Val Kalei Kanuha facts for kids

Val Kalei Kanuha is a well-known teacher, researcher, and activist. She works to help people and fight for fairness. Her work often focuses on Native Hawaiian and other indigenous groups, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. She helps people understand and stop harm against others.

Early Life and Education

Val Kalei Kanuha was born in the 1950s in Hilo, Hawaii, United States. She grew up there. Her mother was Nisei, meaning she was a second-generation Japanese American. Her grandmother came to Hawaii as a picture bride from Japan. Val's father was Kanaka Maoli, which means he was a Native Hawaiian. Both of her parents lived their whole lives in Hawaii.

Val went to college and earned several degrees. She got her first degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin. She then earned a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Minnesota. Later, she received her PhD in social welfare from the University of Washington.

Teaching and Leadership

Val Kalei Kanuha has taught many people around the world. She has been a trainer and advisor on topics like fairness for all, fighting against unfair treatment, and helping people who have been harmed. In the 1990s, she taught at Hunter College.

From 1997 to 2016, after getting her PhD, Kanuha taught at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UH). She taught classes in social work, sociology, and women's studies. In 2017, she moved to the University of Washington's School of Social Work. There, she became an Assistant Dean for Field Education. Today, she is the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She teaches about research, how to understand past harms, and other social work topics.

Working for Change

Val Kalei Kanuha has been an important activist for a long time. In the early 1970s, she helped start the movement to support people who had experienced harm in their homes. She was one of the first people to help create a group in the Twin Cities that opened Women's Advocates. This was one of the first shelters in the U.S. for people needing a safe place.

She also helped start the University of Hawai’i at Hilo Women's Center. This center is a place where women can talk about how different parts of their lives, like their background or where they come from, connect with ideas of fairness and equality. Kanuha also helped create the Asian Pacific Islander Center on HIV/AIDS in New York.

Val is a founding member of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. This group is made up of women of color, including queer and indigenous women. Their work has been very important in fighting against harm from both individuals and larger systems. Kanuha is currently on the national board of the Joyful Heart Foundation. This foundation was started by actor Mariska Hargitay. She is also a board member with API Chaya in Seattle. Kanuha continues to work for fairness and support for Hawaiian, indigenous, and people of color.

Personal Life

Val Kalei Kanuha met her partner, Kata, in 1993. In 2013, they adopted their daughter, Anela Roshan.

Articles and Other Works

• Colonization and Violence Against Women, 2002
• Transcript of Panel on Colonization, Culture, and Resistance, 2015
• Strange Bedfellows: Feminist Advocates and U.S. Marines Working to End Violence, 2004
• The Use of Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) as a Strategy to Address Intimate Partner Violence, 2004
• HIV and women in Hawaii: risk and protective factors in HIV/AIDS prevention, 2003
• "Being" Native versus "Going Native": Conducting Social Work Research as an Insider, 2000
• The social process of "passing" to manage stigma: Acts of internalized oppression or acts of resistance? (1999)
• Local and gay: addressing the health needs of Asian and Pacific Islander American (A/PIA) lesbians and gay men in Hawaii (1999)