Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu is Kanaka hailing from the islands of Hawaiʻi in the Northern Pacific Ocean. She was born to a Hawaiian/Portuguese/English mother and a Chinese father and is a graduate of The Kamehameha School Kapalama Campus and a twice graduate of The University of Hawaiʻi Manoa campus.

She is considered by many in her homeland to be a community leader and has earned respect for her work in preserving, perpetuating and promulgating Hawaiian language, culture, and history. She is better known to the world as Kumu Hina (Kumu = teacher/source) and her work inspires many. Her teaching influence in the Hawaiian community has impacted not only the general population but is highlighted by her work with senior citizens, K-12 youth, and Hawaiian men in incarceration as well as those beyond the shores of Hawaiʻi for 34 years and still going. Her reputation for cultural tenacity, integrity and fortitude is rooted in teaching Hawaiian philosophy and worldview.

She eventually shifted from being a more traditional storyteller of native chant and dance to becoming a filmmaker using digital media to protect and perpetuate indigenous languages and traditions.

She began her film work as a protagonist and educational advisor for the award winning films Kumu Hina and A Place in the Middle, and subsequently continued on in her journey to the other side of the lens to produce the award-winning short Lady Eva and PBS feature documentary Leitis in Waiting about her fakafāfine sisters in the Kingdom of Tonga, and the American Oscar Top 10 nominee for Kapaemahu accompanied by the one hour full length feature The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. Kumu Hina was featured in other film endeavors such as Ke Kulana He Mahu, After Earth, and Kukini, and is now working on the animated short film Kapo Mai Lele.

Kumu Hina received the National Education Association Ellison Onizuka Human Rights Award (2016), Native Hawaiian Educator of the Year (2018) and White House Champion of Change (2020) for the groundbreaking impact campaigns associated with her film work along with her advocacy and teaching .

USA Today named Kumu Hina one of ten Women of the Century from Hawaii and was also featured in Naomi Hirahara’s book We Are Here: 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States that was published by the Smithsonian Institution.

Kumu Hina is also a transgender health and well-being advocate and is co-founder of Kulia Na Mamo, an organization serving Mahu and other underserved people of color. She served for 13 years as public appointed servant whose leadership chaired the Oʻahu Island Burial council.

In 2014 she ran for political office as a candidate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, and in 2020 she won the Composer of Year and Best Song of the Year with her composition“Ku Haaheo E Kuu Hawaii,” the internationally known anthem of cultural pride and resilience that rose to prominence sung for the protection of Mauna Kea and other Aloha ʻĀina related advocacy.

She also formerly served as a member of the Community Engagement Team for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and enjoys learning languages. She is a fluent speaker of Hawaiian and also learned to speak Tongan, Samoan and Tahitian and can go to any Polynesian island and quickly learn their dialect of speaking.

Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu now proudly wears the role of Cultural Ambassador for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement in service to Hawaii and her people and community.