Nai‘a Lewis is a social entrepreneur and artist working with people and communities to resolve pressing issues and thrive. For more than twenty years Nai‘a has used creative strategies and direct action with communities, private organizations, and government agencies to successfully engage, empower, and express the voices of vulnerable, marginalized, and disenfranchised groups, particularly those of women, indigenous groups, and minorities.

Through her diverse skillset she has created unique partnerships that build the creative capacity of businesses and organizations, namely with 84 and Sunny in Honolulu. Within this team she works to bridge global innovation trends with the unique needs and values of the islands.

Additionally, Nai?a has more than a decade of experience in large-scale marine conservation and remains the coordinator for Big Ocean, the world?s only network created by and for managers of the world?s largest marine protected areas. Her work helps to improve the design and management of large-scale MPAs, and lead the development of the publication Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas: Guidelines for design and management that was co-published by IUCN.

Nai‘a earned her journalism degree from the University of Hawai‘i at M?noa and has infused her communications background with her professional experience to develop cross-cultural initiatives to more effectively translate conservation initiatives to indigenous communities. Nai‘a blends contemporary expressionism with indigenous identity and belief systems through multiple media. Her work has been invited to show at artistic events and galleries from Manhattan to Honolulu, including the recent CTRL+ALT Culture Lab on Imagined Futures series, curated by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Ford Foundation.