University of Hawaiʻi as well as the community. He will be joining the UH Commission on LGBTQ+ Equality as a commissioner in Fall 2023.
In 2022, Kalei created and coordinated the first Queerify series, as well as Queerphoria, in Spring 2023. His goal has been to provide a platform for queer and māhū voices to be heard, amplified, empowered, and connected.
Kawena Lorenzo (ʻo ia/she/her)
University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu
Kawena Lorenzo is currently pursuing their Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian-Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu. With a 4.0 GPA, Kawena was recently nominated to The National Society of Leadership and Success for the Fall 2023 semester. This past spring, Kawena graduated with honors from Leeward Community College with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and a Certificate in Hawaiian Studies.
As an Asian American and Pacific Islander, Kawena is dedicated to empowering and uplifting their community. Kawena continues to provide leadership at Leeward CC, where they are a Peer Mentor with the Lauhoe Cohort Program. While a student at Leeward CC, Kawena was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society and recognized as a Ke Ala ʻIke Scholar for outstanding academic achievement. In addition to their studies, Kawena manages social media and marketing for several local businesses. Their professional experience includes customer relations and retail sales roles. Driven by a passion to positively impact Native Hawaiian and AAPI communities, Kawena plans to utilize their degree in Hawaiian-Pacific Studies to advance health, education, and empowerment.
For Queerify 2023, and in line with their dedication to empowerment, Kawena was instrumental in bringing various community professionals and trans voices to the series as panelists.
Alana Duhaylonsod (māhū/she/her)
American Job Center of Hawaiʻi (Oʻahu)
Alana E. Duhaylonsod is an Employment Consultant/Case Manager with the American Job Center of Hawaiʻi (Oʻahu) WorkHawaii Division, City & County. Within the past 12 years, she has worked for Abilities Unlimited, Goodwill's Long-Term Adult Supports & Resources program, and Hoʻopono Services for the Blind (Division of Rehabilitation). In her work, she specializes in the enrichment of independence, support, and transitional adaptability of the Special Needs community at large. She is a Trans Identified woman who also identifies as an Individual with Physical Barriers. Her greatest intent is to share and help in reaching out to the many within the LGBTQ+ community who are also is struggling as LGBTQ+ people with a physical barriers and/or, for lamer terms, “disability”.
Scott Sutherland (he/him)
Windward Community College
Scott Sutherland has served as the Ka Piko (Learning Resource Center) Coordinator at Windward Community College (WCC) since 2019 and in other various roles at WCC for over 14 years. As a program coordinator for the past 10 years, Scott has overseen peer tutoring, Supplemental Instruction (SI), peer academic coaching, online tutoring, technical support, and testing services. Scott attended Kahuku High School, Windward Community College (AA - Liberal Arts), and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where he received his BA in Communication and Master of Public Administration (MPA).
Scott also serves as one of WCC’s LGBTQ+ Commissioners.
Syreeta Washington (she/her/hers)
Leeward Community College
Syreeta Washington (she/her) graduated from Temple University Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s of Education in Counseling Psychology.
Currently, Mrs. Washington is an educator, author, and motivational speaker with a passion for serving others and an advocate for social justice. She has authored two children's books addressing behavioral and emotional development. Syreeta co-founded and co-chairs the campus Social Justice League, serves as a contributing member for Love Pono and the Urgent Student Relief Fund. Syreeta currently holds a position as an Instructor and Early College Counselor at Leeward Community College, where she inspires students to exceed their own expectations for success.
Micah Mizukami (he/him)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
From ʻEleʻele, Kauaʻi, Micah Mizukami is the Associate Director at the Center for Oral History in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UHM. He holds an MA in Linguistics from UHM with a focus on language documentation and conservation. He is currently working towards his PhD in Second Language Studies, where his current research focuses on multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of Uchinaa (Okinawa). His research has also looked at Pidgin and Hawaiian in the linguistic landscape of Hawaiʻi, and the narratives of Japanese language teachers and their identity development. He came into his aro-ace identity in the last year-and-a-half.
Hoʻomanawanui Apo
Hawaiian Musical Artist
The oldest of three children, Iwalani “Ho’o” Apo currently resides in Kalihi on O’ahu island. Iwalani grew up in a household full of music, Hawaiian folklore and hula. Learning to play music from an aunt named Faith Leilani Kaahanui, but was affectionately called “Aunty Dodo”, who was a stickler for correct melody line and pronunciation. This in turn has made Iwalani a resource for Hawaiian music taking her to the many various hula competitions and singing completions as a judge. Currently working as a musical arranger and musician for Paradise Cove and playing at various venues around town.
Dillon Ancheta
Hawaiʻi News Now
Hawai‘i is the only home Dillon Ancheta has ever known. Born and raised on Kaua‘i, he knows the value of a tight-knit community built on the foundation of aloha. Having left Kauai for the “big city” of Honolulu in 2014 to study journalism at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Dillon has explored his passion for local news. Since 2016, he's been a proud member of the Hawaii News Now team, working in many different capacities. He started as a Digital Content Producer, and worked his way up to Digital Reporter, and is currently the anchor of the noon show, 'This is Now.'
When not in news mode, Dillon is Miss Mallibu Del Rey, a local drag queen who aims to please crowds with comedy, glamour and live singing. Mallibu has built a brand as a drag hostess organizing her own unique shows that keep audiences entertained. Malibu has taken stages of local venues for the last 5 years, performing on Oahu, Kauai and even Seattle. Through the art of drag, Dillon & Mallibu encourages others to live authentically and spread love and joy.
Adam Halemano, Jr. (he/him/his)
Leeward Community College
Adam Halemano is the Institutional Assessment Specialist with the Office of Planning, Policy, and Assessment at Leeward Community College. He has been with the University of Hawai'i for 8 years and enjoys his role working with vested stakeholders within the Institution.
Adam deeply enjoys the outdoors, museums, theme parks, cinema, music, literature, Thai cuisine, and is a self-professed "plant daddy" with a passion for fostering the growth of plants and people.
Summer Muramoto (she/her)
Love Pono (Leeward Community College)
Born and raised on Oahu from Ewa Beach, Summer is a UHM alumni with a BS in Human Development and Family Studies. While in college, she was a student assistant with Love Pono, a domestic violence and sexual assault prevention program at Leeward Community College. Being an ally, advocate, and survivor, she focuses on how she can use her voice to help others both on and off the job. She always felt different when it came to her sexuality. In 2020, she had first stumbled upon the A-Spectrum and found comfort and a sense of belonging as a Demisexual.
Kaleiheana-a-Pōhaku Stormcrow (ʻo ia/they/them/theirs)
Keauhou Bird Conservation Center
Kalei is a māhū Kanaka ʻŌiwi artist, cultural practitioner, botanist, wildlife biologist, and etho-ornithologist. They grew up in Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu and Maine. Kalei recently graduated with a Masters of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Management from UH Mānoa where they studied indigenous knowledge and detectability of Pueo. Their Bachelors of Science is from Oregon State University in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences with a focus on ecosystem dynamics. Kalei now works with some of our most endangered endemic manu (birds) at Keauhou Bird Conservation Center in Keauhou, Kaʻū on Hawaiʻi Island. Kalei lives in a house they built with their partner in Kapuʻeuhi (Mountain View) with their three dogs, and some chickens. They have a collection of endemic plants already growing, and are in the process of building a sustainable farm.
Maiana Minahal (she/her/hers)
Kapiʻolani Community College
Maiana Minahal was born in the Philippines, grew up in California, and currently makes home in Honolulu O’ahu. She is an Associate Professor at Kapi’olani Community College, where she teaches English classes ranging from sustainability-themed dev ed composition to Filipin@/x women’s literature. Maiana has previously served on the UH Commission for LGBTQ+ Equality and as Chair for KapCC’s Faculty Advocacy Committee.
She is a poet, multimedia performer, author of the chapbook Legend Sondayo, a Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad scholarship awardee, and a 2022 Artist Fellow with the Intercultural Leadership Institute.
Stacey Kapuaokalani Kaʻauʻa (her/māhū)
Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Hawaiian Immersion Public Charter School
From Hilo, Hawaiʻi, Kapua was raised in the district of Kalaoa mauka on the steep cliffs of Hilo Pali Kū. She has been in the hair and beauty industry for 25 years in Hawai’i and a salon owner for 15 years. But her true passion is serving her Hawai’i community with 25 years of life-long learning through Hawaiian traditional pathways. Kapua is a graduate of the Unukupukupu Hula traditions in Hilo, Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani School Of Hawaiian Language at the University Of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and is the Hula and protocols teacher at Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Hawaiian Immersion Public Charter School in Keaukaha.
Kaleo Ramos (he/him/his)
Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center, Kuaʻana Project
Kaleo Ramos is from Kane’ohe, O’ahu. He has served for almost 20 years as an active part of Hawai’i’s LGBT+ community through a number of organizations; as a board member, chair, co-chair, nationally certified trainer, keynote speaker and community liaison. He was also an active member of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association (HSTA) where he served as a school level leader and an appointed member of the state Human and Civil Rights Committee and on the National Education Association (NEA) Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee. Currently, Kaleo is an active member of the Native Hawaiian LGBT Advisory Committee, the Department of Health (DOH) Sexual Minority Group and the Hawai’i Health and Harm Reduction Center (HHHRC) Kua’ana Project’s Ka Aha Māhū. In addition to the above, Kaleo has an extensive background in delivering trauma-informed care and adolescent mental health, which he has practiced through various capacities for over a decade. Personally, Kaleo is a son, father and uncle. He loves to shop, watch movies, read, research, learn, visit the beach and workout at the gym. Kaleo is a homebody for the most and appreciates whenever he is able to relax at home, however he loves to learn about new places and has visited 28 states and 3 countries so far.
Visaluana Castillo (she/her/ʻo ia)
Council For Native Hawaiian Advancement
A Native Hawaiian māhū, cultural practitioner, community advocate and a mommy to two fur babies, Visa has worked in the communications industry for over 20 years for companies such as AT&T, Hawaiian TelCom and Cincinatti Bell. Over the last 25 years, she has also volunteered and held several board/leadership positions for non-profit organizations like the American Cancer Society, Imperial Court of Hawaiʻi and other grassroot efforts to kiaʻi Hawaiʻi.
Currently the Director of Member Services for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Visa is active in the community, on and off the clock. She is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and attended the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She recently moved back to her ʻohana home in Kaupeʻa Hawaiian Homestead in Kapolei and serves on the Kaupeʻa Board of Directors as a long-term investment to assure the community is safe, active and engaged, now and for future generations. ʻAʻohe hana nui, ke alu ʻia. “No task is to big when done together.”
Kiki Rivera (he/we/they)
playwright & Activist
Kiki Rivera (He/We/They) is a queer trans award-winning theatre artist, educator, and arts activist from Waianae, Oahu. Rivera is among a group of grassroots leaders that mobilize resources to empower Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Through their creative talent, Rivera amplifies the collective voice and strengthens the advocacy work of the community organizers. They are also an internationally and nationally produced playwright. Original plays include Faʻalavelave: The Interruption. Published plays include “Puzzy” (featuring award-winning New Zealand Playwright Victor Rodger) found in the anthology Samoan Queer Lives, To “Our Black and Brown Babies of Ocean and Islands” in the anthology We’re Not Neutral, and “Kumu Kukui” in Lighting the Way: An Anthology of Short Plays About The Climate Crises and "At What Cost" in The Future Is Not Fixed.
Amy Amper (she/her/hers)
Leeward Community College
Amy Amper is a Counselor and Assistant Professor at Leeward Community College. She has served at Leeward for the past 10 years and works primarily with students in the Information & Computer Sciences, Integrated Industrial Technology, Sustainable Agriculture, and Office of Continuing Education programs. She previously served as an Early College Counselor. Prior to joining Leeward, she was an educator and counselor for the Hawaii Department of Education.
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Amy left California to attend Chaminade University where she earned her Bachelors degree in Behavioral Science and her Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. Amy is the proud mother of 4 children, 2 of whom identify as queer.
As an educator, counseling professional and parent, Amy is a staunch ally for the LBGTQIA+ community.
Lexer Chou (she/her/hers)
Leeward Community College
Lexer Chou (she/her) is an educator who strives to "be the change she wishes to see in the world" (Gandhi). She was blessed to have grown up in the Bay Area as a huge 49ers fan. She graduated with her Master's Degree in Higher Education from the University of California, Sacramento, and is currently a forever doctorate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Education Administration.
She is passionate about nurturing future leaders with the intent of helping them develop skills that will allow them to create positive change in their communities. She currently serves as the Student Life Director and Student Services Coordinator at Leeward Community College, a campus located in Puʻuloa on the island of Oʻahu.
Michelle Igarashi (she/her/hers)
Leeward Community College
Dr. Michele Igarashi is the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Leeward Community College. In her former role as Student Services Program Officer, she worked on several important initiatives, including Early College, Student Conduct, and Title IX. Prior to Student Services, she was a professor of English.
Before moving into campus administration, Michelle sat on the UH Commission on LGBTQ+ Equality. She continues to be an active advocate.
Kaleimomi Timoteo
Miss Hawaii Continental Plus 2022
Kaleimomi Timoteo is the current Miss Hawaii Continental Plus 2022. She is a business owner of The Poly Dollie's LLC and works as a social media influencer and trans activist.
Lance Kaimanakalānōweo Namihira
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Lance Kaimanakalānōweo Namihira was born and raised in ʻAiea, Oʻahu, and is a proud alumnus of ʻAiea High School, Leeward Community College, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). He is currently a Ph.D. student pursuing his degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction and also a research assistant at the Department of Learning Design and Technology and UHM. Within the past decade in education, his research has involved the areas of Hawaiian studies and language, place-based education, LGBTQIA+ history and issues, and culturally relevant computer science. While an academic by day, Kaimana switches hats (or wigs) once the sun sets. Officially making one year within the drag industry this August, Kaimanaʻs drag persona, Molliee Cocktail, has hit the ground running.
As a drag performer, emcee, makeup enthusiast, and show producer, Molliee has accomplished a lot within a short amount of time during the early stages of her drag career. Between the vast contrasts of drag nightlife and the prestigious academic setting, Kaimana continues to find commonalities that would help to inform queer issues through systemic LGBTQIA+ education in Hawaiʻi.