MONIKA FRAzIEr
Fundraising & Education Specialist

Monika Frazier was born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island in the ʻōhiʻa forests of ʻŌlaʻa, and grew up exploring the coasts of Puna, Kaʻū and South Kona. She has a passion for learning about Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems and culture, and sharing that knowledge with the goal of inspiring our community to care for our ʻāina (land, ocean and natural resources).

Monika is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi Campus where she was inspired by teachers including Layne Richards, Sarah Ahmadia and Tom Chun to explore a career in natural resources management. She continued her schooling at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo where she thrived under the mentorship of coral ecologist Misaki Takabayashi and attained bachelors degrees in Marine Science and Biology, along with a masters degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science. She participated in student internships including the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE) and the Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science (PIPES), which catapulted her into the world of research and fostered professional relationships and friendships that were critical to her success as a student. During her 10-year journey at UH Hilo she also had the privilege of studying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) under Maikalani Glendon-Baclig, where she began to see the importance of the Hawaiian language to understanding and building a personal relationship to our natural resources. Most recently Monika was a student of Aunty Kekuhi Kanakaʻole as a part of Hālau ʻŌhiʻa: Hawaiʻi Stewardship Training where she strengthened her knowledge of Hawaiian culture and how to integrate culture into natural resources management.

As the Fundraising and Education Specialist at Hui Aloha Kīholo her goal is to support our staff’s efforts to care for Kīholo. Through our education program her goal is to connect with our broader island community to share the historical and ecological significance of Kīholo in the hopes that it will activate our community to join us in caring for this unique place. She especially looks forward to empowering our local youth to realize their potential as leaders in our community.