Our Staff

Aiko Yamashiro

Executive Director

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.

Devin Makizuru

Hawaiʻi History Day Program Director

Devin Makizuru was born in Honolulu and was raised in Kapolei. He received a B.A. in Geography and an M.A. in Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Devin is the lead coordinator for the History Day program. He hopes that through the History Day program, young scholars will become engaged in the process of discovering, learning, and understanding history, and that they will take an active role in shaping a brighter future. In his free time, Devin enjoys traveling, reading, and volunteering.

Michele Mitsumori

Community Partnerships Director

Michele was born in Honolulu and raised under a covering of Hilo rain. Graduating with a B.A. in English literature from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Michele taught English literature, writing and English as a second language in Hong Kong and Japan. She has served at nonprofits in many roles, with over a decade in development, and loves when missions, visions and strategies of different partners overlap and reinforce. She volunteers locally in areas such as recycling/reuse and civics, and relaxes by contemplating hāpu’u and raising caterpillars.