A‘ohe pau ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho‘okahi – All knowledge is not learned in just one school, One can learn from many sources

He aupuni palapala ko’u- Mine is of an educated Kingdom, Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III

Sui-Lan Ho`okano, cultural educator and practitioner, will share her mo’olelo about building relationships throughout our watershed while utilizing environmental asset-based storytelling as our ways of building community and culturally relevant learning spaces.

Sui-Lan Hoʻokano has over 30 years as a Cultural Educator Practioner; her current journey is with the Washington State Professional Educational Standards Board PESB as the Program Manager of Curriculum Transformation and Tribal Liaison. Sui-Lan’s roots are from Moku o Keawe, (Island of Hawaii). Mother of five, Grandmother of five, and a large Ohana (family). Alumnus of the University of Hawaii Hilo, Sui-Lan is a multidisciplinary educator, facilitator, and narrative strategist. Navigating 30 years of working with youth, educators, and cross-sector leaders locally, nationally, and globally to harness the power of narrative, co-imagine, and share stories in building equitable educational learning experiences. Lecturer at UW Tacoma, Seattle, and Western Washington MED, AIS, and Anth programs, her research and consulting work focuses on community environmental asset-based storytelling, racial equity, narrative change, healing, culturally responsive leadership, and organizational development. Recently featured in the 2024 Aurora Institute Competency Blog “Voices of Indigenous Educators Series”, leading Indigenous Climate Science Learning professional series CLIMETIME since 2021, Co-author Third-Space Exploration in Education, PESB CCDEI PD and featured example in the Washington State Board of Education 2020 Mastery-Based Credits and Learning Policy Senate Bill 5249: valuing place-based experiential learning experiences through Indigenous epistemology, and culturally responsive Indigenous practices (CRISP). Sui-Lan shares her experiences and states “It is not enough to be conscious of the problems of the world, how we involve ourselves in the solutions is the most important thing that we could ever do in our journey”. When we begin to move towards these restorative practices, both Indigenous and
non-Indigenous communities benefit.