Nalu OʻConnor
2024-2025 Obama Foundation Asia-Pacific Leader

Program Leader, The Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo
Hawaiʻi
Nalu OʻConnor is the program leader of the Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Sciences (PIPES) program at the University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo. PIPES nurtures future aloha ʻāina leaders in Hawaiʻi through place-based internships, mentorship, and strategic partnerships. Nalu equips young leaders to embrace leadership as a marathon, not a sprint, through a capacity-building framework that follows four values and relationships of Hawaiʻi: Naʻau, ʻĀina, Kaiāulu, and Kaʻao. Nalu is committed to exploring the ideas of reconnecting people, place, and practice with the ultimate goal of ʻāina momona, or abundant ecosystems and thriving communities.
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