Founded in 2019 in Wailuku, Jamie Anderson’s Friends & Faire (F&F) is an in-studio space where people can gather to create, learn, and share their craft. In 2023, F&F also began focusing on mobile workshops, bringing creative experiences to private parties, team building events, and pop-up locations. Now, F&F is settling into their new home on Market Street in Wailuku, where they’ll continue to cultivate a community of creativity.
“Creativity, entrepreneurship, and teaching run in my family on both sides,” Anderson explained. “Together, my mom and dad, Arsie and Bruce, have made F&F possible by fueling my own creativity. I started making gifts, clothing, and jewelry at a young age with my artsy mom and helped her sell at numerous craft fairs. That led to eventually selling my own creations. Occasionally, mom teaches a workshop or two and is the best helper for big workshops. My retired school-principal dad has his hand on every wood piece that is used for workshops, from sourcing the wood to cutting and sanding every piece.”
As a part-time middle school art teacher, Anderson has gained much experience as an instructor with community connections. She loves crafting and making memories with everyone who signs up for a workshop. “I love creating something cool with my clients,” she noted. “F&F presents classes for adults and keiki, which include ceramics, wood burning, stenciled wood signs, block print, mixed media, lei-making, and numerous other craft-related items. We love hosting birthday parties, girls’ night out, bridal/baby showers, bachelorette parties, staff holiday parties, or team-building activities with community members. We can create a craft experience that caters to any group, no matter the size.”
Anderson’s vision is to have a community of crafters and artists in her new space, both making and selling crafts. “We can plan something in our Wailuku space or a location of choice,” she added. “Let’s plan a creative gathering! F&F is the right place for those who like to make all kinds of things.” Upcoming workshops include a Keiki Craft Camp on May 26 and Upcycle Crafts workshops every Saturday from 10am-12pm.
Workshops are led by talented Maui artists, crafters, and teachers. Whether in our new space or a private home, workplace, or event venue, we welcome all fellow makers!
Jamie Anderson, Founder and Owner, Friends & Faire
Lynn Fulton, Maui Health CEO, was awarded the prestigious Pacific Business News Women Who Mean Business award for 2025. Presented annually, the award recognizes women making a significant impact in their industries and communities by excelling in both business and community leadership. A Maui Health representative shared, “Fulton has been at the helm since January 1, 2024, and is a transformative leader. Under her direction, Maui Health has made substantial strides in improving operational efficiency by fostering a culture of support, growth and development.”
Fulton has been leading hospitals, ambulatory sites, and related ventures in operations, strategic planning, finance, business expansion, and team development for over two decades. “I am incredibly honored to receive this recognition,” Fulton said. “I believe that successful leadership is rooted in collaboration and empowerment. I am deeply committed to the people of Maui Health—our staff, community physicians, residents and visitors to Maui County—and am excited to continue driving positive change in our hospital and community.”
Perhaps most significant has been Fulton’s commitment to investing in Maui Health’s workforce to improve internal culture and empower staff to reach their fullest potential. Within a few months joining Maui Health, she launched a comprehensive leadership development program, providing regular education, training, and resources for department leaders, supporting their future career growth.
Fulton is also dedicated to investing in local students’ success and working to stabilize Maui’s workforce with healthcare career awareness and training programs. Maui Health recently partnered with Maui Economic Development Board’s STEMworks™ program to organize 3 healthcare career exploration events at Maui Memorial Medical Center for 187 local middle and high schoolers. The students learned life-saving skills directly from healthcare professionals, including CPR, techniques to stop serious bleeding, and how to recognize a stroke. Maui Health staff also reenacted an emergency room scenario to show students the critical roles of every member of the ER team.
Maui Health is also offering a paid summer internship program this year. The program will offer hands-on experiences while providing an inside look at the vital non-clinical roles that support patient care. It is designed for college and graduate students who want to explore the healthcare field and those looking to have a career on Maui.
Maui Health provides a great opportunity for students to be able to build a career. There is nothing like seeing what happens in a hospital through interactions with the people who work here.
Lynn Fulton, CEO, Maui Health
As local, national and international communities navigate a changing energy landscape, the 12th annual Hawaii Energy Conference brings industry leaders together to offer solutions addressing the most pressing energy challenges of today.
Featuring ten dynamic panels and one Deep Dive session over two days, the program will cover topics ranging from utility-scale renewable energy deployment to community-based initiatives, and the economics and advancements of grid independence. Discussions will also tackle energy efficiency, sustainable financing strategies, alternative energy sources, job creation, training, and more.
Complementing the main stage discussions, the new Deep Dive session provides an intimate setting for up to 40 participants to engage directly with experts and explore complex issues like time-of-use rates.
The Hawaii Energy Conference offers networking and exhibiting opportunities to connect with key stakeholders, industry experts, innovators, policymakers and more. Join us on Maui to gain insights, share ideas, and collaborate on actionable solutions to building a sustainable future for Hawaii and beyond.
We are honored to have Governor Green join us as the keynote speaker at this year’s Hawaii Energy Conference.
Jacqui Hoover, Conference Chair and Executive Director and COO Hawaii Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB); and President Hawaii Leeward Planning
As part of Maui Public Art Corps’ Hui Moʻolelo project, which cultivates stories celebrating Maui’s history and culture, University of Hawaiʻi scholar José Barzola recently spoke with Sissy Lake-Farm, Executive Director of the Maui Historical Society (MHS). The free virtual event is part of an on-going effort by MHS to emphasize the importance of understanding and honoring the past for future generations.
Located in Wailuku, Hale Hōʻikeʻike is a museum of Hawaiian history owned and operated by MHS. The museum building, the Bailey House, is part of the history on display; it was built originally as a missionary house in the early 1830s. The museum boasts the largest collection of Hawaiian artifacts on Maui and gives a detailed description of the lives of ancient Hawaiians.
Lake-Farm explained, “The house and land reverted back to the Hawaiian crown but were purchased by the Baileys in 1850. Later, the house and Baileys’ sugarcane fields became part of the Wailuku sugarcane plantation. The MHS was established in 1951 and…Masaru ‘Pundy’ Yokouchi purchased the Bailey House in 1991 and donated it to the MHS. The Bailey House was placed on the National and Hawaiʻi Registers of Historic Places in 1972.”
With extensive experience preserving the stories of the island’s people and places, Lake-Farm explored the heritage and challenges faced by the Maui community in her discussion with Barzola. Covering ancient traditions to modern-day preservation efforts, she shared unique insights into the island’s evolution and how local history is actively being preserved for our youth.
“We offer a glimpse into the past through our extensive collection of photographs, documents, and historical records,” she noted. “Our archives hold the stories and knowledge that keep our history alive, providing a valuable resource for researchers, students, and anyone with a passion for discovering the rich heritage of Hawaiʻi.”
MHS hosts cultural and educational events throughout the year, including their upcoming Lei Day Heritage Festival on May 1. For more information on events and museum hours, visit online at https://www.mauimuseum.org. To explore the Hui Moʻolelo project and listen to online recordings of community discussions, visit https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.
“We are so happy to share our rich history,” Lake-Farm added, “Our archival resource center, museum gift shop, and the Chas Fisher Memorial Gardens of native and missionary-era flora and fauna, are open to all.”
MHS is committed to preserving and sharing Maui’s history with our local community, especially students of all ages.
Sissy Lake-Farm, Executive Director, Maui Historical Society
Bryant Neal, newly elected vice-president of the nonprofit Maui Arts League, is well-known across the island for his numerous accomplishments. Arriving on Maui in 1982, he immediately fell in love with the island. He eventually became a partner and vice-president of the Lahaina Printsellers, Ltd., where he became absorbed in original vintage maps and prints of Hawaiʻi. “The history of Hawaiʻi continues to fascinate me,” Neal shared. “After leaving the gallery I continued to share my knowledge and my collection through different venues.”
Today, Neal is the founder, director, and curator of Story of Hawaiʻi, a museum exhibit and gallery. A born storyteller with a degree in theater arts, he provides a historic depiction of Hawaiʻi through his travelling exhibit, with one of the largest collections of Hawaiian nostalgia and original maps in the state. Neal is often found at the Maui Swap Meet on Saturday mornings displaying and selling his affordable map reproductions. “I tell the story of Hawaiʻi using vintage maps and documents starting from Polynesian migration through statehood,” Neal explains. “It’s the chronological sequence that makes it an interactive and memorable educational experience.”
Neal is also known locally for his annual recitation of excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Maui County building. “It’s important,” he noted. “Plus, every year new people get to hear it.” His community service work includes the arts as well. Neal is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit, Jazz Maui. He is passionate about providing opportunities for resident and student musicians to participate in high-quality jazz music education and performances through festivals, music clinics, and dance workshops. Every Sunday, Jazz Maui partners with Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate in Lahaina for an evening concert through its Chocolate Laulima program that supports local nonprofit organizations. All the proceeds from the concert ticket sales benefit Jazz Maui’s music education programs.
Always busy, Neal is also on the Board of the South Maui Learning ‘Ohana. “The ‘Ohana was the beginning of the charter school movement in Hawaiʻi,” Neal said. “Additionally, at the Kihei Charter School there is an innovation building designed to share community events. Maui is one huge ‘ohana!”
Jazz Maui continues to fill the need for an after-school arts enrichment program. I am so grateful to all the musicians who serve as mentors for aspiring Maui youth and all those who support nonprofit organizations.
Bryant Neal, Founder and Director, Jazz Maui
For the 20th Annual Invitational Art Exhibit, “Celebration of Hawaiʻi 2025,” at Viewpoints Gallery in Makawao, painter Suzy Papanikolas highlights the life of master carver and Native Hawaiian historian Sam Kaʻai in her artwork. “Kaʻai is someone I greatly admire,” said Papanikolas. “He truly believed navigation was done and could still be done by the stars and that the Hōkūleʻa voyage would serve as a cultural revitalization of Hawaiians and other Polynesians.”
Born in Hāna and brought up in Kaupō, Kaʻai’s family grew their own food and made many items by hand using traditional Hawaiian techniques and tools. Sam Low, author of Hawaiki Rising: Hōkūleʻa, Nainoa Thompson, and the Hawaiian Renaissance, explains, “Sam’s father and grandfather made canoes. Sam continued in this tradition, although as a carver of fine sculpture. He used adzes, files and drills that came down to him from his ancestors. They were fashioned a century or two ago.”
As a carver, Kaʻai became involved in the now world-renowned Hōkūleʻa project led by Herb Kāne. “In 1973, Kaʻai went to Maui Community College to listen to Herb’s talk…later, a letter arrived from Herb: ‘If you come from a canoe family, please dream and make your own design for the kiʻi,’” writes Low. “Sam carved two kiʻi — a man and a woman. The female figure would be lashed to the port manu, the male kiʻi to the starboard. When Sam carved the male figure he fashioned his hands reaching up to the heavens in supplication.”
In the years that followed, Kaʻai grew to be a highly respected Hawaiian artisan, cultural expert, and community leader. He sailed as a crew member aboard the Hōkūleʻa in 1978, 1980, and 1985 and planned the 1991 celebration of unification at Puʻukoholā Heiau, a national historic site on the Big Island. Recognized as a Living Treasure of the Hawaiian People by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 2017, Kaʻai continues his work as an historian to preserve rare Hawaiian artifacts. Tragically, many of these priceless cultural treasures and documents were lost when the Nā ‘Aikāne o Maui Cultural Center was destroyed during the 2023 Lahaina wildfire.
Papanikolas’s painting celebrates Kaʻai’s ongoing legacy, featuring the kiʻi that Kaʻai carved for the Hōkūleʻa over 50 years ago. An online gallery of her work can be found on her website, https://www.papanik.com/. The Viewpoints Gallery’s “Celebration of Hawaiʻi 2025” exhibit in Makawao, featuring over 40 artists, is open until the end of April.
My painting is a tribute to the ancestors and the revival of a whole culture, of which Kaʻai is a representative.
Suzy Papanikolas, Artist
A recent Maui TechOhana event featured Maui-based Google software architect, Stefan Kuhne, who spoke about “Finding Opportunity for Success” to over 40 attendees. Working in the computer industry since 1986, Kuhne shared his long career in tech, including the last 18 years at Google. He has given keynote presentations at events such as Google I/O with more than 10,000 viewers and has been a tech pioneer, starting his own company for fun and, as a new entrepreneur, selling over 200,000 original computer games.
Kuhne had many tips to share with the audience based on his experiences. He is currently the holder of about 20 patents, many of them worldwide, ranging from his early work in electronics and circuit boards to becoming one of the world’s experts in computer graphics with Google, where he has worked on Google Earth and Chrome OS projects.
“To be successful, you need motivation,” Kuhne noted. “The ability to identify good opportunities and make the best out of them has served me well. First, I realized early on the importance of being good in school…During the 70’s/80’s when I was still in school, computers were new and cool, so I was motivated to get my own computer and create chips.”
Kuhne continued, “The next phase for me was finding opportunities for success and learning to look for disruptions, which are…Back in 2007 when the iPhone, and, shortly after, Android, entered the market, a new opportunity segment opened. Application developers jumping in early cashed out a lot really quickly. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are huge. Big companies are investing heavily, so it’s a perfect time to jump in.”
After the meeting, Maui realtor Steve Bond commented, “Be open for change, learn from failure! Khune’s message was inspiring, encouraging me to focus on my own projects. Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) is doing a fantastic job by bringing the entrepreneur community together.”
Shirley Ramey, LPN, said, “I liked the information Khune shared. Things have changed because of Chat and AI, and his experience is so helpful. I’m looking forward to future TechOhana meetings.”
Organized by MEDB and supported by the County of Maui, TechOhana is free to the public and invites guest speakers to give presentations on topics related to business or technology. For more information, visit online at http://www.mauitechohana/.
Setting ambitious goals is important; however, you also need to realize that mistakes are good if you learn from them.
Stefan Kuhne, Software Architect, Google
In March, Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) honors the contributions of women and acknowledges the challenges they have overcome as part of Women’s History Month. In the recent history of Maui County, the late Councilmember Velma Santos stands out as one such woman to be honored. Born in 1931 in Kula, the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku is named after her.
With a University of Hawaiʻi degree in botany and a teaching certification, Santos began her career as a fifth grade teacher at Wailuku Elementary and received national recognition as an Outstanding Elementary Teacher in America. She went on to become a member of the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives, a role she held from 1974 to1976 before becoming the Director of the Maui County Department of Human Concerns.
For local residents, she is best remembered for her time as a Maui County Councilmember, serving from 1982 to 1990. She was chair of the Human Services Committee, helping to establish policies that improved public services. She also worked to create responsible parameters for development as chair of the Planning and Land Use Committee. Maui County Councilmember Alice Lee shared, “I served with Velma in my first term on the County Council. She was the Planning chair and very knowledgeable about Maui County on a cultural, political, and economic level. She was a parliamentarian and was very skilled at debating but was also very courteous and gracious.”
Santos was also active in non-profits and community-based organizations. She chaired the Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO) Board, founded the Wai Kahu Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) organization, and served in multiple state level BPW offices, including as President of the Hawaii BPW organization.
MEDB president and CEO, Leslie Wilkins, remembers Santos as a role model and generous mentor. “I met Velma through BPW. I had just entered the workforce and was invited to join the Maui chapter. I was immediately struck by Velma’s stature and dedication to advancing economic opportunities for women. Her teachings helped frame my values and continue to inspire my advocacy.”
We were fortunate to have her as one of our County’s leaders. She was a forward thinker, a pioneer.
Alice Lee, Chair of the Maui County Council
Olena Alec is the Executive Director of the Haleakalā Conservancy, the philanthropic partner to Haleakalā National Park. Alec leads the Conservancy’s efforts to provide funding for projects of critical importance to the park and its unique and endangered resources.
“Started in 2019, our nonprofit raises money for projects the park cannot fund,” Alec explained at a recent Kihei-Wailea Rotary meeting. “Conservation, preservation, and education are our main goals to help support our incredibly unique national park.”
Born and raised on Maui, Alec came to the Conservancy from The Climate Reality Project where she served as Director of Engagement. She also sits on the board of Students for Climate Action. She holds a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from University of Southern California.
“It has been my lifelong goal to be back on Maui contributing to the community and landscape that is home,” Alec said. “The Conservancy, dedicated to raising funds specifically for the park’s initiatives, goes beyond what government funding and entrance fees can provide. Haleakalā National Park faces perennial challenges: invasive species, climate change, and a lack of sufficient government funding.”
Saving Haleakalā’s forest birds such as the kiwikiu, which is on the brink of extinction, is a current concern of the park. Extra funding supports programs that buy tools for forest biologists protecting the birds. The Conservancy also works to preserve trail space to keep people safe and on the correct paths. Alec added, “The need to provide school buses, especially for the Hawaiian immersion schools, is very important. We want the students to know that this is their park, in their backyard. We hope to continue having all Maui students visit and learn from our programs. With community support, the Conservancy’s efforts will ensure Haleakalā National Park thrives.”
For members of the public looking to support the Park, there are several options, including monetary donations and purchasing a Haleakalā specialty license plate. More info can be found online at https://www.haleakalaconservancy.org/support.
As the park’s philanthropic partner, we support programs that preserve wildlife, ecosystems, history, and culture, and we appreciate the community’s support to ensure the continued success of our conservation efforts.
Olena Alec, Executive Director, Haleakalā Conservancy
