MOLOKAI HERITAGE TRUST

Community-led, community-driven

In order for our community to take action to heal our ʻāina, uphold traditional practices, and determine how we make decisions as an island for present and future generations, we need your manaʻo and active participation!

What is the MISSION of the Molokai Heritage Trust?

As kiaʻi of Molokai, we recognize and honor the truth reflected in our moʻokūʻauhau and we know that protecting the health and vitality of our ʻāina is essential to our island’s well-being and our future.

Together, we will aloha this ʻāina, working with humility, openness, and tenacity to ensure that what makes Molokai special will survive and thrive for generations to come.

We dedicate ourselves to recover, restore, and revive all of Molokai– kahiki kū i kahiki moe.

  • MHT Membership Interest Form Link

    In order for our community to take action to heal our ʻāina, uphold traditional practices, and determine how we make decisions as an island for present and future generations, we need your manaʻo and active participation.

  • Volunteer Form Link coming soon.

What is the VISION of the Molokai Heritage Trust?

ʻĀina Kupuna
(Ancestral ʻĀina)

Our recognition of this lands as our ancestor and an acknowledgement of the generations that protected and stewarded these lands before us.

ʻĀina Aloha
(Beloved ʻĀina)

Our commitment to each other and our lands today. It is our reason, helping to ensure we are pono to who we are, in service to ʻāina.

ʻĀina Momona
(Abundant ʻĀina)

This is what we are striving for, this is our future.

What are the VALUES of the Molokai Heritage Trust?

Mālama ʻĀina; he aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauwā ke kanaka

We recognize the inherent truth of he aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauwā ke kānaka–the ʻāina is the chief and the people, its servants.

Kuleana

We understand that our moʻokūʻauhau comes from and is inseparable from ʻāina, thus we are guided by and act with responsibility to all creation and to our piko–our ancestors, those present in this physical realm, and our keiki and moʻopuna to come.

Ea

We are guided by our kuleana and recognize and assert our right to self-determination–to direct our own destiny as we steward our lands and mālama our people.

Kiaʻi

We are kiaʻi, children and fierce protectors of Molokaʻi Nui A Hina, and dedicate ourselves and our generations to remain steadfast in our kuleana to mālama ʻāina.

Mauli Ola

We commit to the restoration, well-being, and sacredness of kānaka, ʻāina, and the eternal bond between us.

Kūkūlu

We commit to excellence and continuous improvement as we educate, awaken, and revitalize our understanding of our moʻokūʻauhau and kuleana in order to create a strong and paʻa foundation for the care of land and people.

Aloha kekahi i kekahi

We face each other, sharing life-giving breath, dedicated to pono and reciprocity to strengthen kaiāulu and to aloha and mālama ʻāina.

Founding Board
(formerly the Interim Working Board)

Zhantell Dudoit Lindo

“Wehe ‘ia ke alaula. No nahanauna nei”. (Opened the path of life. For the generation of this land)

  • Zhan is native to Moloka’i, born and raised on this land, as was generations of ohana before her. She is a bridge builder, teacher, community advocate, visionary and ‘āina warrior who has dedicated her life, skills and experiences to ensuring Moloka’i is well protected, properly managed, responsibly thriving and upholding the integrity of what it means to come from this land.

Keomailani Hanapi Hirata

“Kaulana nā pua a ʻo Hawaiʻi. Kūpaʻa ma hope o ka ʻāina.”

  • Kupa ‘āina o Moloka’i. Place-based educator of our maoli history and culture. Living everyday with the wisdom of our kupuna who have come before us; aloha ‘āina, aloha lahui, Hawai’i aloha!

Malia Akutagawa

“This is about exercising our self-determination as an island. It is for our ʻāina kupuna, our keiki, and our moʻopuna to come.”

  • Malia Akutagawa, JD, ESQ, is from Manaʻe and was born and raised on Molokaʻi. Her ʻohana is of Molokaʻi since time immemorial, with roots in Pelekunu, Wailau, Kamalō, Manawai, Kahananui, ʻUalapuʻe, Kaluaʻaha, Pūkoʻo, Puʻu o Hoku, Hālawa, and Maunaloa.

    As a child, Malia’s kūpuna and mākua inspired her to become a native rights and environmental law attorney. A graduate of Molokaʻi High and Intermediate School (1989); she pursued higher education and earned baccalaureate degrees in Philosophy and Biology from Whitworth University (1993) and a Juris Doctor and Environmental Law Certificate from the William S. Richardson School of Law (1997).

    Read more >

Jason Sykes

"This can be Moloka'i's defining moment—a chance to shape our own destiny and preserve the soul of our island for future generations."

  • Jason grew up on Moloka’i, loves it, and hopes to return full-time someday. In the meantime, he is using his legal and communications background to help protect the land and empower the people to let our community control its own destiny and keep Moloka’i, Moloka’i.

James Espaniola

“A dream is a dream if no action is taken. Action taken makes it achievable, so take action and join us, and we shall achieve together.”

  • Raised on Moloka’i, primarily in Maunaloa, James has been involved in various conservation and environmental projects since 1999 after graduating from Kamehameha Schools on Oʻahu. He completed 2 years of an internship with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Maui and Molokaʻi programs and 6 months as a field technician with the TNC Molokai program.

Meet the Facilitation Team

  • Land Back Manager

    Email: Kawaipuna@sustainablemolokai.org

  • He kama kēia o nā ʻāina aloha o Molokaʻi. Mai nā kumu kūpuna o Hālawa a i ka wela o ka lā i Kaluakoʻi.

    I am who I am because of my ʻāina, kūpuna, mākua, hānauna, and our collective kuleana to our moʻopuna.

    Generationally, we know the importance of the pilina between ʻāina and kānaka and how the two remain inseparable.

    I was raised on Hoʻolehua Homesteads while going to school at Pūnana Leo o Molokaʻi and later Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Kualapuʻu where community and culture are central to learning and life.

    I then went on to be a boarder at Kamehameha Schools where I graduated high school and remained on Oʻahu to continue my education at UH Mānoa.

    I graduated from UH Mānoa in 2017 with a double bachelors in Hawaiian Studies and Psychology and have chosen to continue my education there as a PhD student in Political Science.

    My commitment to Molokaʻi keeps me hungry to learn as much as I can, especially while away so that I could grow into the community member my community raised me to be.

    I'm grateful now for this opportunity to utilize the resources Iʻve gained over the years in service to Molokaʻi, our ʻāina aloha, and our community.

    Ua hoʻi hou he kama o nei ʻāina aloha ʻo Molokaʻi nui a Hina.

  • SENIOR ADVISOR TO LANDBACK INITIATIVES

  • Matthew Kamakani Lynch serves as Co-Facilitator and Senior Advisor to the Molokai Heritage Trust Landback initiatives.

    He is an Artist whose chosen canvas for the past decade has been Institutional Transformation, and has been selected as a 2024 Bertha Artivist Fellow.

    He has worked to create conditions that are conducive to catalyzing transformation within legacy institutions such as Higher Education and Executive Leadership across sectors.

    After surviving a 10-year career in mortgage banking & real estate finance during his 20s, Matt has worked to replenish his karmic bank accounts by participating in a broad range of community-based sustainable development projects around the world.

    He returned to Hawai'i and became a founding board member of the Hawaii Green Growth Local 2030 Hub, a c-founder of The Albizia Project, and after almost 10 years of public service has recently stepped away from his role as the first Director of Sustainability Initiatives for the ten campuses of the University of Hawai'i System, where he helped to establish a diverse array of programs ranging from the UH System Office of Energy Management to the UH Mānoa Truth Racial Healing & Transformation Center.

    Matthew has consistently worked his way to the top tier of performance in the varied sectors where we has participated: banking, community development, higher education, public service, and the arts.

    He currently serves as Senior Advisor to Landback Initiatives for Sustʻāinable Molokai, a teaching faculty member on Harvard's Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program, and is working on a suite of creative and land-based restoration projects.