Aiko was raised in Kāneʻohe and her families were raised in Kāneʻohe, Puʻunēnē, Yanbaru, and Agaña Heights. She has taught decolonial Pacific literature and community-engaged poetry for the UH Mānoa English Department as well as in partnership with community organizations and events, and has worked as an editor, researcher, and event planner for the Center for Biographical Research. Her PhD project looked at the role of friendship and decolonial love in contemporary literature of Hawaiʻi.

Aiko is a former Board President of Hawai‘i People’s Fund, and has worked and traveled as a peacebuilder with Women’s Voices Women Speak. She coedited The Value of Hawaiʻi 2: Ancestral Roots, Oceanic Visions (UH Press, 2014) and The Value of Hawaiʻi 3: Hulihia (UH Press, 2021). Her poetry and essays can also be found on Ke Kaupu Hehi Ale, blackmail press, Spiral Orb, and on the It’s Lit with PhDJ podcast. Aiko is grateful for jam sessions, pool tables, over-easy eggs, Okinawan dance, the Koʻolau mountains, the richness of our shared ocean, wai, the strength of nā pua, and all of their protectors.