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Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander recognition comes to Palo Alto Networks

Career Blog (14)

By: Wailohia Woolsey, Director, InfoSec GRC

We are proud to recognize the launch of  Aloha ‘Aina, a new employee network group focused on Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (NHPI) and their allies.

Vision

Aloha 'Aina will embody the Hawaiian value of “kuleana” or inclusive responsibility by supporting a culture that includes Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as a part of our hiring and inclusion. 

Mission

Aloha 'Aina advocates to raise the visibility of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in cybersecurity and provide opportunities for their personal and career development and networking. We also bring the aloha spirit and the nurturing, community-based culture of the Islands to the Palo Alto community through inclusive events.

Over the month of November, the start of Makahiki, a Pacific celebration of peace, harvest and plenty, Aloha ‘Aina has engaged speakers from across Pasifika to discuss a variety of cultural and tech topics. 

During the first event, Sarah Kuaiwa, a historian and genealogist from the Bishop Museum, discussed the themes of togetherness and responsibility in the season of Makahiki.

Next week’s event will focus on NHPI leaders in technology with a spotlight on Will Reppun, a Native Hawaiian and the CEO of Unrulr, an education technology company. He’ll be discussing his journey in tech and how his culture has influenced him as a leader. We’ll also hear from Edgardo Perez, senior manager of global inclusive recruiting and readiness at Palo Alto Networks. He’ll be discussing how we are scaling efforts to close underrepresented talent gaps for our recruiting organization, specifically in the NHPI space. 

Aloha ‘Aina will close out launch activities with Hi’ilani Shibata from the Ka Mahina Project. Hi’ilani will engage participants in a cultural workshop about Hina Circles. She will discuss the intersection of technology and effects of the moon phases as it relates to Pasifika cultures, people and emotions. 

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