Drawing upon traditions across cultures, our community healing circles, called The Second Circle, connect people in ways that promote trust, appreciation and healing. We apply universal principles of community building to clarify purpose, align value

Drawing upon traditions across cultures, our community healing circles, called The Second Circle, connect people in ways that promote trust, appreciation and healing. We apply universal principles of community building to clarify purpose, align values, and work toward real and sustainable change. When people trust the power of the circle, healing and transformation happens. Photo Credit: Vince Sales

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.As our world becomes more complex, we are called to work among diverse communities and cultures. The Transcultural Bridge is a four-part training series that provides know

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.As our world becomes more complex, we are called to work among diverse communities and cultures. The Transcultural Bridge is a four-part training series that provides knowledge and skills to navigate across cultures – respecting the integrity of each group while seeking beneficial intersections to expand our circle of belonging. This series gives opportunity for participants to explore both personal and professional aspects of building cultural capacity Photo Credit: Kevin John Fong

The Five Elements: A Framework for Organizational Health, Professional Growth, and Personal Well Being, provides a common-sense approach to analyze systems, cultures and leadership styles within a context of change. Through this framework, leaders a

The Five Elements: A Framework for Organizational Health, Professional Growth, and Personal Well Being, provides a common-sense approach to analyze systems, cultures and leadership styles within a context of change. Through this framework, leaders acquire the capacity to transform challenges into opportunities for constructive organizational design. Practitioners build skills in the use of tools that help teams align overall strategies, values and relational dynamics with day-to-day operations. Design Credit: Vanessa Bowen

As facilitators, we not only provide focus and direction on the content, but we shed light on, and address underlying patterns in order to deepen relationships, increase confidence, and build more unified, inspired, and motivated teams. Photo Credit

As facilitators, we not only provide focus and direction on the content, but we shed light on, and address underlying patterns in order to deepen relationships, increase confidence, and build more unified, inspired, and motivated teams. Photo Credit: Al White

This series combines the Native Hawaiian concept of pono (right relationship) with principles of Fierce Civility, developed by Joe Weston. At the heart Getting to Pono is the belief that it is possible to stand in one's power, speak their truth, hear

This series combines the Native Hawaiian concept of pono (right relationship) with principles of Fierce Civility, developed by Joe Weston. At the heart Getting to Pono is the belief that it is possible to stand in one's power, speak their truth, hear the truth of others, and get needs met in a way that will not inflict harm. Photo Credit: Al White

Articulating a clear picture of your goals and objectives, and providing creative options on how you can reach them is an essential part of the facilitation services we provide. Our approach helps to set a good tone before the event by connecting w

Articulating a clear picture of your goals and objectives, and providing creative options on how you can reach them is an essential part of the facilitation services we provide. Our approach helps to set a good tone before the event by connecting with key stakeholders to solicit input. We then create an informed agenda that balances collective, individual, interactive and reflective time. We facilitate a safe and open process, adapting our approaches to balance the client’s needs with the diverse needs of the participants. Clients can choose to receive a written summary articulating practical next steps and recommendations.

  • Commuity Healing Circles

    Drawing upon traditions across cultures, our community healing circles, called The Second Circle, connect people in ways that promote trust, appreciation and healing. We apply universal principals of community building to clarify purpose, align values, and work toward real and sustainable change. When people trust the power of the circle, healing and transformation happens.

    Request Circle
  • The Transcultural Bridge

    Racial Equity Trainings

    As our world becomes more complex, we are called to work among diverse communities and cultures. The Transcultural Bridge is a four-part training series that provides knowledge and skills to navigate across cultures – respecting the integrity of each group while seeking beneficial intersections to expand our circle of belonging. This series gives opportunity for participants to explore both personal and professional aspects of building cultural capacity.

    Build Capacity

  • Leadership Development

    The Five Elements: A Framework for Organizational Health, Professional Growth, and Personal Well Being, provides a common-sense approach to analyze systems, cultures and leadership styles within a context of change. Through this framework, leaders acquire the capacity to transform challenges into opportunities for lasting and positive results.

    Transform Challenges
  • Facilitation & Community Building

    Facilitation & Community Building

    As facilitators, we apply CPR with our clients to assess the balance of Content, Process, and Relationship to inform our provide focus and direction on the content, but we shed light on, and address underlying patterns in order to deepen relationships, increase confidence, and build more unified, inspired, and motivated teams

    Let's Lead

  • Community Reconciliation

    This series combines the Native Hawaiian concept of pono (right relationship) with principles of Fierce Civility, developed by Joe Weston. At the heart Getting to Pono is the belief that it is possible to stand in one's power, speak their truth, hear the truth of others, and get needs met in a way that will not inflict harm.

    Get to Pono

“The Second Circle creates a safe space for meaningful communication and connection in our frenetic world. Through the masterful guidance of Elemental Partners, we can move beyond the latest email or headline and build bridges to our shared humanity.”

Robin Toma, Executive Director, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations

 

“The Kahakulei Institute isn’t afraid to face challenges and problem-solve, while providing strong facilitation and a commitment to productivity and tangible outcomes. They listened to our needs and designed a process that allowed for us to work in creative and collaborative ways rather than “business as usual.”

Lecia Brooks, Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center

“When Kevin taught our team how to balance each other’s leadership styles using The Five Elements, it has resulted in our best year of collaboration. There are times where we all know we can jump head first into a task and finish it quickly, and there are times where we know we need to take a step back and see if we are headed in the right direction or if we need to take a change of course. We communicate better and meet our team goals with less stress for all.”

Vanessa Romero, Deputy Superintendent – Santa Fe Public Schools

 

“The Kahakulei Institute offered a thoughtful and nonjudgmental process that allowed us to interact with openness. It was a touching discourse on cultural awareness and moral responsibility.”

Dr. John Burkhardt – University of Michigan, School of Education


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Driven by research and best practices across cultures and disciplines, we weave theories of systems change with East Asian and Native Hawaiian principles of well-being to cultivate health and prosperity.

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Healing Circles

The Second Circle

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Drawing upon traditions across cultures, our community healing circles, called The Second Circle, connect people in ways that promote trust, appreciation and healing. We apply universal principles of community building to clarify purpose, align values, and work toward real and sustainable change. When people trust the power of the circle, healing and transformation happens.

Photo Credit: Vince Sales

 

The components of The Second Circle are aligned with the needs and culture of the group. We typically engage in a conversation with key stakeholders and gatekeepers to determine which activities will work best, and to ensure that all participants are prepared and ready to work at the start of the gatherings.  Maximizing the effectiveness of face-to-face time together toward these ends is our priority.

Depending on the number of people and the depth of the process, the Second Circle can be offered in 2- or 3-hour sessions.

The process is most effective when participants engage in a series of circles over time (e.g. 4 monthly circles of 3 hours each). It is important to account for a range of cultural and linguistic considerations as well as participants’ learning and communication styles. Activities engage interactive modes including reflective (writing, silence) and active (conversational, movement) approaches.  

Partnering with local champions, whether they are: governmental agencies; civic or faith-based institutions; community centers; or non-profit organizations, provide the much-needed foundation for circles to succeed.  

A second way is to deliver the experience is to take the circle to where people gather.  This could be done by embedding healing circles into standing meetings, conferences or established community gatherings. Variations of The Second Circle have been facilitated at family reunions, organizational staff and/or board retreats, conference workshops or community events.

 

We offer The Second Circle in three distinct series:

  • Building Beloved Communities

    Often, we find ourselves among “strangers,” even if we have lived next door to them or worked beside them for years. And often, people speak about themselves through their professions, their jobs, or their relations and affiliations. It is common courtesy to ask a person what they do, but it is considered rude to ask them who they are.

    Based on a Hawaiian storytelling tradition developed by Puanani Burgess, this series is designed to help people speak about themselves not from what they do but from who they are. It provides opportunities for people to get below their titles, the letters after their names and their achievements. It allows people to see each other, Face to Face.

  • Getting to Pono (Right Relationship)

    This series is based on the principles of Respectful Confrontation, developed by Joe Weston. Many of us have negative associations with confrontation; we think it is the same as conflict. By exploring the principles of Respectful Confrontation, participants will discover that confrontation is nothing more than open-hearted engagement and ultimately the most effective way to avoid and resolve conflict. At the heart of Respectful Confrontation is the belief that it is possible to stand in one's power, speak their truth, hear the truth of others, and get needs met in a way that will not inflict harm.

  • Standing on the Gates of Hope

    Developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this series focuses on support, care, and thriving through times of crisis. This series is based on “The Gates of Hope,” a poem by Victoria Safford.

    Request a Circle
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Cultural Capacity Trainings

The Transcultural Bridge

“The Kahakulei Institute offered a thoughtful and nonjudgmental process that allowed us to interact with openness. They brought the topic to life with exercises that challenged us to identify internal and external biases. It was a touching discourse on cultural awareness and moral responsibility.”

Dr. John Burkhardt, Founding Director, National Leadership Forum on Higher Education – University of Michigan, School of Education

  • Trans:

    Prefix meaning “across”

  • Cultural:

    Of or pertaining to the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.

What can you do to build a transcultural bridge, or be a transcultural bridge?

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.As our world becomes more complex, we are called to work among diverse communities and cultures. The Transcultural Bridge is a four-part training series that provides knowledge and skills to navigate across cultures – respecting the integrity of each group while seeking beneficial intersections to expand our circle of belonging. This series gives opportunity for participants to explore both personal and professional aspects of building cultural capacity.


Photo Credit: Kevin John Fong

Read Our Case Study
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Communities and organizations build cultural capacity by engaging in activities and processes that are inclusive and on-going in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of cultural competency efforts at all levels. In addition, participants are committed to, and active in achieving their own personal levels of cultural capacity. It is a continuous journey, a process of learning and discovery, both internally and externally.

The notion of defining culture in a broad spectrum, and understanding the perspectives and biases we bring is crucial in being compassionate and effective agents of change. This understanding needs to come from both an intellectual and emotional place - the head and the heart – and we will work together to clarify, align and integrate these perspectives so that they become palpable and shared. 

The process begins with a four-part series of training:

  1. Building Individual Capacity; 

  2. Understanding and Dismantling Personal and Structural Bias; 

  3. Building Institutional Capacity; and

  4. Engaging “the other” in Courageous and Respectful Conversations.

This training provides activities that clients can incorporate into their own policies and practices to address the ongoing and evolving nature of this work. Details of each training appear, along with additional services, are provided below.

 

The Transcultural Bridge process begins with a four-part series of trainings:

  • Session 1: Building Individual Cultural Capacity

    Participants will be able to:

    Define culture in the context of the organization's mission, vision, and values;

    Explore the dynamics and behaviors that create communications barriers among diverse groups, and explore tools and processes that foster toward positive outcomes; and

    Facilitate processes to further integrate cultural capacity, diversity and inclusion in day-to-day operations.

  • Session 2: Understanding and Dismantling Personal and Structural Bias

    Participants will be able to:

    Explore the personal and societal impact of implicit bias and toxic stress.

    Learn about the science behind implicit bias.

    Develop skills to manage and prevent implicit bias, both personally and professionally.

  • Session 3: Building Institutional Cultural Capacity

    Participants will be able to:

    Assess the cultural capacity and readiness of your organization or team;

    Understand the leadership opportunities and challenges in addressing issues of building cultural capacity, diversity and inclusion;

    Use tools to build and sustain culturally competent policies and practices at individual and organizational levels.

  • Session 4: Engaging “the other” in Courageous and Respectful Conversations

    Participants will be able to:

    Understand the opportunities and challenges in addressing issues of implicit bias, cultural capacity, diversity, and inclusion.

    Utilize tools to build and sustain culturally competent policies and practices in your organization.

    Facilitate processes to further integrate cultural capacity, diversity and inclusion in your day-to-day work.

  • The Transcultural Bridge

    These trainings provide activities that clients can incorporate into their own policies and practices to address the ongoing and evolving nature of this work.

    Request a Training
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Leadership Development

The Five Elements

The Five Elements: A Framework for Organizational Health, Professional Growth, and Personal Well Being, provides a common-sense approach to analyze systems, cultures and leadership styles within a context of change. Through this framework, leaders acquire the capacity to transform challenges into opportunities for constructive organizational design. Practitioners build skills in the use of tools that help teams align overall strategies, values and relational dynamics with day-to-day operations.


Design Credit: Vanessa Bowen

The Five Elements

  • Water

    Organizational Stage:
    Consolidation

    Leadership Attributes:
    Philosopher

  • Wood

    Organizational Stage:
    Creation

    Leadership Attributes:
    Visionary
    Optimist

  • Fire

    Organizational Stage:
    Direction

    Leadership Attributes:
    Networkers

  • Earth

    Organizational Stage:
    Coordination

    Leadership Attributes:
    Caregiver
    Facilitator
    Rock

  • Metal

    Organizational Stage:
    Implementation

    Leadership Attributes:
    Achiever
    Protector

 

Drawing upon fundamental and universal tenets from organizational development, science, business and nature, this approach enables leaders to manage change through the application of The Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal) and their corresponding organizational stages and leadership attributes.

At its core, The Five Elements helps leaders maximize personal and organizational results in healthful, balanced, and beneficial ways. Building awareness of how the elements interact, and skill in managing these interactions to influence processes, shape perceptions, and align values, fosters positive outcomes.

The Five Elements is particularly effective in the following areas:

  • Organizational Systems and Design

    Creating a harmonious work environment by contributing to the design and development of the operating and administrative systems.

  • Communication& Conflict Resolution

    Assessing group and interpersonal dynamics in a way that is affirming of differing views, non-threatening and practical.

  • Leadership Development

    Acknowledging the spectrum of leadership styles and providing a model for processes to develop with constructive and harmonious outcomes. In addition, it gives leaders a tool to maximize the strengths of each person involved.

  • Team Building

    Analyzing teams and workgroups in a way that clarifies roles and responsibilities based on the inherent strengths and gifts of each individual. In this manner, an effective and mutually-supportive team can be maintained.

  • Strategic Planning & Implementation

    Addressing the philosophy, premises and processes involved in strategic and project planning. Moreover, it provides a good method of integrating a strategic plan from the written report to actual implementation.

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Facilitation & Community Building

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

As facilitators, we not only provide focus and direction on the content, but we shed light on, and address underlying patterns in order to deepen relationships, increase confidence, and build more unified, inspired, and motivated teams.


Photo Credit: Al White

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Articulating a clear picture of your goals and objectives, and providing creative options on how you can reach them is an essential part of the facilitation services we provide. Our approach helps to set a good tone before the event by connecting with key stakeholders to solicit input.

We then create an informed agenda that balances collective, individual, interactive and reflective time. We facilitate a safe and open process, adapting our approaches to balance the client’s needs with the diverse needs of the participants.

Examples of gatherings we facilitate include:

  • Board, Management and Staff Retreats

    We assist organizations in:

    Establishing a common strategic vision and direction;

    Clarifying roles and responsibilities;

    Understanding the power and influence of leadership style on an organization’s culture;

    Building a collective identity and a strong, unified team; and

    Working toward setting both short- and long-term action plans.

  • Regional, Statewide, and National Conferences

    We assist organizations in:

    Establishing a common strategic vision and direction;

    Clarifying roles and responsibilities;

    Understanding the power and influence of leadership style on an organization’s culture;

    Building a collective identity and a strong, unified team; and

    Working toward setting both short- and long-term action plans.

  • Fellowship Programs

    We have served as lead designer, facilitator and faculty for several national, statewide and regional leadership fellowship programs, ranging from one to three years. Read about an example of our Fellowship work with the Forward Promise fellowship, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

    We assist organizations in the development of their fellowship programs, which include:

    Development of the overall design and vision of the fellowship program;

    Outreach and selection of fellows;

    Program and logistical planning; and

    Program Facilitation.

  • Conferences

    We assist organizations in:

    Conference panels,

    plenaries,

    keynotes,

    and workshops.

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Community Reconciliation

Getting to Pono

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This series combines the Native Hawaiian concept of pono (right relationship) with principles of Fierce Civility, developed by Joe Weston. At the heart Getting to Pono is the belief that it is possible to stand in one's power, speak their truth, hear the truth of others, and get needs met in a way that will not inflict harm.

Photo Credit: Al White

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Articulating a clear picture of your goals and objectives, and providing creative options on how you can reach them is an essential part of the facilitation services we provide.

Our approach helps to set a good tone before the event by connecting with key stakeholders to solicit input. We then create an informed agenda that balances collective, individual, interactive and reflective time. We facilitate a safe and open process, adapting our approaches to balance the client’s needs with the diverse needs of the participants. Clients can choose to receive a written summary articulating practical next steps and recommendations.

Examples of gatherings we facilitate include:

  • Board, Management and Staff Retreats

    We assist organizations in:

    Establishing a common strategic vision and direction;

    Clarifying roles and responsibilities;

    Understanding the power and influence of leadership style on an organization’s culture;

    Building a collective identity and a strong, unified team; and

    Working toward setting both short- and long-term action plans.

  • Regional, Statewide, and National Conferences

    We assist organizations in:

    Establishing a common strategic vision and direction;

    Clarifying roles and responsibilities;

    Understanding the power and influence of leadership style on an organization’s culture;

    Building a collective identity and a strong, unified team; and

    Working toward setting both short- and long-term action plans.

  • Fellowship Programs

    We have served as lead designer, facilitator and faculty for several national, statewide and regional leadership fellowship programs, ranging from one to three years. Read about an example of our Fellowship work with the Forward Promise fellowship, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

    We assist organizations in the development of their fellowship programs, which include:

    Development of the overall design and vision of the fellowship program;

    Outreach and selection of fellows;

    Program and logistical planning; and

    Program Facilitation.

  • Conferences

    We assist organizations in:

    Conference panels,

    plenaries,

    keynotes,

    and workshops.

Work with Kahakulei Institute