Melissa grew up moving around in the Army, but her parents were born and raised in Kailua, Oʻahu, which is where they moved when Melissa started high school.
After graduating from UH Mānoa with a BA in Geography, and earning a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington, she decided to pursue a PhD in Public Health which is what eventually brought her to Papa Ola Lōkahi.
In addition to POL, Melissa also works as a librarian at JABSOM, nurturing her fascination of all things data and research. Melissa has always had a desire give back to her community, so her work with Hale ʻImi Hawaiʻi has been fulfilling both professionally and personally. Melissa is constantly looking to learn more about our community through community-based participatory methods with the goal of working towards implementing health measures that honor Native Hawaiian ways of being and align with the values of Native Hawaiian communities.
When she’s not working, she loves spending time with her ʻohana and learning to play ukulele. Melissa says, “My Tūtū told me to learn Puamana first so I am doing what Tūtū says!”
