Watch: UH Hilo alumni talk about helping to revitalize Puna after eruption
UH Hilo alumni Hokulani Fortunato and Uʻilani Kūaliʻi share how their undergraduate experience led to their community work with the County of Hawaiʻi.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
In a video released this week by Vulcan Vibe, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo alumni Hōkūlani Fortunato and Chelsie Uʻilani Kūaliʻi share how their experience as undergraduates at UH Hilo led to their current community work with the County of Hawaiʻi in developing youth leaders to help revitalize the Puna area of Hawaiʻi Island. The two serve as Hawaiʻi community resilience facilitators for the County of Hawaii’s program on Kīlauea Eruption Recovery.
Fortunato graduated in 2021 with a bachelor of business administration, specializing in marketing and management, from the College of Business and Economics, with a minor in Hawaiian studies. Kūaliʻi earned a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian language from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language in 2017.
“I really enjoyed attending UH Hilo as a business admin,” says Fortunato about feeling inspired as an undergraduate to do community work. “Ultimately I just really like that my professors had different community projects and by going into the communities I felt like I was making a positive impact and helping people. I just really appreciate having that opportunity.”
Fortunato and Kūaliʻi are part of a fellowship program called Lead for Hawaiʻi, an affiliate of Lead for America, a national service program.
“We both got placed at Kīlauea Recovery, they are our host site,” says Kūaliʻi. “And so in our fellowship, we’re very happy and very blessed to be working with a lot of individuals from both the community and the County.”
Watch the video below from the County of Hawaiʻi for more about Fortunato and Kūaliʻi’s work.
By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
