Understanding the Marshallese Culture

The value of being present for each other and contributing to each other's success has been fundamental to the cultural identity of generations of Hawaiians. In this session, we will explore the cultural protective factors borne out of this intrinsic Hawaiian value and how we can best align ourselves with the Hawaiian 'ohana and keiki we serve.
Speakers:
Kathleen Jonathan - Community Resource Specialist for Pacific Islander Students, K-12, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
Kathleen Jonathan is a native of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She moved from the islands to Hawaii with her sons in 1996 to pursue her education and graduated from the University of Hawaii in Hilo in 2002. She and her family moved to Oregon right after, and she has remained a resident of Oregon since then.
Kathleen works for the Salem-Keizer Public Schools as a Community Resource Specialist for Pacific Islander students district-wide. This school year marks year twenty-one of her being an educator. She enjoys meeting new students and their families and is passionate about her advocacy work, especially when it comes to students and families who are not as fluent in English and do not know how to navigate the system.
Her work with the school district has led her to be more involved in the Marshallese community and the larger COFA (compact of free association) community in Oregon doing advocacy work through the COFA Alliance National Network (CANN), an organization that is run by people from the COFA island nations (Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands) and serves the COFA community in Oregon. Prior to CANN, Kathleen was introduced to community organizing and advocacy work by the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), a grassroots advocacy non-profit organization serving the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the state of Oregon.
Della Nakamoto - Account Executive, Atlas Insurance Agency - AOAO Group
Della Nakamoto is an Insurance Agent working for Atlas Insurance Agency. She has been in the insurance industry for 25 years handling insurance programs for medium to large businesses and non-profit organizations on Maui. She is a native of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She moved to California when she was 17 years old and has lived in the United States almost entirely since then, also spending several years in Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She moved to Maui in 1997 and now considers Maui her home. She is married and a proud mother of Brittany 29, Keola 27, and Kekai 15. She enjoys spending time with her children and especially her husband, Lester.
Della has been a long-time advocate for the Micronesian community. She has volunteered her time for 25 years hoping to connect the Maui community to the Micronesian community. She has been a Rotarian for 17 years and currently serves as the President of the Rotary Club of Kahului. She is also a member of the Maui Chamber of Commerce, Construction Industry of Maui (CIM), Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce where she served on the Board for six years, Community Council of Maui (CCM), and the Voices of Micronesians Of Maui (VoMOM).