Dr. Haaheo Guanson is a well known cultural practitioner, peace educator and advocate in Hawaii and Internationally.
Growing up in Manoa Valley, she became a founding Director of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace at the University of Hawaii, Manoa; later she traveled extensively as a member of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was a member).
She coordinated the first public visit of the Dalai Lama to Hawaii, and has worked with others on special projects to provide Nonviolence Training in Africa, Palestine, Rowanda, Mexico, and Columbia.
She is the co-founder and currently the Executive Director of the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center. As such she has organized programs to Kahoolawe, Puukohola, Makua Valley, and Kalaupapa.
Dr. Haaheo as a justice-seeker and life long learner has studied various peace based martial arts such as Tai Chi and Traditional Shotokan Karate-Do, Yoga, and is proficient in Modern Dance and Hula. Her travels, knowledge, and skills in peacemaking are legendary.
She is the co-founder of the Native Hawaiian Church and the Makahiki Programs in Hawaii Prisons, and coordinates re-entry programs for paahao.
Dr. Haaheo is a true kanaka maoli – a real Hawaiian, following in the justice, nonviolence, and reconciliation, of Queen Liliuokalani that justice and mercy would emerge for all the people of Hawaii and the world.