Kamalei Brandon (Kānaka Maoli/Native Hawaiian) is the Indigenous Curriculum & Special Projects Department Manager at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services as well as a Kanaka Maoli Doula and Indigenous Lactation Counselor. As an Indigenous mother, she has a strong passion for early childhood education and maternal mental health rooted in cultural and language reclamation and preservation work for our Indigenous communities.
Before coming to Hummingbird IFS, Kamalei wore many hats in the public education world and even won the 2020 Learning for Justice Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was a K-3 Teacher and mentored student teachers in her classroom. Then, before the birth of her first son, she transitioned to being an Elementary Ethnic Studies Curriculum Specialist for Seattle Public Schools and helped build out their Elementary Ethnic Studies curriculum and launch that district-wide program.
As the former Pilimakua Department Director, with her colleague Charlotte and our Indigenous community, Kamalei co-built Hummingbird’s Pilimakua Family Connection Department, which includes home visiting, community events, and emotional peer support programs. They designed the department to support their fellow urban Indigenous families in the journeys of early parenthood. Now, as the ICSP Dept Manager, she supports Hummingbird in capturing the “magic” at Hummingbird to align our in-organization programs as well as support other organizations within our AI/AN/NH/PI communities.
In addition to working at Hummingbird, she serves her Kānaka Maoli community through the Moku‘āina A Wakinekona Hawaiian Civic Club of Washington, Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival, and the Native Family Learning Lodge. She created and teaches in the MAWHCC’s Mālama i Ka ʻĀina Program, an ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Saturday School for Kānaka Maoli ʻohana with keiki 0-5 years old. Kamalei hopes to help other Indigenous parents preserve their language/culture despite being disconnected from their land.
