About Us
Maui Huliau Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2010 to provide unique environmental education programs to Maui’s youth.
Read more below about our staff and board. You can also read our 2023 annual report to learn more about our programs.
MISSION
Our mission is to promote environmental literacy and leadership among Maui’s youth through community-based educational experiences.
VISION
To create and maintain a sustainable Maui by inspiring active, educated, and innovative stewardship.
HULIAU
A time of change
A turning point
To recall the past
Read more about Huliau and the inspiration behind our programs.
STAFF
Malia Cahill
Executive Director & Founder
Malia grew up in “upcountry” Maui where she developed a deep appreciation and love of her island home. After working as an environmental educator and reflecting on her own experience growing up on Maui, Malia became convinced that more needed to be done to educate and involve Maui’s youth in the crucial issues that face our island. She believed that the best way to do this was to create fun, hands-on programs that increase young peoples’ understanding of their environment, while demonstrating the power of community partnership and creative problem-solving. Through these programs, Malia hopes to share her optimism and enthusiasm, and empower a new generation to mālama this island we all love!
Macie Tawata
Programs Manager (Zero Waste & Climate Literacy)
Macie was raised in Wailuku, Maui. Growing up here, she gained a love for her home and a sense of kuleana to take care of it. After earning a BA in Hawaiian Studies at UH Mānoa, she came to enjoy education as well while working through ʻāina-based educational programs. Macie returned home to Maui and joined Maui Huliau Foundation with the intention of guiding youth with hopes to instill the same love she gained for her home and for this ʻāina.
Kaʻiulani Kaniaupio
Programs Assistant
Kaʻiulani, born in Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu, was raised throughout the island of Maui. She pursued a BA in Political Science in Florence, Italy, and completed her studies at UH Mānoa with specialties in Hawaiian Studies and Language. As an ʻōlapa of Hālau Nā Hanona Kūlike ʻo Piʻilani, she commits to cultivating practitioners. Hula has instilled a deep sense of aloha ʻāina, fostering the firm belief in cultural practice as advocacy for ethical stewardship. After working with Mānoa’s COE department towards advancing Native Hawaiian excellence in higher education, she felt it best to return home to inspire leadership and kuleana among Maui’s youth. She hopes to promote Hawaiian culture in all learning spaces to empower Hawaiʻi as the catalyst for change.
Huli aku, Huli mai, Huli lua ē!
HULIAU ALUMNI COUNCIL
These former Huliau students provide guidance on programs, volunteer, fundraise, network with other alumni, and serve as a resource for current students.
You can read more about our alumni council and the other 7 council members in our 2020 annual report.
Hannah Shipman
Council Leader & 2014 Alumna
Hannah Shipman is the Community Outreach Director at Blue Planet Foundation. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Social Sciences with a focus in Environmental Law and Politics from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. Hannah is a certified LEED Green Associate and is a member of Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) and the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii Young Professionals Program.
Hannah was a part of the first Huliau Youth Leaders program in 2012, creating the Eat Local Video project in 2013. After graduating from Huliau and high school in 2014, Hannah and fellow alumnus Hi’ilei started the Huliau Eco Adventures summer camp, which they ran for two years before handing it off to future youth leaders.
Hannah also respresents the Alumni Council as a member of the Huliau Board of Directors.
Hiʻilei Casco
Council Leader & 2014 Alumna
Hiʻilei K. Casco was born and raised on Maui. She was part of the first-ever Maui Huliau Filmmaking Program in 2010, and her engagement continued throughout her high school years where she led two summer eco-adventure camps for younger students. Hiʻilei holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Sustainability from Cornell University and a Master’s of Environmental Management (MEM) degree from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. Her master’s capstone project, entitled “Hawaiʻi Climate Change Advocacy Advisor,” focuses on supporting small community groups to effectively participate in climate change policy and decision-making processes at local and state levels.
Starting August 2020, she will be attending the William S. Richardson School of Law to pursue certificates in Native Hawaiian and Environmental Law. Maui Huliau Foundation has played a key role in cultivating Hiʻilei’s passion for environmental justice. Through the Huliau Alumni Council, she hopes to serve as a resource for people interested in aloha ʻāina and support Huliau’s efforts to provide unique environmental education programs for Maui’s youth.
Kiana Liu
Council Leader & 2019 Alumna
Kiana was born and raised in Wailuku, Maui, and has since lived in Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University. She is currently pursuing a Bachelors’s degree in Film Production with a minor in Environmental Studies.
As an alumni of the Maui Huliau Foundation (2019) she was involved in the Huliau Outdoor Leadership Council, the Eco-adventure Summer Camp, and the Green Events Program. As an upcoming Sophomore, she felt the need to give back to the organization that helped her to grow into the leader she is today. In joining the Huliau Alumni Council, she hopes to be a resource to current students and to build on her leadership skills.
BOARD
Nicolette van der Lee
President
Nicolette is originally from the East Coast, and has lived in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Switzerland and New York City. She is happy to call Waiehu home with her 6-year old son. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Nicolette holds a Master of Education degree from Chaminade University. She now works at UH Maui College as an Outreach Coordinator for programs in sustainability, food innovation and business, and is pursuing a doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins University. She loves to learn about the beautiful ecosystems and culture of Hawaiʻi with Maui Huliau students.
Eleanor Dudley
Director
Now retired, Eleanor was a teacher on Maui for nearly 30 years. She has taught at Hui Malama Learning Center and Haleakala Waldorf School. Eleanor strongly believes that educating Maui’s youth is a crucial part of protecting our fragile environment. Eleanor also loves traveling. Here she is in the Galapagos!
Kelly Lau
Secretary
Kelly has called Maui home for over 20 years, and holds a strong passion and respect for its environment, culture and legacy. She worked in the service industry in her 20’s, and disturbed by the amount of waste, made a 4-part video which was distributed nationally teaching its employees how to conserve water, energy, paper and plastic. She has volunteered with many environmental organizations including Surfrider Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. She also has strengths in event planning, serving on committees in many local festivals and surf contests. Kelly enjoys canoe paddling, surfing and spending time with her family.
Stacey Casco
Director
As the proud parent of a Maui Huliau alumni, Stacey Casco can attest to the impact of early exposure to environmental education and community engagement. Her own environmental education began in rural Kaupo, Maui, where she spent her summers hunting, fishing, and tending to the fruit trees on her family’s homestead. In 2015, Stacey and her daughter, Hiʻilei, started Joseph & Josephines, LLC, with the vision of protecting her family legacy lands, to serve as a living example of a sustainable agroecosystem.
Stacey’s professional experience includes over 25 years in the non-profit sector. Her current focus lies on increasing access to justice and fairness, by providing civil legal information and assistance to the most vulnerable in our community. She is also active with Hawaiian agencies and farming organizations. Stacey believes that serving as a board member is part of her kuleana (responsibility) for having the privilege of living on this beautiful and precious island we call “Maui”.
Carol Wallack
Director
Carol Wallack is a retired chef from Chicago. She was the owner and executive chef of Sola restaurant in Chicago, garnering awards for one of the best new restaurants, 2007 and one of five “Chicago’s culinary queens”, 2009, and one of Chicago’s Best Chefs, 2008. She has had a home on Maui for 18 years, always with the plan of retiring here. Her avid outdoor lifestyle has kept her in touch with the environment of the precious island she now calls home, since retiring from the restaurant business in 2014. Carol became involved with Maui Huliau after meeting Malia Cahill and seeing the amazing work she does with the students. Giving back to a community that has embraced her just feels natural and right. Currently, Carol volunteers, works out, skis, surfs, paddles, hikes, runs, golfs and raises her sweet Labradoodle, Edie. Life is good.
Kapua Chang
Director
Kapua was born and raised on the west side of O’ahu, but has lived on Maui with her husband and 3 keiki for the past 13 years. After graduating from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, she attended UH-Mānoa to acquire a degree in Education. Recognizing her desire to teach in a non-traditional setting, Kapua shifted her career focus to environmental education and conservation for the next 10 years. Currently, Kapua is the Grants Specialist for Imua Family Services as well as an independent consultant with ChangeWorks Hawaii. Never forgetting her aloha and kuleana for environmental stewardship, Kapua continues to stay engaged with environmental organizations within the Maui community. Some of her ʻohana’s favorite spots on island include ʻĪao Valley, Hosmer’s Grove on Haleakalā, and Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes.